Along with studies of Cambodia, Burma and his homeland of Australia, "Death of A Nation: The Timor Conspiracy" is another great expose from investigative journalist John Pilger. This one is a damning indictment of the Indonesian invasion and occupation of East Timor that has largely gone unreported in the West.
Pilger examines the history of Indonesia, including General Suharto's military coup that allowed him to take it over, along with Australian Prime Minister Goff Whitlam's backing of the regime and his support for General Suharto.
Pilger discusses in-depth the violence of the occupation, and the way it has quashed resistance from within, and also investigation from the outside world. The latter assumes particular significance for Pilger as he exposes the murder of two Australian journalists who infiltrated the regime and damns his own government's complicity in their deaths.
The death toll accounted for here is catastrophic and prompts Pilger to accuse the invaders of genocide, the most recent example of which (when the programme was made in 1994) was a massacre of students protesting the occupation, along with murder, rape and birth control of civilians.
The documentary is one of his longest, clocking in at 75 minutes, and features Pilger's usual mix of interviews, footage and individual case studies, along with his distaste for the rapacity of Western power - the UK government is shown here to have supplied General Suharto with British hawk planes (officially for training purposes but which could have been used to assist the Timor invasion).
Easily one of Pilger's most watchable and compelling reports, "Death of a Nation" is now available on DVD and is well worth a watch.
Pilger examines the history of Indonesia, including General Suharto's military coup that allowed him to take it over, along with Australian Prime Minister Goff Whitlam's backing of the regime and his support for General Suharto.
Pilger discusses in-depth the violence of the occupation, and the way it has quashed resistance from within, and also investigation from the outside world. The latter assumes particular significance for Pilger as he exposes the murder of two Australian journalists who infiltrated the regime and damns his own government's complicity in their deaths.
The death toll accounted for here is catastrophic and prompts Pilger to accuse the invaders of genocide, the most recent example of which (when the programme was made in 1994) was a massacre of students protesting the occupation, along with murder, rape and birth control of civilians.
The documentary is one of his longest, clocking in at 75 minutes, and features Pilger's usual mix of interviews, footage and individual case studies, along with his distaste for the rapacity of Western power - the UK government is shown here to have supplied General Suharto with British hawk planes (officially for training purposes but which could have been used to assist the Timor invasion).
Easily one of Pilger's most watchable and compelling reports, "Death of a Nation" is now available on DVD and is well worth a watch.
