Britain and the euro

It is a bad idea to hold a referendum if one is positively sure in advance that one will lose.

That alone was a wise and realistic decision, which British Finance Minister Gordon Brown made public Monday when he decided that Britain's decision to take part in the euro was once again sent to the sidelines.

Very few doubt that the British government - especially Prime Minister Tony Blair - very much would like Britain to be a part of the euro. However, the opinion polls have always indicated that it will be hard to get a "yes" in a country that traditionally has been skeptical of the European Union.

-- Berlingske Tidende, Copenhagen, Denmark

Middle East

The U.S. government has decided to send a small team of observers to monitor the truce. But such a team is not enough, either in its capabilities or the credibility of its neutrality. An international team should be considered that would include representatives of the European Union and Russia.

Last year, United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan proposed sending a team of U.N. officials as observers, but Israel objected, claiming the world body is against Israel.

This time, however, the painstaking efforts being put forth in peacemaking must not be left solely in the hands of the parties directly involved. Previous cease-fires have failed time after time because the parties in conflict distrusted each other so deeply. If Israel refuses to comply, the United States must apply pressure.

We hope the Arab nations will support the Palestinian Authority's Mahmoud Abbas in his peacemaking efforts. Of course, they should also maintain a close watch on extremists in their respective countries and open their own dialogue with Israel.

This peacemaking initiative has come about because the Bush administration has turned positive toward peace in the Middle East. The people of Arab nations will not, however, simply forget the pro-Israel leaning of the United States or the war against Iraq. If the United States departs from the path of being the honest broker, the peacemaking process will be jeopardized.

-- Asahi Shimbun, Tokyo

Le Figaro, Paris, on strikers:

From one strike to another, from one test to another, one cannot even 'measure' the degree of the strikers' fighting spirit and their determination on one hand and the government's firmness and skill on the other hand any more. ... Alas, the situation shows the social dialogue typical for France. ... But the generally established assessment hides some truths.

The first stems from the analysis of these movements. It is insufficient to announce ... the number of trains and subways that have been stopped or the number of schools that have been disrupted. ... These statistics don't give a sense of the strikes' consequences, the daily life of millions of French deeply disturbed, the resulting trauma, the slowing economic activity. ... There is a permanent and voluntary underestimation of the reality.

The second evidence, also deliberately hidden, is that one doesn't know any more who is actually really driving the social movement. In spite of their call to strike, the unions don't always seem to dominate them. During the Pentecost weekend, the considerable transportation disruptions seem to have been more due to some groups or personnel choosing themselves, the organizations having decided to observe a truce.

The last truth is the consequence of the first two. Considering abuses, acts of malevolence and certain verbal provocations ... considering the disregard of the law, one asks oneself, yet again, where is the state's authority. [ MORE[

GetAP 1.00 -- JUN 13, 2003 00:16:43 ;AP; ANPA ..r.. NA-GEN--Editorial Roundup UNDATED: state's authority. JP/

