There have been a large number of humanitarian interventions since World War II, both with and without UN authorization, which have been legally justified on the basis of preventing widespread and serious violations of fundamental human rights. The dramatic events of 1999 in East Timor highlight the urgent need to reflect on the popular debate on the practice of humanitarian intervention. The case of East Timor is not an ordinary example of humanitarian intervention, indeed some argue that it is not an example at all. This document will contain a critical evaluation of the 1999 UN intervention, evaluating the legality and success of the international community's involvement. The role the Australian government played, or rather did not play, in the resulting chaos will be discussed, as will Australian involvement in Operation Stabilize. Speculation about the federal government's ulterior motives for Australian involvement, such as oil and gas reserves, will also be explored. Humanitarian intervention constitutes the use of military force by one state to rescue people in another state who are suffering depredations at the hands of their fellow man. According to Lee, humanitarian intervention must have as its aim the alleviation of human suffering in the target state or the avoidance of human rights violations inflicted on its citizens. Humanitarian intervention is conventionally thought to occur without the consent of the target state, since consent suggests that there is no need for force. Customary international law has always recognized military intervention for humanitarian reasons. Classic 19th-century examples of humanitarian military intervention occurred when Britain intervened in Greece in 1830; Franco...... middle of paper...... Gap between legitimacy and legality of humanitarian intervention: lessons from East Timor and Kosovo'. UCLA Journal of International Law and Foreign Affairs, Vol. 7, 2002, p. 37.• Weiss, T 'Humanitarian intervention research: some lessons'. Journal of Peace Research, Vol. 38, no. 4, 2001, pp. 419 – 428.• Welsh, J Humanitarian intervention and international relations. Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2006.• Wheeler N, 'Agency, humanitarianism and intervention'. International Journal of Political Science, Vol. 18, no. 1, 1997, p. 10.• Wheeler, N and Dunne, T 'East Timor and the new humanitarian interventionism'. International Affairs, vol. 77, no. 4, 2001, p. 823.• Yoshiko, L 'The Peacekeeping Role of the United Nations in the Post-Cold War Era: The Bosnia-Herzegovina Conflict'. Journal of International and Comparative Law, vol. 16, no. 245, 1993, pp. 245 - 274.