The liberation of East Timor from Indonesia was Noam Chomsky’s pet issue for many years. It’s clear to people familiar with that issue that it was a major irritant to Southeast Asia’s Muslim fanatics, and a root cause of the Bali bombings, among other atrocities. Yet journalists of the “who am I to judge” school forget this, so people like Australian prime minister John Howard have to educate them:
Can I remind you that the murder of 88 Australians in Bali took place before the operation in Iraq.
And I remind you that the 11th of September occurred before the operation in Iraq.
Can I also remind you that the very first occasion that bin Laden specifically referred to Australia was in the context of Australia’s involvement in liberating the people of East Timor. Are people by implication suggesting we shouldn’t have done that?
When a group claimed responsibility on the website for the attacks on the 7th of July, they talked about British policy not just in Iraq, but in Afghanistan. Are people suggesting we shouldn’t be in Afghanistan?
When Sergio de Mello was murdered in Iraq — a brave man, a distinguished international diplomat, a person immensely respected for his work in the United Nations — when al Qaeda gloated about that, they referred specifically to the role that de Mello had carried out in East Timor because he was the United Nations administrator in East Timor.
Jeff Jarvis opined recently that he thinks Chomsky sincere. I think his flip-flop in East Timor proves that he’s not. The terrorists who attacked us on 9/11 and 7/7 were not retaliating for the liberation of Iraq.
See the full transcript of Howard and Blair’s press conference here. The good part is toward the end.