Australian soldiers in East Timor. Photo from the ABC.
by GREG HUNT AND DAVID BUSHBY
When news of the Afghanistan tragedies hit, we were with Australian soldiers at a small military training facility for East Timorese soldiers near Dili. All of the Australians were on deployment to help develop skills within the Timorese army. Some had seen service in the Solomons, some in the Middle East, some in Sudan and some had just returned from Afghanistan.
A senior enlisted soldier who had just been cross posted from Afghanistan to Timor fixed us with his gaze and said very simply: “We know the risks. We choose to do this work. And we do it because we believe in it.”
Throughout the day, both enlisted soldiers and officers quietly sought us out not just to express their sadness at the loss of these fine men, who were known directly to some of those in Timor, and intuitively by all, but also to send a clear message through us : Tell the folk back home that we believe in what we are doing both here in Timor, as do those in Afghanistan.
Sapper James Thomas Martin, 21, Private Robert Poate, 23, and Lance Corporal Stjepan Milosevic, 40 were killed in Afghanistan last week.
The universal view, expressed one on one, was that while the work in Timor, the Solomons, the Middle East and Afghanistan carried with it real risks, most clearly in Afghanistan, Australia was making a profound difference to both internal and external security. However imperfect, this transformation not only contributes to international security but also provides the platform for real human development. In short, without this security, there is no real chance for girls in Afghanistan to receive schooling which is so critical for the future development and opportunities.
In particular, in East Timor and Afghanistan, soldiers and Federal Police have been working with their counterparts on both personal and professional leadership with regards to prevention and response to widespread problems of domestic violence. This is a critical part of the transformation process for women in both countries.
Beyond that, there have been significant improvements in infant mortality rates in East Timor and Afghanistan and basic economic development in the Solomons.
It was this combination of the most intense understanding of risk, coupled with a profound commitment to the broader task, which characterised the Australian forces in East Timor and through them in Afghanistan.
As we review the more than 10 years Australia has been in East Timor, and the ongoing aid commitment into the future, it is worth understanding what has been achieved.
When Australian forces first entered East Timor in 1999, after the chaos and bloodshed which followed the 30 August plebiscite on Independence that year, security had collapsed, relations with Indonesia were war like, the entire national record system for land and policing had been torched and there was simply no national infrastructure. There was every prospect of Timor becoming a failed State on our own doorstep, with all of the human and security implications which that would bring.
Under the leadership first of General Cosgrove and later, successive waves of Australian troops and commanders, the East Timorese have set about creating a new country. Stage 1 was stabilisation of security and relations with Indonesia. Remarkably, the East Timorese Indonesian relationship has become a strength. This speaks volumes for both the Timorese leadership and for Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudiyono.
Australian troops.
Stage 2 of East Timor’s journey has been consolidation of the police, the military, and the bureaucracy. Australia has been the driving international force in Stages 1 and 2. Australian troops are teaching Timorese soldiers to weld, operate diggers, build bridges and to be a critical part of nation building rather than just to be a security force. Australian Federal Police are training both officers and recruits in the Timorese National Police force in everything from basic policing to advanced investigation techniques.
It is now time for Stage 3, for East Timor to assume full control of its own security and to embark on its full economic development. And so Australian troops will later this year start drawing down from East Timor with, in their words, a sense that “the job is done”.
There will of course be huge difficulties and inevitable set backs for East Timor in the years to come, but it is a vastly different State today than it was in 1999. Just as importantly, the odds were that it would become a failed State. Instead, it is an emerging State. And Australia should not only take credit for helping to bring forward the plebiscite in East Timor which lead to independence, but should reflect on the extraordinary contribution of our armed forces in helping East Timor create a real future for itself.
Looking forward, in less than two years we will have essentially drawn down our forward deployments from each of the Timor, Afghanistan and Solomon Island theatres. It is entirely right to review the costs to Australia, particularly in regards to the loss of our finest.
