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SAS BLOODBATH IN TIMOR
Gak tau repost apa nggak nih.. tolong dikomen..
sumber
There’s a lot more going on in East Timor than they’re telling you about. In this special report we reveal details of the biggest military clash of the campaign so far - one that brought us to the brink of war - and we profile Indonesia’s military strength. IAN WISHART and
BEN VIDGEN report:
A New Zealand military attack on Indonesia allegedly left 100 Indonesian troops dead or wounded, and brought the two countries to within hours of war.
Details of the up till now clandestine mission have been leaked to Investigate by military sources closely linked to the East Timor operation who claim that this incident was behind Indonesian plans to launch a full scale war against New Zealand and Australia.
Members of New Zealand’s elite Special Air Service, backed up by Australian SAS troops, were involved in the blitzkrieg, which took place across the border in Indonesian West Timor.
"SAS had identified a large number of Indonesian soldiers who were making cross-border incursions into East Timor under the guise of local militia," one of the SAS sources told Investigate.
"They would come in at night and murder women and children, then slip back to their barracks near Atapupu, inside Indonesian territory. "Attacking soldiers is one thing: massacring innocent women and children is another. A decision was made to take out this unit."
Using Australian Blackhawk helicopter gunships, a joint ANZAC force of SAS troops flew from Dili to Atapupu to launch a full scale strike against the Indonesian military barracks.
"More than a dozen and less than fifty SAS men were involved," confirmed another source, "I’m not going to give you the exact numbers. But in the region of 100 Indonesian soldiers were killed. There were no ANZAC casualties."
The raid took place only weeks after ANZAC peacemakers first landed in Dili.
Media reports at the height of the Timor crisis suggested Indonesia had indeed come within 48 hours of declaring war on New Zealand and Australia, but shed no light on specifically why.
"Our invasion of Indonesian territory to get these bastards was technically an Act of War," the source added, "and yeah, Indonesia was making retaliatory threats. But making threats and actually doing it are two different things. We would have kicked their ass.
"New Zealand had SAS reconnaissance troops in East Timor long before the election. We knew what was going on. And despite what the armchair pundits will tell you, the Indonesian military is no match for Australia. The Aussies have been preparing for an Indonesian invasion for a very long time, and you don’t realise how well-prepared and well-trained they are until you’re actually there."
Information obtained by Investigate suggests Indonesia thought better of declaring war only after a US warning delivered through diplomatic channels to Jakarta, and the intervention of UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan. Nor did it help that Indonesian troops had no hard evidence of the raid in the form of captured or killed ANZACs, and on the flip side going public would require admitting that 100 of its own troops had been killed without enemy loss.
It is also understood that New Zealand and Australia plan to remain silent on the matter, so as not to provide Indonesia with public confirmation of the incursion.
Indonesian discretion, in the end, was the better part of valour – aided additionally by what Investigate understands was a last minute boost of 30 US F-111 fighter-bombers - flown out from retirement in the US to bolster Australia’s northern coast as a further dissuasion element, armed with the latest US tactical weaponry and capable of striking into the heart of Indonesia.
But the threat of war has not diminished, and may have actually increased. With East Timor
wrenched from Indonesian power, the Indonesian military has suffered embarrassment. In addition, domestic political upheaval and rioting has caused strong racial and religious tensions, and Indonesia’s economy is in a state of collapse. There are 200 million unhappy people getting unhappier by the day. It is a similar situation, say military analysts, to the one in Germany that led to World War 2.
More significantly, New Zealanders living in Indonesia are providing first-hand reports that back up those fears and add new information about increasing Islamic fundamentalist activity.
"Timor was a trap and the West walked right into it," says one expatriate Kiwi still living in Jakarta who refuses to be named for fear of retribution.
"Prior to East Timor’s independence, it was the Chinese, not the Christians, who were treated as the Jews of Indonesia. Christians were generally left alone. Indonesians saw East Timor as a little dot on the map surrounded by a sea of Muslims and they felt no real reason to be intimidated by Christianity.
