529

East Timor, Iraq and Jose Ramos Horta

East Timorese foreign minister Jose Ramos Horta's defence of Washington's "aggressive strategy" towards Iraq is not a surprise. Horta's approach to diplomacy throughout the struggle for East Timor's independence was always based on offering assurances to the US government that an independent East Timor would be friendly towards US interests. This approach was bound to lead to major defects of memory (and analysis) once independence was achieved. These defects are most evident in his article "War for peace? It worked in my country", published in the Sydney Morning Herald and the Age on February 25.

Socialists call on opposition parties to block supply

BY NORM DIXON The Socialist Alliance on March 3 called on Greens, Australian Democrats and ALP senators to demonstrate their opposition to Australia's participation in a US war on Iraq by blocking supply when treasurer Peter Costello delivers the

Loose Cannons

Doing the job for Wall Street "The United States' record is not one of imperialism. It is one of doing the job, bringing peace, restoring order and getting a responsible government in place." — US Secretary of State and UN slide shows Colin

ITALY: Public sector workers to strike against Iraq war

ROME — On March 4, the general secretary of Funzione Pubblica CGIL (the public sector workers' union affiliate of the General Confederation of Italian Workers) announced that there would be a one-day public sector general strike on March 15,