Aceh is on the boil again. The peace deal between the

Aceh is on the boil again. The peace deal between the
Indonesian government and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) signed in
Geneva has failed to stop or reduce the tension. The five-month-
old peace agreement is apparently not worth the paper its written
on.

As usual, the Indonesian government has once again missed the
opportunity of doing the right thing. Worse still, the Joint
Security Committee (JSC) has failed to function properly as
expected.

GAM has told residents living in rural areas that the peace
deal is a step toward independence, while government bureaucrats
consider the peace deal as being the end of the line.

Aceh is a story about misery, injustice and long-running pain.
Therefore, even without the Geneva peace deal, the government
should be aware that improving the well-being of the Acehnese is
a must. The government should have made brave and significant
moves in this direction.

The special autonomy that has been granted to Aceh will mean
nothing unless concrete policies and steps are taken to improve
the welfare of the Acehnese.

The central government and the Aceh provincial administration
could have launched rural improvement programs.

We were shocked to hear that President Megawati Soekarnoputri
has asked the military to be ready in case the peace deal doesn't
work.

Peace is still far from being the reality in Aceh, but
deploying military force in Aceh is a another way of shooting
oneself in the foot.

-- Media Indonesia, Jakarta

Beware of dengue fever

The number of dengue fever cases being treated in Jakarta
hospitals has been increasing recently.

Actually, there is a period every year when the number of such
cases increases. The end of the rainy season is usually the
normal time for outbreaks of the deadly disease.

In 2001, 20 out of 4,162 dengue patients died, but from
January to August 2002 dengue fever killed 40 people in Jakarta
and its surrounding areas.

Jakarta is obviously prone to dengue fever. The environment
and Jakartans' poor awareness of the viral disease are the main
factors in its spread. Dengue fever is transmitted via the Aedes
aegepti mosquito.

Now that the disease has killed many people, there is no
choice for residents but to get regular checkups at their local
public health centers. Most victims are too late in seeking
medical attention after the symptoms appear.

We should all be more alert, especially given the emergence of
Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS).

-- Warta Kota, Jakarta

Does Iraq really have
chemical weapons?

The Iraq war has been taking place for more than 19 days, and
the U.S.-led troops are very close to controlling the capital of
Baghdad, but there has been no sign that Iraq has used or will
use weapons of mass destruction.

Yet, the U.S. and Great Britain accused Iraq of developing and
possessing such hazardous weapons and used such an accusation to
legitimize their attack on Iraq.

The war is still going on, and thus, suspicion that Iraq will
use its lethal weapons, including the biological, chemical and
nuclear weapons, is still relevant.

But, as the war is nearing 'completion', Iraq has yet to use
weapons of mass destruction. Meaning that the U.S. and UK worries
were misguided -- at least that is what it seems like so far.

We could conclude - for the time being - that there has been
no concrete evidence that Iraq has weapons of mass destruction.
The war has been going on for more than 19 days, but the U.S. and
UK have shown no proof that such an attack was legal.

The attack on Iraq is a blatant form of despotism. The
unjustifiable war becomes more and more unjust as more and more
Iraqis get killed, and material losses are also mounting.

If the U.S. and UK had listened to the United Nations (UN) and
the international protests, the tragedy in Iraq would not have
happened.

-- Kompas, Jakarta

The progress of war

In many ways, the war in Iraq is continuing more smoothly and
with fewer dramatic consequences than some had predicted.

Many horrible scenarios, which war opponents lined up a few
weeks ago, have not happened.

Before the war, there were worries of massive civilian losses
in Iraq. Despite examples of alleged mistakes in bombings and
civilian casualties, the precision of the attacks on Iraq has
been impressive.

Before the war, some said it would cause a permanent rift
between France and Germany and Britain and the United States.
Disagreement between the two sides remains, but already there are
signs the countries are moving to repair the damage.

Before the war, many said terrorist attacks on western targets
would increase. Iraq has apparently started a new tactic with
suicide attacks against British and U.S. soldiers, but there's
been no wave of terror in the United States and Europe.

No one should think it will be easy to topple Saddam and
disarm Iraq, but a lot of those worst-case scenarios have
remained just that.

That's worth remembering in the middle of the war.

--Berlingske Tidende, Copenhagen, Denmark

The expensive war

The war in Iraq is becoming harder and longer than expected,
and much more expensive than planned.

This is tragic considering the increasing number of casualties
and also has consequences for the world economy. The longer the
war goes on, the longer we will have to wait for the longed-for
upturn.

Since it would seem there will be no spike in oil prices, the
economic effects of the Gulf War should be limited.

But it is certainly an illusion to believe that, after a short
war in Iraq, the dynamism of the 'new economy' era will return.
At best, we can hope for a temporary stimulus for growth.

Weighing much more heavily is the fact that the world's big
economies are still having to struggle with the effects of the
transition to the information age - along with the accompanying
wave of speculation on the stock exchange and gigantic over-
investment by companies in the 1990s.