- 'Timor Tour of Duty' is as close to what it was like, without actually being there, for Australian soldiers in the troubled border region of East Timor between 1999 and 2003. - Dr Damien Kingsbury, East Timor Expert
Review:
There is a prevailing view that Australia's military intervention in East Timor ten years ago was an untroubled affair - it was a successful operation without casualties. The reality, however, was that while casualties were limited, there were many tense moments, and exchanges of fire with Indonesian Special Forces, along the challenging and at times confronting border areas patrolled by Australian soldiers.
Sasha Uzunov's documentary 'Timor Tour of Duty” graphically captures some of these exchanges and the very real impact that it had on the lives of the soldiers involved.
Uzunov's experience as an Australian soldier in this area in his own two tours and through his wider experience as a war correspondent, makes 'Timor Tour of Duty' as close to what it was like, without actually being there, for Australian soldiers in the troubled border region of East Timor between 1999 and 2003.
Associate Professor Damien Kingsbury
A/Director, Centre for Citizenship, Development and Human Rights
School of International and Political Studies
Deakin University, Australia
Author: 'East Timor: The Price of Liberty', Palgrave, New York, 2009
Co-editor: 'East Timor: Beyond Independence', Centre for Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore, 2007.
Editor: 'Guns and Ballot Boxes: East Timor's Vote for Independence', Monash Asia Institute, Melbourne, 2000.
