The message on East Timor

The message on East Timor

The message from the UN on East Timor is blunt -- and grim. Without an immediate and substantial improvement in security in the province, there will be no vote on autonomy from Indonesia -- at least, no plausible vote. Without a credible poll, there will be no peace and a dire future. And with only three weeks to decide on its full monitoring mission of more than 1,000 personnel, the tone of UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan is pessimistic.

Annan cannot commit such a large contingent if he does not have reasonable confidence in the region's security, and its security forces. It is likely that, were he to make the decision today, Annan would not give the go-ahead. The result would be chaos, and more than likely, carnage.

-- The Australian