"But now, with armed European troops in Dili, Indonesians feel like they have been invaded and they resent that. Now religion has been added to the equation and that can only spell trouble. There are groups now calling openly for an Islamic state to be established, and some of the generals are reportedly financed by the fundamentalists.
"Recently Bali was on fire. Bali never burns because that’s where all the generals live. Yet it has, and that should give you an idea of how unstable things are."
The New Zealander reports widespread anti-Australian feeling in Indonesia – not just confined to the military but embracing the general populace as well.
"I have to be careful not to appear as an Australian. I’ve already been beaten up once by a crowd who thought I was. So I try to sound British.
"In Indonesia, everywhere you go, you hear the same thing: ‘Let’s invade Australia. Indonesia very small, many people. Australia very big, not many people’.
"They hate westerners. They feel we have too much and that we’re trying to push them around."
So what happens if a straw finally breaks the camel’s back?
For decades Indonesia was seen as a potential military threat to New Zealand and Australia, but freemarket commerce in the 1980s brought New Zealand businesses into contact with Indonesia and it became politically incorrect to regard the country as potentially hostile.
It has also been difficult for New Zealanders to believe that Indonesia would bother attacking a country so far away, or was even capable of doing so. Although the latter may be true for now, a successful Indonesian invasion of Australia would alter the strategic gameboard somewhat.
And why would Indonesia have designs on Australia? With space rapidly running out in the Indonesian archipelago, and no room to expand northward without coming into conflict with other Asian superpowers like China, the Great Southern Land continues to beckon.
As reported in the March issue of Investigate, the Pentagon has already warned Australia that the price of US assistance in any struggle with Indonesia will be a promise to commit Australian troops to battle if the US goes to war with China.
Among those who believe an invasion of Australia is only a matter of time is the editor of Jane’s World Armies, Major Charles Heyman, who’s told Australian journalists that Australia is "a glittering strategic prize, and it would be surprising if, during the next century, the country’s defences were not tested."
One respected Australian general, Brigadier Fred Serong, agrees. Speaking from his Melbourne home, Serong says the twin pressures of population growth and global warming are likely to force Indonesia’s hand.
"Global warming will play a significant role in accentuating any of the internal difficulties that Indonesia is experiencing."
On a military level can New Zealand and Australia, with a combined population of 24 million, resist or even vanquish an attack from a country with almost ten times the population? That’s the question occupying the minds of defence strategists on both sides of the Tasman.
Although it sounds like a tough ask, there’s every indication that an ANZAC defence force could indeed thwart any Indonesian advance, without direct US intervention. The relative population difference would be the deciding factor – but only if Indonesia shared a land border with Australia.
According to the CIA Factbook, Indonesia has more than 60 million people capable of being drafted into the Army, but does not have the resources to send more than a fraction of those into offshore combat.
So when push comes to shove, how do the protagonists stack up?
If the world learnt anything from the Gulf War, or even Kosovo, it was that air superiority will be cru
cial in future conflicts – especially those where blitzkrieg land invasions cannot be mounted. Therefore the current state of the Indonesian air force could be strong evidence that Indonesia is not yet in a position to declare war on anybody. It is equipped with older generation weaponry, which it is increasingly having difficulty finding parts for. Some defence commentators also claim the political repercussions surrounding Timor made it difficult for Indonesia to find willing suppliers.
But arms dealing is an industry without morals: the major supplier of parts is the USA, which resumed selling arms and military training to Indonesia not long after the UN peacemaking force moved into Timor. Ditto the UK.
In turn, Indonesia’s reliance on the West for parts has been reduced by an increase of Indonesian-based arms manufacturers, making weapons locally under licence. Such licenses range from French artillery to F16 fighter plane components. This also includes the recent agreement by the UK to sell Indonesia the licence to manufacture Hawk ground attack aircraft.
