The military has been tremendously important in the past during catastrophes and in protecting the population. But it shouldn't become an auxiliary police force.

Nevertheless, I do know that we are part of a danger zone, we have military operations in Afghanistan and we're training the Iraqi police force. The terrorists also have us in their sights.

The mere presence of a military police force creates a huge deterrence for those who would steal from innocent residents or businesses,

This so-called police force is in reality a ruthless paramilitary organization, equipped with a full range of military hardware, including heavy machine guns, and armored personnel carriers,

We have a powerful military force in the Gulf ready to protect our interests there. We have in the past used a variety of military assets, including Tomahawk (cruise) missiles and aircraft, to protect our interests. And we will be able to do that in the future.

The onus of that task falls on the armed forces and the police force in East Timor and they haven't done a good job in recent times. It's important that they perform more effectively and do everything they can to stop the violence and move to disarm the two sides -- the paramilitaries and the pro-independence side,