Australia Sends Troops To East Timor

In hopes of quelling unrest in East Timor, the Australian government has begun sending troops into the tiny country. The UN, meanwhile, is fleeing. The unrest appears to be between people from the eastern part of the country and those from the western. The withdrawal of East Timorese police has led to the formation of vigilante groups.

Timorese and longtime foreign residents said the formation of these vigilante groups in the last two days had instilled a sense of terror among Dili residents unparalleled since the widespread militia killings in 1999 that followed East Timor's vote for independence from Indonesia.

But even as fear gripped this port city, the ferocious gun battles that accounted for most of the two dozen deaths recorded this week began to ebb. Doctors at Dili's main hospital reported no new fatalities, saying the majority of injuries treated in the emergency room were from small arrows.

Hopefully the Australians can calm the situation. But the East Timorese must get their collective act together and come to terms with one another. Otherwise you'll get to a point where there will be sub-partitions of sub-partitions of tiny countries.