Each Australian has the right and indeed the duty to weigh this heavy cost, but we pledged to the Australian soldiers to tell their story, and to pass back the message which they gave to us, which was, very simply, “We believe in what we are doing and we want to finish the job, whether it is here in Timor or in Afghanistan.”
Greg Hunt MP and Senator David Bushby
Hon Greg Hunt MP and Senator David Bushby have just returned from deployment in East Timor where they were embedded with Australian forces.
If you could send a message to our troops, deployed around the world, what would it be?
Comments
52 Comments so far
they are occupants that attacked foreigner country. i am sure that they kill too a lot afghan people who defend from occupants.
and everybody knows that nodoby made these soldiers to go to Afghanistan. they went to there voluntarily, for money.
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If the Taliban didn’t harbour terrorists pre 2001 they wouldnt be there in the first place
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Right… The taliban visited Bush Jnr on his Texas ranch in 99 to sign commercial landrights contracts. The Taliban had all but wiped out the illegal opium industry prior to our invasion. Also the country (although far from perfect) was stable & making inroads into female equality. You do know that the CIA created Al Queda right?
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ahhh, I think the Government designates where our troops go. Maybe do just a touch of research before commenting .
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They went in clouds of bravery & acceptance of the risk, although one cannot argue they also went whilst being deliberately misled from our OWN GOVERNMENT. Their deaths served causes unknown to them, & if known may have resisited the urge to volunteer. That’s the sad reality. Henry Kissinger said ” Military Men are dumb, stupid animals to be used as pawns of our foreign policy”. So i guess the question that need’s addressing is how many of our Parlimentarians children serve on the frontlines or atleast in the defense forces.
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THE SOLDIER. – by Charles M Province
It is the soldier, not the reporter, who has given us freedom of the press.
It is the soldier, not the poet, who has given us freedom of speech.
If you can read this message, thank a teacher.
If you are reading it in English of your own free will, thank a soldier.
It is the soldier, not the campus organiser, who has given us freedom to demonstrate.
It is the soldier, not the lawyer, who has given us the right to a fair trial.
It is the soldier who salutes the flag, who serves under the flag, and whose coffin is draped by the flag, who allows the protester to burn the flag.
To all the brave men and women who have dedicated or given their lives to protecting this country and its freedoms. THANK YOU
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The men and women who sacrifice so much more than what most people are aware of is truly humbling. To start with, a mother or father being away from his/her child/children for months on end is deserving enough of our utmost respect, I know that even being away from my one year old for a few days if tough, To the parents that miss the birth and first few months of the child’s life is awe inspiring. For the soldiers to go with out luxuries that we consider the norm in our day to day life for months and months on end. such as HOT showers, fresh food, normal human interaction through social circumstance, going to the shop to buy a mars bar and coke, to even just be able to receive a phone call on the mobile and go around to a mates place for a beer….. These are ALL sacrifices most don’t understand are made on a daily basis. The term “ultimate sacrifice” is termed from the fact that none can give more so than ones life. I know most people are probably clearly aware of this but sometimes until it is all put into perspective it is hard to comprehend. I personally knew some of the soldiers who have made the ultimate sacrifice in Afghanistan and I will miss them and think of them every day that I wake. Any person who can enlist into the ADF and serve for the love of Australia and the person beside them holds my highest regard. The soldiers view that they do not want to leave a job undone is a just view, they have had themselves placed into a place that holds a high and real risk to their well being. They understand this and do this for the right reasons. AND they ARE making a difference, look at Timor, As stated in the article, no other foreign power has made as much as a difference as the brave men and women of Australia. Afghanistan will change, the sentiment is there, new generations of young men and women who want stability, who want a degree of freedom that only unification and a degree of emerging independence can offer. Great change takes time, Great change takes Great courage and even greater commitment. No group of people can unilaterally want death and mistreatment forever when a kinder way of life can be seen. But it does take time. By saying it is not our problem………. It will go away……….. We aren’t making a difference……… We are there for the completely wrong reasons………… They don’t want the change, is wrong for so many reasons and none of which are political. At this point in