[continue]
sumber
There’s a lot more going on in East Timor than they’re telling you about. In this special report we reveal details of the biggest military clash of the campaign so far - one that brought us to the brink of war - and we profile Indonesia’s military strength. IAN WISHART and
BEN VIDGEN report:
A New Zealand military attack on Indonesia allegedly left 100 Indonesian troops dead or wounded, and brought the two countries to within hours of war.
Details of the up till now clandestine mission have been leaked to Investigate by military sources closely linked to the East Timor operation who claim that this incident was behind Indonesian plans to launch a full scale war against New Zealand and Australia.
Members of New Zealand’s elite Special Air Service, backed up by Australian SAS troops, were involved in the blitzkrieg, which took place across the border in Indonesian West Timor.
"SAS had identified a large number of Indonesian soldiers who were making cross-border incursions into East Timor under the guise of local militia," one of the SAS sources told Investigate.
"They would come in at night and murder women and children, then slip back to their barracks near Atapupu, inside Indonesian territory. "Attacking soldiers is one thing: massacring innocent women and children is another. A decision was made to take out this unit."
Using Australian Blackhawk helicopter gunships, a joint ANZAC force of SAS troops flew from Dili to Atapupu to launch a full scale strike against the Indonesian military barracks.
"More than a dozen and less than fifty SAS men were involved," confirmed another source, "I’m not going to give you the exact numbers. But in the region of 100 Indonesian soldiers were killed. There were no ANZAC casualties."
The raid took place only weeks after ANZAC peacemakers first landed in Dili.
Media reports at the height of the Timor crisis suggested Indonesia had indeed come within 48 hours of declaring war on New Zealand and Australia, but shed no light on specifically why.
"Our invasion of Indonesian territory to get these bastards was technically an Act of War," the source added, "and yeah, Indonesia was making retaliatory threats. But making threats and actually doing it are two different things. We would have kicked their ass.
"New Zealand had SAS reconnaissance troops in East Timor long before the election. We knew what was going on. And despite what the armchair pundits will tell you, the Indonesian military is no match for Australia. The Aussies have been preparing for an Indonesian invasion for a very long time, and you don’t realise how well-prepared and well-trained they are until you’re actually there."
Information obtained by Investigate suggests Indonesia thought better of declaring war only after a US warning delivered through diplomatic channels to Jakarta, and the intervention of UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan. Nor did it help that Indonesian troops had no hard evidence of the raid in the form of captured or killed ANZACs, and on the flip side going public would require admitting that 100 of its own troops had been killed without enemy loss.
It is also understood that New Zealand and Australia plan to remain silent on the matter, so as not to provide Indonesia with public confirmation of the incursion.
Indonesian discretion, in the end, was the better part of valour – aided additionally by what Investigate understands was a last minute boost of 30 US F-111 fighter-bombers - flown out from retirement in the US to bolster Australia’s northern coast as a further dissuasion element, armed with the latest US tactical weaponry and capable of striking into the heart of Indonesia.
But the threat of war has not diminished, and may have actually increased. With East Timor
wrenched from Indonesian power, the Indonesian military has suffered embarrassment. In addition, domestic political upheaval and rioting has caused strong racial and religious tensions, and Indonesia’s economy is in a state of collapse. There are 200 million unhappy people getting unhappier by the day. It is a similar situation, say military analysts, to the one in Germany that led to World War 2.
More significantly, New Zealanders living in Indonesia are providing first-hand reports that back up those fears and add new information about increasing Islamic fundamentalist activity.
"Timor was a trap and the West walked right into it," says one expatriate Kiwi still living in Jakarta who refuses to be named for fear of retribution.
"Prior to East Timor’s independence, it was the Chinese, not the Christians, who were treated as the Jews of Indonesia. Christians were generally left alone. Indonesians saw East Timor as a little dot on the map surrounded by a sea of Muslims and they felt no real reason to be intimidated by Christianity.
