Posted on 01/27/2014 5:55:15 PM PST by naturalman1975
When Peter Cosgrove was named 2001's Australian of the Year, the citation listed the qualities that Australians have come to recognise in him – strength, determination, intelligence, compassion and humour.
General Cosgrove has been appointed Australia's 26th Governor-General, replacing Quentin Bryce. He is seen as a popular, apolitical choice for the role.
He was born into a military family in Sydney in 1947 and graduated from the Royal Military College, Duntroon, in 1968.
In 1999, he came to national prominence when he was appointed commander of the international peacekeeping mission in East Timor.
A referendum seeking independence from Indonesia led to widespread violence in the fledgling nation, and General Cosgrove stepped in as part-military commander, part-diplomat.
He oversaw more than 11,000 troops from 22 nations.
"I did a lot of the talking; they did all the working," he said when dedicating his Australian of the Year honour to those he served with.
In 2000, he was appointed chief of the Army, and in 2002, he was appointed chief of the Defence Force.
He retired from active service in 2005.
In 2006, General Cosgrove was called on to lead the taskforce to rebuild communities in far-north Queensland, following the devastation of category-five Cyclone Larry.
Since retirement, he has worked as a non-executive director of Qantas.
(Excerpt) Read more at abc.net.au ...
Quick history of East Timor
“A Roman Catholic country. About 30% of the population died by murder, starvation or disease after they were forcibly annexed by Indonesia (mainly Muslim). After voting for independence, many Christians were exterminated or exiled by the Indonesian army and army-funded militias in a carefully planned program of genocide and religious cleansing.”
And THAT is why Australian troops went in...
I don’t know his political views at all - he has been a great soldier and a great leader of people his entire life - I imagine he will be a great Governor General no matter what side of the isle he sits!
Mel
He sounds like a good man. Hopefully Abbott will replace the leftist loons infesting the government by previous administrations.
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