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| Southeast Asia |
| Aussies may work with Kopassus... |
| 2002-11-10 |
| Australia Defence Minister Robert Hill said on Sunday that Australia needed to work with Kopassus, Indonesia military special forces, following the Bali bombings that killed at least 180 people, about 90 of them Australian. "We haven't been (working with Kopassus) in recent years because of their human rights record. We now have to in the light of the Bali bombing and the light of terrorist threats," Hill said. "Maybe the tool stinks, but if it's the only thing available to do the job, we'll have to hold our collective breath and use it..." Kopassus earned a notorious reputation for its alleged role in the torture and abduction of dissidents during the auathorities of former president Soeharto. Hill said cooperating with Kopassus would not gain universal support in Australia, however, he believes that the move is needed for terrorism eradication efforts in Australia. The people who won't be supporting the arrangement aren't the same ones who vacation in Bali, are they? Didn't think so... |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |
| #1 Actually, they are the same people. The Bali vacationers do tend to be granola types... will be interesting to see how muted Aussie reaction is to this. My guess is that the reaction won't be muted, and this will have interesting ripples through parts of the Left's sympathy & support base. |
| Posted by: Joe Katzman 2002-11-10 22:18:24 |