UNDATED: state's authority. [ Daily Telegraph, London, on Poles joining the EU: Diffidently, and with heavy hearts, Poles have voted to join the EU. Even the intervention of Pope John Paul II, the greatest living Pole, did little to enthuse them. While many trudged obediently to the polling stations after Mass yesterday, there was no hiding their reluctance. Poles understand the agony of foreign rule better than most. After finally winning their independence in 1918, they were occupied first by the Nazis and then by the USSR. Having lived through all this, they are unwilling to contract out their sovereignty to a foreign capital yet again. Why, then, have they voted to join at all - albeit on a low turnout? Two reasons. First, because they had little alternative. The EU is a ruthless commercial neighbor. Since the end of the Cold War, it has imposed stricter quotas on Polish exports than it did during the 1970s. Outside the EU, Poles would have carried on being squashed between two large trading blocs. Second, because almost every politician in the country lined up behind the "yes" campaign, leaving only two rural Right-wing parties against. Politicians, of course, have a personal stake in the result. Many of them have already arrived in Brussels, and are enjoying the awesome tax-free expenses available there. ... [ Tages-Anzeiger, Zurich, Switzerland, on the Middle East: A rocket attack could lead to the collapse of the latest peace initiative in the Middle East even before the first steps have been taken toward its realization. The Israeli assassination attempt against Hamas leader Abdel Aziz Rantisi will not be without consequences. That is clear after 32 months of the Intifada. It is also not the first time that Israeli Premier Ariel Sharon has played this game. Last year around Christmas a cease-fire with extremist Palestinian resistance organizations held for three weeks. Then the Israeli army murdered Fatah leader Raed Karmi, and the spiral of violence and revenge began again. By now the Israelis have intentionally liquidated more than 150 activists. These executions were the biggest provocation for the militant resistance organizations and the main reason why all attempts by the Palestinian government to achieve an armistice have failed. At the summit in Aqaba last Thursday Sharon gave his agreement to the road map. Thereby he, too, committed himself to refrain from anything that would again undermine the confidence between the two parties to the conflict. With yesterday's attack he intentionally broke this commitment. The rockets aimed at Rantisi have above all hit Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas. His chances of agreeing on a cease-fire with Hamas are probably finsihed, and Sharon has his justification not to have to take any more steps toward peace. ... [ Seattle Post-Intelligencer, on free press crucial to democracy: One element of Operation Iraqi Freedom is moving too quickly for the Bush administration -- freedom of the press. Both the U.S. State Department and commanders of U.S. occupation forces in Iraq are scurrying to come up with rules for the proliferation of media suddenly blossoming in the absence of Saddam Hussein's reign of censorship and repression. Vehicles of news and opinion, and, apparently, more of the latter, are popping up everywhere, and much of the opinion is apparently critical of the United States and its occupying troops. There are calls for resistance, even violence. There are statements that spokesmen for the U.S.-led Coalition Provisional Authority say are likely to incite "violence or ethnic or racial hatred." ... But what sort of democracy can the Iraqis build without a free press? ... Those shepherding this new democracy would do well to consult one who helped birth another one more than 200 years ago. In the Virginia Bill of Rights, a model for Thomas Jefferson's Declaration of Independence, George Mason wrote that freedom of the press "can never be restrained but by despotic governments." [ Herald-Star, Steubenville, Ohio, on Martha Stewart: Martha Stewart is merely the latest in a string of corporate leadership types to face federal charges involving mishandling of stock, though it would seem as if Public Enemy No. 1 has been arrested. It would be tempting to say it's all a federal conspiracy, especially when one compares what is happening to Stewart with what is happening to executives from Tyco and Enron. But that temptation must be avoided. Stewart sold some stock and is accused of misconduct regarding her actions before and after the sale. But her case is a mere blip on the horizon compared with the inventive accounting and outright lying alleged to have taken place at Enron and in other executive suites in the 1990s and early in this decade. Her conduct is, however, no less wrong if the charges can be proven. [ The Times, Shreveport, Louisiana, on Halliburton post-war contract: It's obscene. Halliburton's war contracts in Iraq and Afghanistan have reached $500 million, and are growing. Potentially, as the Army's sole provider of troop support services - think feeding, clothing and sheltering 150,000 men and women abroad - Halliburton's Kellogg-Brown subsidiary has received work orders for $529.4 million involved in the two wars. The work orders were awarded under a 10-year contract that has no limits. ... Instead of putting the Iraq work up for bids ... the government has used the 2001 Halliburton Army contract to order work in Iraq. It's open-ended; Halliburton stands to make billions. ... We have heard the Bush administration's arguments for deciding on Halliburton and they have a grain of reason. The huge Halliburton empire is the only American company multitasked sufficiently to meet urgent deadlines. That is an indirect self-indictment of the administration. While rolling out an effective war strategy, the United States proved unprepared for the day after liberation. In the months of buildup by an administration intent on invasion, why weren't more businesses solicited or alerted about postwar needs. If the decision was that Halliburton was the only capable contractor, that insults American business ingenuity and adapatability to meet sudden challenges. ... What Americans - and other companies - will note is an unbid contract, inked in 2001 with no limit on spending and limitless profits for Halliburton.

GetAP 1.00 -- JUN 13, 2003 00:16:55