Re: LOW TECH ENEMIES

From: <DAWGFACE47@webtv.net>
> YEPPERS. BEEN THERE, DONE THAT A BUNCH OF TIMES. . . .
>
> and it can be a lot of fun.
>
> for instance. . . .

Truth Is Stranger Than Fiction department.

>From http://ecosonics.homestead.com/Bougainville.html (Unbiased
article)

In 1965, huge quantities of copper were found at mountainous Panguna.
Bougainville Copper Limited was formed with Conzinc Rio Tinto (CRA)
owning
53% and the PNG government 20%.  In 1969 the Bougainville women
protested
about the loss of their land, lying down in front of the earth movers
and
were forcibly removed. Production began in 1972 and by the 1980s the
Panguna
copper mine accounted for 40% of all of PNG's exports and 19% of state
revenues.
In 1989, the Bougainville people, lead by Francis Ona destroyed pylons
to
the mine effectively closing it down. They demanded 11 billion dollars
compensation from BCL. PNG replied by sending in the police, and as
trouble
escalated, they also sent the PNG Defence Force. Bougainville was
without an
effective fighting force and both the PNG and Australian governments
assumed
that the trouble could be resolved relatively quickly.

However, Sam Kauona, a Bougainvillean lieutenant with the PNG DF and
trained
in Victoria, Australia, specialising in ammunitions, returned to his
island
where he began to train a guerrilla-style fighting force called the
Bougainville Revolutionary Army (BRA). Significantly, Sam Kauona has
been
the only Bougainvillean trained within the PNG Defence Force. He and
other
Bougainvilleans, notably Ishmael Toroama were instrumental in a number
of
successful campaigns against the PNG DF. After the initial temporary
withdrawal of the PNG DF the BRA claimed the independence of
Bougainville in
1990 using the name Me'ekamui (God's chosen island).

From
http://www.alastairmcintosh.com/articles/1990_bougainville.htm (Unbiased
Secessionist sympathiser)

In August 1988, Francis Ona warned that landowner patience was running
out.
By
November he had established the Bougainville Revolutionary Army (BRA)
after
stealing explosives from the Panguna mine and declaring that "the only
way
is for
us to shut the mine".  Following police clearance of a landowner road
block
the
explosives were used for the  sabotage of BCL and later, government
property.
Powerlines, transportation, the telecommunications station and the
international air
terminal have since been blown up. By Christmas 1988, the mining
operation
had
been forcibly halted.

From
http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/24/146.html (Straight reporting of
one
side only)

SYDNEY (Mar 3, 1997 07:49 a.m. EST) - South African and British
mercenaries
have begun reconnaissance missions over Papua New Guinea's war-ravaged
island province of Bougainville, secessionist rebels charged here
Monday.
-->8--
His claim followed weekend reports from rebel sources that 170
"foreigners"
had already landed on Bougainville and that up to 190 paid fighters had
been
hired by Prime Minister Sir Julius Chan's PNG government.

Havini said the mercenaries were on the island to conduct "surgical
operations" aimed at wiping out rebel leaders.

From
http://www.greenleft.org.au/back/2001/475/475p14.htm (Loony Left)

The Bougainvilleans won the war, and have kept the Panguna mine,
"stolen"
from Rio Tinto, closed.

Now these Bougainvilleans - cheeky buggers! - are even suing Rio Tinto
in a
US court for damages and reparations for the deaths and devastation they
suffered in the 10-year war.

The Bougainvilleans found a Seattle lawyer, Steve Berman, famous for
having
beaten American tobacco companies in major legal battles, to take their
case
to the Federal Court in California.

From
http://www.atimes.com/oceania/DD12Ah02.html (April 11, 2002) ( Strictly
Business )

BRISBANE - Bougainville Copper Ltd (BCL), the operator of a giant
Panguna
copper and gold mine that is gathering dust in Papua New Guinea, said
that
there is no prospect of reopening the mine. The mine was closed in 1989
as a
result of militant secessionist activities on Bougainville island.