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John Martinkus

John Martinkus reviews ‘Deliverance: The Inside Story of East Timor’s Fight for Freedom’ by Don Greenlees and Robert Garran

September 2002, no. 244 16 September 2002
The account of the events surrounding East Timor’s liberation from Indonesia by News Limited journalists Don Greenlees and Robert Garran is subtitled ‘The inside story of East Timor’s fight for freedom’. Dealing as it does primarily with the diplomatic machinations of the Indonesian and Australian governments in that period, it would be fair to say the subtitle should read ‘The inside st ... (read more)

John Martinkus reviews ‘Power Politics and the Indonesian Military’ by Damien Kingsbury, and ‘Politics and the Press in Indonesia: Understanding an evolving political culture’ by Angela Romano

September 2003, no. 254 01 September 2003
Damien Kingsbury witnessed the 1999 violence in East Timor as a UN observer, and uses the experience of being confronted with the Indonesian military’s campaign of violence there to introduce what is the most frank assessment of the Indonesian military we are likely to see outside of confidential intelligence reports. The fact that Kingsbury has experienced the fear the Indonesian military insti ... (read more)

John Martinkus reviews 'A Slap in the Face from the Border' by Paul McGeough

April 2003, no. 250 01 April 2003
At first glance this book looks like a quickie bashed out to take advantage of the looming war in Iraq and to cash in on the coincidence that the author – taking a break from his day job covering wars for the Sydney Morning Herald – happened to be in New York when the towers came down. But to see it in this light would be a disservice. What Paul McGeough has done is to draw on his reporting fr ... (read more)