Why East Timor?
East Timor is facing all of the challenges of countries emerging from war in the twenty first century. Shattered by conflict in 1999, it began its existence as a democracy in a land that some said “looked like Hiroshima”. 85% of its buildings had been burned, including nearly all schools and all businesses. Virtually all trucks in the country had been stolen by departing troops or deliberately disabled. Buffalo used to work the fields had been stolen or slaughtered. Communication and power lines were destroyed. Like most conflicts today, the East Timor conflict was never army to army. It was fought in the homes and villages. Every family in East Timor has a horror story. The country emerged as a democracy not only with an infrastructure that had been nearly completely shattered, but a population that had been deeply traumatized. Recent turmoil in East Timor came about after a split in the miitary, with 600 soldiers going on strike. Their police similarly split. When trouble started, ma