"But now, with armed European troops in Dili, Indonesians feel like they have been invaded and they resent that. Now religion has been added to the equation and that can only spell trouble. There are groups now calling openly for an Islamic state to be established, and some of the generals are reportedly financed by the fundamentalists.
"Recently Bali was on fire. Bali never burns because that’s where all the generals live. Yet it has, and that should give you an idea of how unstable things are."
The New Zealander reports widespread anti-Australian feeling in Indonesia – not just confined to the military but embracing the general populace as well.
"I have to be careful not to appear as an Australian. I’ve already been beaten up once by a crowd who thought I was. So I try to sound British.
"In Indonesia, everywhere you go, you hear the same thing: ‘Let’s invade Australia. Indonesia very small, many people. Australia very big, not many people’.
"They hate westerners. They feel we have too much and that we’re trying to push them around."
So what happens if a straw finally breaks the camel’s back?
For decades Indonesia was seen as a potential military threat to New Zealand and Australia, but freemarket commerce in the 1980s brought New Zealand businesses into contact with Indonesia and it became politically incorrect to regard the country as potentially hostile.
It has also been difficult for New Zealanders to believe that Indonesia would bother attacking a country so far away, or was even capable of doing so. Although the latter may be true for now, a successful Indonesian invasion of Australia would alter the strategic gameboard somewhat.
And why would Indonesia have designs on Australia? With space rapidly running out in the Indonesian archipelago, and no room to expand northward without coming into conflict with other Asian superpowers like China, the Great Southern Land continues to beckon.
As reported in the March issue of Investigate, the Pentagon has already warned Australia that the price of US assistance in any struggle with Indonesia will be a promise to commit Australian troops to battle if the US goes to war with China.
Among those who believe an invasion of Australia is only a matter of time is the editor of Jane’s World Armies, Major Charles Heyman, who’s told Australian journalists that Australia is "a glittering strategic prize, and it would be surprising if, during the next century, the country’s defences were not tested."
One respected Australian general, Brigadier Fred Serong, agrees. Speaking from his Melbourne home, Serong says the twin pressures of population growth and global warming are likely to force Indonesia’s hand.
"Global warming will play a significant role in accentuating any of the internal difficulties that Indonesia is experiencing."
On a military level can New Zealand and Australia, with a combined population of 24 million, resist or even vanquish an attack from a country with almost ten times the population? That’s the question occupying the minds of defence strategists on both sides of the Tasman.
Although it sounds like a tough ask, there’s every indication that an ANZAC defence force could indeed thwart any Indonesian advance, without direct US intervention. The relative population difference would be the deciding factor – but only if Indonesia shared a land border with Australia.
According to the CIA Factbook, Indonesia has more than 60 million people capable of being drafted into the Army, but does not have the resources to send more than a fraction of those into offshore combat.
So when push comes to shove, how do the protagonists stack up?
If the world learnt anything from the Gulf War, or even Kosovo, it was that air superiority will be cru
cial in future conflicts – especially those where blitzkrieg land invasions cannot be mounted. Therefore the current state of the Indonesian air force could be strong evidence that Indonesia is not yet in a position to declare war on anybody. It is equipped with older generation weaponry, which it is increasingly having difficulty finding parts for. Some defence commentators also claim the political repercussions surrounding Timor made it difficult for Indonesia to find willing suppliers.
But arms dealing is an industry without morals: the major supplier of parts is the USA, which resumed selling arms and military training to Indonesia not long after the UN peacemaking force moved into Timor. Ditto the UK.
In turn, Indonesia’s reliance on the West for parts has been reduced by an increase of Indonesian-based arms manufacturers, making weapons locally under licence. Such licenses range from French artillery to F16 fighter plane components. This also includes the recent agreement by the UK to sell Indonesia the licence to manufacture Hawk ground attack aircraft.
[continue]
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