time CHANGES HAVE BEEN MADE, the reasons for first going there are now irrelevant, to even give another human being the chance of a quality of life previously unknown to them before makes it so. Inaction will breed further destabilisation, further terrorist threats, and please let me make myself clear on this, I nor anyone who I discuss this with believe that the people in general of Afghanistan should take the blame, fear and oppression do things that would make most westerners cry, Like most incorrect “racism” slurs, unfortunately the overt actions a few bring discredit to the mass. Afghanistan has been proven to have terrorist training camps, in which disgruntled people (who’s value of human life is far lower than ours) from all over the world have congregated too, to train to commit acts that should make people fear them. The terrorist threat is very real, it has been for a long time,
The soldiers who feel that they don’t want to leave a job undone is clearly understandable or otherwise what of the sacrifices that they made, what of the brave men and women from all parts of the world who have given their life for their country, the person beside them and the stabilisation of where they are serving. To leave before the job is done is certainly demoralising to the soldiers who serve as it would have all been in vain. To have another stable country in the middle east would be beneficent the world not just Afghanistan and what many believe the political agendas of a few…. let alone the more simpler fact of a much greater quality of life of the average person in the region.
The way that this article was written I believe is heartfelt and fair, although I honestly believe that this article could have almost been extended into a very in depth book had all the stories and opinions of the soldiers that they had spoken to on this subject been documented and published in detail.
Every person is entitled to their opinion and although I believe most people who do not agree with what we are doing may be a little misinformed or have an opinion based on emotion I thoroughly respect those who still support those serving. I do understand that many will completely disagree with what I have said and think that I am pro war, But please let me make this clear, I do not support war for wars sake, I do not know for certainty the “real” reasons for this or any other conflict to have begun, I am sure that throughout history only a handful of people have ever known for each. BUT I do know that the human difference that can be achieved with a controlled force is completely justified, and makes the job easier for all. I want people to picture this in your minds eye, A young family who live in a mud brick home, a mother, a father, and two children aged 4 and 6. They have no electricity, no running water and the only fresh food that they can eat is what they can grow, which is not much as it is too dangerous to spend a prolonged period of time outside. They know no different as they were born into the area, they have no chance of relocating to a safer area as they have no chance of obtaining an income. Now picture an Aussie soldier, they may be your next door neighbour. He/she with teamwork from the forces deployed to the area has secured the area so that the family can venture outside with out fear of being shot, tortured or mutilated. They now have running water, they may even now have electricity. As they can now venture outside they have now started farming/growing food. The excess of which they can sell at market to receive finances. As the area is now safe and construction has begun, they may even have REAL job prospects. Also picture this, The children, now that they are safe can go to school and learn. An EDUCATION that many of us throw away and take for granted or as a right. They can now read and write, they can now do maths, understand science, understand that they can make new friends and that they can play with them in a relatively safe place with is the school.
NONE of this would be possible without our soldiers. Now this may not seem like much, but picture the rolling snowball one,two,three or four generations from now…… Not all of Afghanistan is like this but allot of places are, The difference that our brave service men and women are making is incredible and I will forever respect them for their selflessness. They really are making us safer in our beds at night, at our jobs during the day and at our children’s school and childhood. Please PLEASE do not forget to focus and discuss the real positives that have been achieved to date, but could be gone in an instant.
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i too do not agree as to the reasons we are involved in this war, however, the soldiers have my support
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If you support the troops there’s nothing wrong with screaming I Support Bringing them home immediately
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We will always remember those who haven’t made it home as well as those who do. Thank you doesn’t seem enough.
Stay safe, be proud because we certainly are.
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I may not approve of this war, but you have my unconditional support.
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Thank you.
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Thank you.
