East Timor is the East half of a small island in the Indonesian archipelago no larger than the state of Connecticut. These peoples endured colonial rule for more than four centuries by the Dutch, Portuguese, Japanese, and Indonesians. In 1999, 25 years after declaring itself free and independent, the international community woke up to the tiny cry for self-determination. This paper chronicles the history of the East Timorese from early Dutch colonial rule in the 1600s to its independence made possible by a coalition of the willing, intervention force led by Australia - INTERFET. The operation was successful with clear goals, mandate, and exit strategy. It formed very quickly in response to human rights abuses becoming ever more public in the international media stage. With Indonesia's permission, INTERFET forces entered East Timor after a referendum for self-determination facilitated by the UN election assistance team, UNAMET. The resulting vote for independence triggered an apparent premeditated "scorched earth" plan of destruction, by Indonesian armed forces. Within four months, INTERFET restored peace and handed control of East Timor to a UN transitional government that guided East Timor to sovereignty. On 20 May 2002, East Timor became an independent state and INTERFET became the standard by which all other armed interventions will be measured.
