Bush can learn from Susilo on disasters handling

Bush can learn from Susilo on disasters handling

Kornelius Purba, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

U.S. President George W. Bush should not feel embarrassed to seek
the advice of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on how to handle
natural disasters and how to persuade his mother Barbara to stop
making statements that could spark anger among people when they
meet during the United Nations summit in New York next week.

Susilo, who will celebrate his 56th birthday on Friday,
deserves credit for the way in which he handled the Dec. 26
tsunami disaster, which struck out of the blue. In fact, he did
much better than President Bush in handling the aftermath of
Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, even though Bush had been
informed about the hurricane long before.

Barbara Bush's statement -- perhaps she thought the criticism
of her beloved son was getting out of hand -- that the people of
New Orleans had been very poor even before the hurricane has
angered black people. Susilo's mother, Sitti Habibah, never comes
out in public to defend her only son, who is now the subject of
strong criticism by many for his perceived indecisiveness. In
fact, not a day goes by without negative reports about her son in
the media.

One of the pieces of advice that Susilo could give to Bush
would be to act decisively when facing an emergency. Many
Americans have criticized Bush's lack of attention and seriousness in
helping New Orleans. It is very difficult to suggest the same as
regards Susilo's seriousness in helping the Acehnese people. Most
people would agree that he has worked very hard and determinedly
on behalf of the nation, although many also expect better results
from his hard work.

Of course, Bush could argue that Susilo was able to do better
in Aceh as the U.S. sent its best military personnel and
equipment to help the tsunami victims. Susilo should refrain,
however, from sending his officials to help the Katrina victims
as the temptation might be too great and they might end up
stealing aid meant for the victims.

As a token of appreciation of the U.S.'s great help to the
tsunami victims, Susilo should make a dollar donation to help the
Katrina victims. The American people would appreciate a show of
solidarity from Indonesia.

Giving advice to Bush could turn out to be one of his most
important missions during a 15-day overseas trip he will take
until Sept. 24, which will also bring him to Saudi Arabia,
Jordan. Kuwait, United Arab Emirates and Palestine.

Although many politicians, media people and scholars who think
they have a natural right to criticize other people are not happy
with his leadership, the leaders of other countries are impatient
to get their change to met with our President. British Prime
Minister Tony Blair and U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice
are among the foreign dignitaries who want to meet him during his
five-day trip to New York, which ends on Sept. 17.

He has even been invited to open the New York Stock Exchange.
Isn't that a sign of the great esteem in which our President is
held?

"The meetings are at the request of the other leaders, not
us," a senior Indonesian diplomat said on Wednesday.

While Arab leaders seem reluctant to listen to Bush's speeches
on democratic values, knowing full well that oil is of much more
interest to Bush than democracy, it is a different matter with
the President. Arabs are more willing to listen to Indonesia.

Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation, can share
her experiences with other predominantly Muslim nations about how
democracy can be implemented.

Susilo's sharing of experiences is not politically or
economically motivated. Of course, when the Arab leaders then
decide to send more oil to oil-thirsty Indonesia after
enlightening discussions with the President, the President is
quite likely to say a sincere Alhamdulillah (thank God), as this
might serve to let him off the hook as regards increasing oil
prices.

However, his two-week overseas trip means there will be no
Cabinet reshuffle at least until the President returns home on
Sept. 24.

After returning from his trip, we all hope that the President
will exhibit renewed decisiveness.

Bapak President, if the public continues to criticize your
leadership, you can counter the critics by saying, "Even
President Bush listens to my advice. Are you all smarter than
him?"

The writer can be reached at purba@thejakartapost.com