'And then there is the military...'  Indeed.  Here is a perfect example of the military's unpredictability.  In this small river flood plain there is ample opportunity to plant rice; the foreground stands testament to that.  But the midground area, equally capable of supporting a rice crop, is left unplanted.  Fr. Locatelli reports that the military has denied access to the back half of this land.

How can families plan their cropping strategies when they do not even know if they will have access to even the smallest piece of land?  Suharto, and now Habibie, are guilty of calculated, systematic destruction of Timor's ability to take care of itself.