From: "Damien Lawson"  <DPL-AT-fedcmac.edc.rmit.edu.au>
Date:          Mon, 1 Apr 1996 23:38:36 +11EST
Subject:       re: Bougainville


On March 28, John wrote:

A snippet of news in yesterday's Asian Age...

PNG PM Julius Chan said on thursday that military operations had 
resumed on Bougainville after an 18 month ceasefire (or should that 
just read news-black out?). Anyway, CRA no doubt kept their good name 
out of it. What more? Gerard? Toby? Damien?

Yes thats right, essentially Chan is repeating the same formulas of the  
past eight years of the PNG governments war against the BRA. When the 
war is not going too well - fiscal crisis, moral problems, unable to 
ensure ongoing support of a section of the Bougainvillean population 
crucial to the progamda about this being a civil war - you start peace 
negoiation. When you can't get what you want, you start cranking the war 
up. Of course as has occured over the last year the war continues if a 
ceasfire exists or not. When BRA leaders returned from peacetalFrom owner-aut-op-sy  Mon Apr  1 11:33:01 1996