The Aussies Take Over East Timor (Again)

Australian military forces have taken control of security in Dili, the capital of the troubled nation of East Timor. The Australian forces are there at the invitation of the East Timor government, which is struggling with violence within its own military forces.

Although Australia is at pains to emphasize its limited role in East Timor, Australia is clearly going to be calling the shots in the near future. And this foreign occupation is almost certainly to the benefit to the East Timorese. Still, one very much hopes no serious violence breaks out. Australia does not acting under the authority of the U.N. or of any regional arrangement, so the legality of their semi-occupation of East Timor will depend on the whims of the very fragile East Timor government.