East timor was hardly even covered in the U.S. media(no big surprise), but I'm sure the sports world was.
It is a wake call to most of us that believe bad things can't happen in modern times, but bad shit like that happens in places like the Congo a lot. We just blow it off and wonder who will be eliminated on American Idol.
So yeah, I think one day we may be in for a rude awaking. For the U.S.A. our version of this would be Mexico. I always thought invading Mexico was more important then fighting in Iraq and Afganistan, and lately things are getting real interesting on the border.
I remember when I was in Indonesia for a short while. I was blown away by how third world it was. It reminded me of pictures in Soldier of Fortune magazine of Central America back in the 1980's. When I was touring one of the Indonesia Marine bases there I saw they even still had PT-76 tanks!