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If you can read this, thank a teacher. If it’s in English, thank a soldier.
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That’s a bit racist, don’t you think?
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In 1942, the aerial bombing of Darwin and the planned invasion by the Japanese across Northern Australia and Timor was deemed a genuine threat by the Australian Government. I think this is what Steve was referring too, (correct me if I’m wrong though).
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Hi Pennypacker
Thanks for your reply but explaining it (to those who didn’t know) only makes it sound even more racist.
I’ve heard the saying before, often from the older generation (or passed down by them) because they were here during that time and genuinely fearful. I imagine that would be hard to let go of (as it must be difficult for Vietnamese to let go of the fact Australians were at war in their country).
But the sentiment, as I interpret it, is implying that although we are still alive today and are educated, we could speak another language which is presumed to be lesser.
Whether that language is Japanese or otherwise, it’s a racist and outdated thing to say, in my opinion.
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I think arguing what Steve’s comment meant is getting away from the point. No one is saying anyone is racist.
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Alyssakt I think you’re missing the point here a bit. Australians should be proud of our past soldiers and all they did to protect Australia during WW2, particularly, on the Kokoda track where the threat of a Japanese invasion was quite a real prospect. I don’t see how thanking our soldiers in this way as a tribute to everything they did to protect our boarders is racist.
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I definitely value our service men and women for everything they have done and everything they currently do to protect Australia and for their well-meaning efforts across the globe.
But implying that English is the only language of any value is racist, in my opinion.
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I really don’t believe Steve was implying English is somehow a superior language at all. and by implying that his comment is racist AND outdated is really disrespectful to all the men and women who have served this country in the past. LEST WE FORGET
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I DO think it is racist and outdated and I DO NOT think you have any right to claim my saying so is disrespectful to our troops. If anything, your claim is disrespectful to them in my eyes.
I’ve explained why I hold my opinion and why it sounds the way it sounds when people say things like that.
I understand how much we were at threat back then. I do not understand that racist attitude now.
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hi Alyssakt, We may have a different take on the saying, but we are both entitled to voice our opinions on the subject, therefore I would like to apologise for saying you are being disrespectful.
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Thank you Pennypacker, all is well
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Oh, come *on*.
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Did anyone see Australian Story last night about Ben Quilty who was Australia’s official war artist in Afghanistan recently? It showed & told more about soldier’s emotional & psychological experiences in Afghanistan than anything I’d seen previously.
My message would be more to the Australian Defence Force & Australian government to please, please. please look after the mental & physical health of those who have returned home from their tours of duty.
As much as we thank them for going, it is more important that we look after them when they come back.
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Thank you.
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Thankyou Greg and David for sharing your story. I admire the strength and courage of all the men and women who serve in our military forces . I also admire the families left behind, when their loved ones are deployed. It cannot be easy for all involved.
I would also like to remind everyone it is Legacy week. So if you are able to donate or buy a pin etc, it goes along way to help the wives, husbands and children when a serving soldier dies. It is a great charity to support not just this week, but throughout the year.
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I still think Afghanistan will revert back to internal conflict when the troops leave. It has been a tribal nation for thousands of years. I think it is ignorant for the US and it’s allies, including us, to think they can change that just by occupying for a decade.
I think that whether we leave this year or in two years in the big scheme of things it is not going to make a difference.
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I have often thought this way too. It is so easy to think “what is the point?!” when we are home in safe Australia (and when really, the only information we have is fed to us via the media). These men and women believe they are making a difference. I trust our soilders, and I trust our defense force, because really – what other choice do we have?
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I don’t understand what you mean in asking “what other choice do we have?”
Also, you mention “the only information we have” – your stance is passive in saying we need to accept what is fed to us by the media. Look around just a little bit and you’ll find plenty of information. Plenty. It is all too easy to sit back and listen to the mainstream channels.
