Someone who tries to justify the annexation of Ukraine's sovereign territory, by the biggest bully on the block, is obviously a troll.

An existing international border is part of a sovereign nation, and can't be shifted because one party doesn't like where it sits, or coverts the mineral resources!

As I've already said, I'd rather share the disputed resources than create a precedent by allowing some form of moral blackmail to be used to lever a blackmailed deal.

And blackmail a sure way to ensure little East Timor can look after its own defense interests in the future.

I don't know why a decidedly dumb Downer did what he did, save he is a conservative, and like most modern power hungry conservatives, I believe, more interested in maximizing the money and winning rather than natural justice?

And the leaked secret letters, given they are authenticated, haven't helped! And the reason they were leaked/created?

And then the, ever so slimy leakier has the temerity to condemn the Australian government for failing to help him pervert the course of justice!

If natural justice is served by sharing a resource found on our side of a preexisting international border, then I'd happily share, with and old friend and ally, rather than concede an inch of ground.

Everywhere you look there is often a natural geological feature that defines a border, the Rio Grande, Mexico and the US. Alaska and Siberia, the Continental shelves of both countries? The Great lakes and Niagara falls, the US and Canada.

We just don't need a johnny come lately,(St Petersburg troll?) telling anyone that avery long standing international border is in the wrong place.

And simply because there is a newly discovered mineral resource there?

Well we can chose to play hardball if the other side tries to shift an established border, and just refuse to settle until hell freezes over, and in so doing not concede any of the mineral wealth or royalties!

As they say in the classics, 50% of something is a whole lot better than 100% of nothing!

Suharto should be up there on the list of worst mass-murderers of the twentieth century. But he is OUR mass-murderer. Successive Australian governments fell all over themselves to cosy up to him (wearing their sexy batik shirts) as official darling of the West.

Pilger is an almost lone voice in exposing his crimes. So complete has been the whitewashing of his evil regime that even many Indonesians, whose relatives were exterminated for the crime of being left-wing, feel an ongoing shame. And the voices of the East Timorese, whose relatives suffered the same fate, are rarely listened to.

Rhrosty

'Someone who tries to justify the annexation of Ukraine's sovereign territory, by the biggest bully on the block, is obviously a troll.'

Rubbish. Well over 90% of the Crimean population voted in a referendum to return to the Russian federation. Even though some of the population boycotted the referendum, their numbers were miniscule.

A referendum with a result as overwhelming as this, in a nation that suited Western interests, would have been hailed as a great victory for democracy

@Rhrosty. For someone who is so clueless about international law, it certainly doesn't stop you venturing forth with what can only be described as bizarre positions.

I agree with Killarney. Crimea had historically been part of Russia. It was "given" to Ukraine by Khrushchev in 1954 at a time when Ukraine was part of the USSR. The Crimeans were not consulted about their reallocation to another country.

Killarney is right about the referendum. It is only ignoramuses that keep using terms such as "annexation." I would only add one further point. The UN Charter (which Australia helped draft as you know) guarantees the right to self-determination. The Crimeans voted overwhelmingly to secede from Ukraine. They were entitled in law to do so. They then voted, separately, to rejoin the Russian federation.

You ought to know that American/Ukrainian rage over that development was all about the US eyeing the Russian naval base at Sevastopol. That and the intention to cut off Russian gas to Europe that mostly at that stage went through Ukraine, was what the coup was all about.

Take your blinkers off and see the world for what it really is.

I should have added to the above post that Australia supported Kosovo's wish to secede from Serbia, and supported the US bombing of Serbia to discourage the Serbs wanting to hang onto Kosovo. That Australian stance was justified in terms of the UN Charter provisions I alluded to above. It is typical of the rank hypocrisy of much of Australian foreign policy that they support one region, but condemn another for doing exactly the same thing.

If even half of what Pilger says is true, it is a very disturbing piece.

Looking at the Americans, their zeal for carrying guns, their often crazed politicians, and their interference in countries that seem even mildly left-wing (Chile and so on)- I'm not confident that the US is far-sighted or understanding of the way Asian countries function.

Again- a worrying and disturbing article. Bravo.

I wish our politicians would take notice of it. And I wish the media would stop feeding us slop about celebrities and expose some of these events.