SEPERTI BIASANYA - YANG LOKAL DIBAGI DUA SABTU-SENIN
SEPERTI BIASANYA - YANG LOKAL DIBAGI DUA SABTU-SENIN
The fear of SARS
The public's fear of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) has yet to diminish despite the measures being taken by the government. In Pesanggrahan, South Jakarta, a woman who had just returned from Singapore was almost 'expelled' by neighbors who suspected that she was carrying the deadly SARS virus.
She had spent two weeks in the Sulianto Sarosa hospital, which is a designated hospital for dealing with SARS cases, and the final report on whether or not she has the virus had yet to be made public.
People have also been thronging shops selling masks, while traditional medicine shops in Jakarta's Glodok are also selling enormous quantities of herbal medicines and green tea, which are believed to improve the body's resistance and eliminate all kinds of viruses.
The producer of an energy supplement drink has exploited the public's anxiety about SARS by touting the drink through an advertisement that looks like a public service announcement.
Many people are still exploiting the public's fear of SARS for their own benefit, despite the fact that SARS has provoked international worry, hurt tourism around the world and inflicted major financial losses.
Indonesian tourism has also suffered from the SARS problem. Many large-scale events, including sports events, have had to be canceled for fear of SARS. Bali, which had just started to recover after the bombings, has now been dealt another blow. Our tourism industry has also been hit hard by the Iraq war.
-- Warta Kota, Jakarta
The new imperialism
April 9, 2003 was an historic day, especially for the Iraqi people. On this date, through Al-Jazeera and CNN, the world witnessed the coalition forces 'conquering' Baghdad without meeting any serious resistance.
The allied troops toppled the huge statue of President Saddam Hussein that had been standing in the center of the city of Baghdad for years. The fall of the statue was considered as marking the end of Saddam's 27-year-old reign.
Given the latest developments in Iraq, how should Indonesians and the rest of the international community react?
As of Thursday, no one knew where Saddam was. The whereabouts of his close aides also remained a mystery. Many speculate that Saddam could have been killed in a coalition air raid. Others think that Saddam and his aides are still hiding somewhere in a bunker, or that they have slipped out of the country.
Saddam's loyalists have been outgunned by the coalition forces with their modern weaponry. And nobody can do anything other then accept the reality.
Iraq may come to be ruled by a (new) democratic regime after the war, but the question remains: how many governments have been toppled because they were opposed to America. In Algeria, the Islamic party, which won the elections, was kept out of power. Similar things have happened in Turkey and Pakistan. Even the fall of Indonesia's first president Sukarno was due to U.S. interference at that time.
As part of the civilized community, we don't want to see the entire world being controlled by the president of a country called America.
-- Republika, Jakarta
Democracy and post-war Iraq
The mere thought that democracy will wash over Iraq and carry away other Arab countries in the Middle East like a domino effect is naive and unrealistic.
The Arab countries have no democratic tradition.
Most Arab countries are based on clan structures and often are split between ethnic and religious population groups. It doesn't mean that democracy will never grow in the Middle East, but it means that it will take a long time and it cannot be forced by foreign powers like the United States did with Germany and Japan after World War II.
The United States can garner much support if it supports the idea of a United Nations role in a future Iraq.
It will also help improve the relationship between Europe and the United States, a relationship that both parties need in light of future challenges.
-- Kristeligt Dagblad, Copenhagen, Denmark
The 'war of demonstration'
The raids of armored columns this weekend in Baghdad were a demonstration of force designed to be seen and heard. ... They show the incomparable firepower of the United States army. ...
The United States has shown that it is not afraid of suffering losses. ... The war is not, any longer, sanitized: It is dirty, it kills, it mutilates - and this is accepted. ...
In Washington, some insolent people are asking a politically incorrect question: What if the demonstration of force produces the opposite effect (than what is sought)? And if, instead of dissuading countries from equipping themselves with weapons of mass destruction, the war incites them to develop these weapons to protect themselves from an "Iraqi" situation?
The "war of demonstration" would then become a machine to accelerate the proliferation of the most dangerous weapons and terrorist acts.
-- Le Monde, Paris
War in Iraq
There was no doubt how the war on Iraq would end... It was a war of an almighty military power versus outdated arms and puny defense ability. Difficulties for the United States will be to establish peace in one of the world's most unstable regions; to sow democracy in a ground fertile of autocratic regimes; to eliminate pockets of anti-Americanism in a society that has seen American bombs rain on it as an undeserved flagellation. It will require changing methods... It is time for diplomacy - the time of State Secretary Powell...
The best prescription seems to quickly involve the international community. Forget about appointing a temporary administration with Iraqi opposition leaders, or appointing an American viceroy. More sensible would be to entrust this mission to the United Nations, which would organize the first elections in the post-Saddam era. This week, after meeting with British Prime Minister Tony Blair, President Bush said the United Nations will play "a vital role" in the reconstruction of Iraq. It is modest pledge, but it is also a beam of hope.
-- O Globo, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Rumsfeld warns Syria, Iran to stay out of war
Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and Secretary of State Colin Powell have publicly warned Syria and Iran, both of which have borders with Iraq, to stay out of the war.
Syria was warned to stop selling military equipment to Iraq. Iran was warned not to send forces across its 900-mile border with Iraq.
Both the actions that prompted the warnings and the countries that were warned represent sensitive issues in themselves, which makes one ask why the threats weren't delivered privately, through diplomatic channels, rather than in public pronouncements.
The bottom line is that the war in Iraq has serious potential for expanding beyond the borders of that country to become a regional conflict. That is a problem, and Rumsfeld's and Powell's public warnings to Syria and Iran do not make the situation in the region easier.
-- The Blade, Toledo, Ohio