READYING THE TROOPS

September 15, 1999
		After this background report, Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer discusses the mission and makeup of the international peacekeeping force preparing to enter East Timor.

Online NewsHour Special Report: East Timor Independence Sept. 15, 1999: A discussion with Australia's Foreign Minister. Online Backgrounder: A look at East Timor's stormy history. Sept. 14, 1999: An newsmaker interview with Madeleine Albright. Sept. 14, 1999: An interview with a journalist detained in East Timor... Nov. 13, 1996: A discussion with Jose Ramos-Horta. Oct. 11, 1996: Two East Timorese dissidents win the Nobel Peace Prize. Browse the NewsHour's coverage of Asia.     United Nations Mission in East Timor Indonesian Embassy in Washington National Council of Timorese Resistance U.S. Embassy in Jakarta Carter Center	LINDSAY HILSUM: The British destroyer HMS Glasgow came into Darwin Harbor this morning. Now the U.N. Security Council resolution has been passed, the next port of call should be Dili, maybe as soon as this weekend. Darwin Harbor is filling up with ships from the multinational force. They'll be under Australian command, but a dozen countries, mainly Indonesia's Asian neighbors, are expected to take part. They're stocked up, ready to go. The eight royal marines and 270 crew on board HMS Glasgow may play a humanitarian role in East Timor.
	Preparing for the mission
	COMMANDER JOHN KING, HHS GLASGOW: I have plumbers, I have electricians, I have people who can turn their hands to being brickies. I have lot of medically trained personnel who could be used ashore. My people are willing to do it, and wanting to do it if it comes to that. LINDSAY HILSUM: But they're servicing the hardware. This mission could be dangerous. The U.N. resolution allows the multinational force to use all necessary measures to restore law and order in East Timor. The men and women onboard this ship are on exercise in the South China Sea when they were told to prepare themselves to go to East Timor. But they still don't know what they'll find when they get there. The Indonesian military and militia will still be on the island, and whatever the Indonesian government says, they may be very hostile to the incoming peacekeeping force. More than half the 8,000-strong force will be Australian. These troops near Darwin have been training for months, but the original plan was to go in as a transition force if the East Timorese voted for independence, not to mop up militia. One militia leader is reported to have said today that his men would eat the hearts of all Australians and anyone else in the U.N. force. SOLDIER: I think everyone's frightened at one point in their life, and you'd be a fool to say you're not scared. But it all comes down to training and how you respond to your training and how you react to different scenarios. I sit down and watch the news every night, and try to keep abreast with what's going on with the situation over there at the moment. I've tried to instill within my soldiers that they should also just to keep them abreast. LINDSAY HILSUM: The destruction of Macaw, East Timor's second town; few people remain, surviving somehow. When the troops arrive, they won't find many East Timorese to protect until those who have fled return.