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I have a huge amount of respect for the people who are on the ground risking their lives for us every day. However, history has proven that the people in government making the calls as to where our servicemen go don’t always make the best decisions.
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Brave – yes absolutely. Sacrifice – yes absolutely. All respect to the troops themselves.
BUT.
Seeing the 21 (James, from WA) and 23 (Robert, from the ACT) years young slain soldier’s photos in the paper on Sunday has done it for me. Eleven years after September 11, and I am beyond over this. Why do we still have troops in Afghanistan when every other country is pulling away? I don’t want any more young men or women dying especially. No more coffins coming back please. These boys have barely lived. They were 10 and 12 when the planes crashed into the World Trade Centre building in in NYC. It makes me want to cry and cry.
It is beyond tragic. It’s the Vietnam of our generation. It is not WWII where our country was being bombed with planes flying over, ready to invade from submarines etc. It’s an unwinnable war and I never understood our involvement. Afghanistan is no safer (and possibly less so) since we were in it. The deaths are a completely avoidable tragic waste. How can occupation and war *stabilise* a country for its citizens? How does war bring peace? Is there any kind of exit strategy at all?
Last Saturday night I told a friend that for the first time, I had no idea who I was going to vote for at the next elections. On Sunday, I decided it is whoever commits to ending the war in the immediate future and get our men and women out of there. Stop the boats?! No – Stop Australia being a puppet of the US political agenda.
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If we pull out because the political ‘fire’ at home is too hot, and leave the place without a strong police force and a strong system, then we have yet again “screwed up the end game” (to paraphrase a line from a movie about Afganistan that I forget what it’s called) in leaving a country too volatile and unable to educate themselves out of poverty and war.
Is one Australian soldier worth more than the thousands of locals that die? Our soldiers are doing a useful task and the price, while terrible, is probably worthwhile.
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how about you volunteer Renee.. If you want the war to continue go fight it then….your attitude frightens me because its not you or your loved ones on the battle field..
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But isn’t that the whole point of the article? That those men and women who have volunteered for the armed forces do believe in what they are doing, that they are making a difference and that it’s a job that needs to be done?
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They haven’t volunteered. It is a paid position.
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Thank you Greg Hunt and David Bushby for bringing this story to us. Brave is a word that can not begin to describe our soldiers. They are truly our national treasures. I honour all the mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, wives, husbands, sons and daughters who have given us their boys. And I say thank you.
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That’s lovely, Sassy. You know that women are soldiers too though, right?
(“have given us their boys”?)
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Oh dear looks like I stuffed up. Of course women are our soldiers too. I was thinking (as I wrote my post) about the boys who went to the first world war and never came back. Later when I was driving in my car I thought about the female soldiers who were killed in Iraq and about the NZ female soldier who was killed in Afghanistan just recently. I thought to myself I must (when I get home) add something to my post about our wonderful women who have gone to war. I thought I must rectify my mistake.
And then I read your reply to my post alyssakt. I was shocked by your tone and by your sarcasm. In the spirit of the new rules here, can I suggest that you could have pointed out my mistake without the nastiness. Being nice doesn’t cost anything.
The tone of your reply, alyssakt, is what I remember about Mamamia from a long time ago. It looks like even with the new house rules some people just can’t help themselves. I didn’t think anyone could say anything mean after reading this particular article. Looks like I was wrong.
For your information alyasskt I feel really bad that I didn’t immediately think about our women soldiers but also feel quite sick about the tone of your response. It was unpleasant and unnecessary.
And the four people who have given you the thumbs up? I shake my head in disbelief!
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Hi Sassy, my interpretation of alyssakt’s response was totally different to your own. I thought she was genuinely commenting in a friendly spirit, but just pointing out that we have both men and women serving. I may be wrong. I know that tone and intent can be difficult to read sometimes in a comment and I think can be misinterpreted.
