Got chemistry, can relate

Got chemistry, can relate

Personal chemistry is going to feature in relations that
Singapore conducts with its two main neighbors, Indonesia and
Malaysia. When all is said and done about treaties, memoranda of
understanding and complementing one another's economic strengths,
it is the easy, personable relationship the leaders enjoy that
would smooth out discord and disagreements which are bound to
crop up in competitive bilateral relations. The personal
friendship that Mr Lee Kuan Yew developed with President Soeharto
in his long years as prime minister was what brought harmony to
dealings between two unlikely neighbors.

Conversely, an inability to "click" will be a serious
impediment to ties in a region that is anything but homogeneous
in governing ideology, ethnic makeup and levels of progress,
besides contrasting world views. The power trajectory of the
three countries' new leaders did not intersect fully. Mr Lee
Hsien Loong and Abdullah Badawi of Malaysia had known each other
reasonably well before they ascended the premiership. Still, they
need to cultivate each other. But neither of them can be said to
be "thick" yet with Indonesia's President Susilo Bambang
Yudhoyono, who traveled in a different orbit until quite
recently.

This is added reason why Prime Minister Lee should invest in
his personal relationship with Susilo. It had been noticed in
Jakarta -- with much appreciation -- that Mr Lee had attended the
President's inauguration last month. His official hello call in
Jakarta this week drew from his host warm words of friendship.
Indonesian leaders of Javanese cultural reflex set much store by
personal warmth and politesse. Naturally, frequent contact will
not mean much if the chemistry is not right. The three new
leaders are fairly equable in temperament. None seems given to
dominating the other. There is a good chance they can hit it off,
to the region's overall gain.

It is Singapore's lot, however, to have its leaders
stereotyped as business-like, impatient to see results. This is
no handicap, provided mutuality of interest is observed. On Mr
Lee's visit, the Indonesians raised matters such as an
extradition treaty and sand exports. Singapore has practical
concerns about economic cooperation and the region's response to
the terror threat. There are sensitivities on both sides. If
there is chemistry in the mix, no issue can seem forbidding.
-- The Straits Times, Singapore

Taking Fallujah

The combat in Fallujah is intense and the ultimate outcome
cannot be certain.

The challenges that are presented by urban warfare, not least
hidden roadside bombs, have been anticipated and new technology
employed to limit the damage. It is, though, impossible to outwit
all possible attacks and both the United States and Iraqi forces
will sustain casualties.

Fallujah is not the only rebel stronghold. There are other
places where law and order is far from ideal. But Fallujah has
become a symbol of a wider contest. If the United States is seen
to have won on the ground in military terms and the authorities
in Baghdad are perceived to have regained political control
outside the capital, Iraqis will feel far more secure.

The most important objective now is to ensure that as much of
Iraq as possible is in a state where free and fair elections can
be completed next year and full power handed to the
representatives of the people. The fight for Fallujah will
largely, but not exclusively, determine whether that entirely
noble aim can be realised.
--- The Times, London

Arctic thaw

Not only has it moved beyond the realm of science fiction, but
the Arctic ice cap's melting has been much faster than anyone has
suspected. That is one of the important conclusions of a report
published at the behest of the Arctic Council, a forum composed
of eight nations with Arctic territories, including the United
States.

The report describes some of the possible environmental
effects of this change. Many northern animal species, including
polar bears and seals, are likely to become extinct. Vegetation
and animal migration patterns around the world will shift.

But although the report's scientific conclusions will be the
subject of an international conference in Reykjavik, Iceland, the
authors intentionally do not offer specific recommendations,
political or environmental, on how to halt or cope with these
changes.

Such recommendations are supposed to come from diplomats and
indigenous representatives who will also be meeting at the
Reykjavik summit, however. And already, these are the subject of
controversy: Some participants have accused the Bush
administration of resisting a mild endorsement of the report and
of rejecting even vague language suggesting that greenhouse gas
reduction might be part of the solution. Given the thorough
nature of this report, and given that the election is now over,
that would be inexcusable. At the very least, we hope that the
final language reflects a practical, commonsensical and
depoliticized approach to what will certainly be one of the most
pressing environmental issues of the next half-century.
--- The Washington Post

Battle for Fallujah

Many British people regard the battle beginning at Fallujah
and last week's casualties among the Black Watch with dismay,
even revulsion. They perceive an ugly predicament in Iraq growing
worse by the day, and Tony Blair allowing hapless British troops
to be dragged ever deeper into it. Here, they say, are the first
fruits of the re-election of George W. Bush, an ignorant and
dangerous man. Heaven help those shackled to his chariot wheels,
when he really gets into his stride.

There are good reasons for questioning Bush's fitness to lead
the world, and for savaging his administration's handling of
Iraq. Yet it seems gravely mistaken to go beyond this and start
to hope -- as so many French and German people hope -- that
Washington's hubris will be humbled in the Sunni triangle. Even
Bush's Western critics should beware of wanting him to fail in
Eyerack.

