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Originally posted by PalynkaDon't be absurd. I offered his position on the Iraq war only as an illustration of his extreme pro-Western position; how many Third World politicians supported this misadventure? But his position as a puppet of Australia is clearly shown by his placing the interests of Australian oil front and center and his cooperation in ousting the elected Prime Minister to see to it that those interests were served.
I wouldn't expect their concerns to be in the equations of the oil companies.
But that's different from saying that Australia is putting a puppet there. Especially when the person in question is Ramos Horta.
No1 is all flurry and up in arms, because Ramos Horta was in favour of the War in Iraq. For him, anyone with such opinions must be a stooge for the rather see it go through than restart everything again and increase the danger of civil war.
Stability is really hard to maintain when you're a small country threatened and bullied by another country. Even Portugal's Foreign Minister criticized Australia's meddling in East Timor's internal affairs on June 4; I guess he's a conspiracy theorist, too! It's interesting that you would say that failing to conclude an oil deal favorable to Australia would "increase the danger of civil war"; why would that be?