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Thank you, Catherine, much appreciated
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Woah, Sassy! I was completely sincere when I said your comment was lovely, and I wanted to remind you in the nicest possible way that women are troops too. I seem to have failed at that in your eyes. Sorry about that. But I don’t appreciate you jumping down my throat over your misinterpretation
The people who liked my comment were likely also wondering why you only mentioned male soldiers.
It’s one thing to stick to house rules, it’s another to get angry at someone due to mistaking their intentions due to your own oversensitivities
Sincerely, I hope you have a lovely day and forgive me for my confusing comment
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alyssakt, I apologise sincerely for completely misinterpreting your comment.
But re this comment ….’It’s one thing to stick to house rules, it’s another to get angry at someone due to mistaking their intentions due to your own oversensitivities.’ I need to point out that I wasn’t angry actually. And I wasn’t oversensitive due to any anger because I wasn’t angry. I was a bit sick and sad about what I thought was a sarcastic response. But I was mistaken. And I do see that now. I will have a nice day and I hope you do too now that we are sorted out.
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I can see how Sassy could have misinterpreted your comment alyssakt. I did too until I read the thread of comments.
Personally I think you have it a bit both ways and I notice there’s a bit of a sting in the tail of your comment ….. “You know that women are soldiers too though, right?” Something about that sentence that just doesn’t come across right! And even in your ‘apology’ there’s a bit of a sting there too. A bit unpleasant. But good on Sassy for just apologising and moving on.
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Hi Louvre
Maybe you’re right. Maybe I should have just written
and girls*
and left it at that.
You can’t win, it seems. And now it’s become a big deal, completely separate to the issue I was raising (that women should be recognised for the contribution they make too).
I have been viciously attacked on this site, targeted – really cruel and nasty things have been said on numerous occasions – and what I said was nothing like it.
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‘Maybe I should have just written and girls’ ??? Don’t understand what you mean by this at all? The word ‘women’ wasn’t a problem.
Also I haven’t viciously attacked you. Neither has Sassy as far as I can see. Maybe it’s your communication style? Or your sensitivities?
Anyway I think we’re all on the same page about our boys/men and girls/women in the services and their families.
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“They are truly our national treasures. I honour all the mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, wives, husbands, sons and daughters who have given us their boys.”
and girls*
^Like that.
I didn’t say you or Sassy attacked me – I said I have been attacked, and that the upset over my comment is incomparable with the kind of nastiness I’ve encountered.
This all seems like a massive beat-up to me now. Like I said, it has nothing to do with the issue I raised. It’s gone way off track.
And yep, I was stung when I wrote my second reply to Sassy. Her accusations were that I was nasty, I couldn’t help myself, she was sickened by my tone and was in disbelief that anyone agreed with me. Sheesh.
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Thank you Greg Hunt and David Bushby for bringing this story to us. Brave is a word that can not begin to describe our soldiers. They are truly our national treasures. I honour all the mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, wives, husbands, sons and daughters who have given us their boys. I say thank you.
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This is so important to remember. I had an acquaintance say on Saturday night “Well, what did they think was going to happen when they go over there, they’ve got noone to blame but themselves”. It made my blood boil (but again, it’s not a friend, it’s an acquaintance, and I didn’t want to ruin a dear friends’ birthday party by starting an argument). It’s a tragedy that these five men didn’t make it home, and it’s so important that we remember them and support their families in their grief.
As the granddaughter of a Changi suvivor, as the cousin-in-law of a soldier serving for the first time in Afghanistan as we speak, as a friend of someone who has done three Tours of Afghanistan (and suffered terrible psychological injuries as a result) – I would like to say thank you from the bottom of my heart to our armed forces. I’m truly grateful for the sacrifices that these men and women make. I’m so grateful for the sacrifices their families make too.
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ADF, I appreciate your hard work and sacrifices. I’ll remember what these men gave.
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It’s so nice to hear the other side of the story from those on the ground. Regardless of political allegiances or beliefs I think all Australians can be proud of the work our defence forces have done.
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