Win or lose, we are in this together. If America fails, we all
fail. If Iraq dissolves into anarchy, as well it may, the world
will be the loser. The fact that the United States has not used
its power wisely since 2003 does not diminish our profound need
for this power, to save us from the consequences of failed and
failing states. In Iraq, we are where we are. Political defeat or
premature withdrawal threaten not only a vacuum and even greater
bloodshed, but lasting damage to world order.

If Iraq is to have any chance of becoming viable, January's
elections are critical. It is impossible to make every part of
the country secure for polling in the next two months, but the
insurgents must be pushed back and weakened. Breaking their hold
on Fallujah is a crucial step.
-- The Telegraph, London

Deportation from Oman

Among factors that have given a bad image to Pakistan is
illegal immigration. As a news item reveals, the deportation by
Oman of 602 more Pakistanis brings the number of those expelled
from that country to 33,000 in four years. If to this are added
Pakistanis deported from other countries, the number reaches
mind-boggling proportions. Most of them are poor and illiterate
people from rural areas. They left the country because of lack of
job opportunities. Which is a reflection on our ability to have a
more productive agricultural sector.

Pakistan is lucky because its agriculture is dependent on
irrigation and not on the vagaries of nature. Unfortunately,
several factors have inhibited the growth of agriculture, the
foremost being an outdated land-ownership pattern that does not
give the tiller of the soil a strong stake in productivity.
Invariably, our peasant is poor and illiterate. For that reason
he is left with only one option -- to go to the cities in search
of jobs. There, he often falls victim to "the Dubai syndrome".

The way the unscrupulous among the recruiting agents exploit
these people is a story unto itself. They ask them to pledge many
months' salaries in advance before being smuggled to the Gulf
countries. Invariably, it is the illegal immigrants who are
caught and punished and not the recruiting agents who thrive on
the former's misery. The only way to stop illegal emigration is
first to improve the country's economic condition and provide
jobs to the people so that the compulsion to migrate is not
there. At the same time, the government should keep an eye on the
activities of recruiting agents.

The illiterate emigrants often do not know the basics of
modern travel and immigration rules. Consequently, they lend
themselves to manipulation by recruiting agents. What the
government can do is to do some "debriefing" when a batch of
illegal immigrants returns, find out who sent them abroad
illegally and take action against those responsible. This should
include jail terms, besides canceling the recruiting companies'
license to operate.

-- The Dawn, Karachi

;AP;
ANPA ..r..
Editorial Roundup
UNDATED: to everyone.
JP/

UNDATED: to everyone.
[
Helsingin Sanomat, Helsinki, Finland, on the Fallujah offensive,

The second attempt by the United States to quell the
insurgency in the Sunni area of Fallujah is a telling example of
the bad choices the occupying force has been forced to make,
caused by its own earlier mistakes and neglect. Unless Fallujah
and other similar hotbeds fall under the control of the interim
government, the elections planned for January cannot be plausibly
held.

But if the civilian casualties and material damage caused by
the offensive are great the rage of the populace could grow and
the already limited ability of the government would collapse and
elections become even more impossible.

The previous attempt at occupying (Fallujah) in April was
suspended precisely because the price to pay was considered too
great. The United States cannot afford another failure if not for
anything else but its own prestige, and the recent election
victory has given President George W. Bush's administration a
freer hand.

However, the destructive strikes in recent days in various
parts of Iraq are an indication that the insurgency is not
limited to a few separate hotbeds. The United States can easily
win every individual fight, but its strength and resources don't
seem to be sufficient to bring peace to the whole expansive
country.
[
Rocky Mountain News, Denver, Colorado, on the legacy of Yasser Arafat:

On Sept. 9, 1993, Yasser Arafat signed a letter to Israeli
Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin pledging that the Palestine
Liberation Organization "recognizes the right of the State of
Israel to exist in peace and security." That was a lie, and it is
one of many reasons the world should not mourn the passing of
this petty tyrant. ...

The list of crimes the PLO chairman has incited or been
associated with over the years would stain every page of a good-
sized book. Highlights, however, would include the slaughter of
athletes at the 1972 Olympics by Black September; the
assassination of U.S. diplomats in Sudan in 1973; the massacre of
schoolchildren at Maalot in 1974; a bus hijacking that killed 35
civilians in 1978; the slaying of Leon Klinghoffer on the Achille
Lauro in 1985; the torture and execution of Palestinian
dissidents, especially during the intifada of the late 1980s and
early '90s; and the suicide bombings of the Al Aqsa Martyrs
Brigade in more recent years.

... Arafat's death will provide Palestinians with an
opportunity to turn away from the violence of half a century to
choose a more productive course. ...
---
On the Net:
http://insidedenver.com/drmn/opinion/article/0,1299,DRMN-38-3306492,0 0.html
---

Bradenton Herald, Bradenton, Florida, on Bush and his
political capital:

President Bush certainly is entitled to "spend the political
capital" he earned by winning re-election. ... The big question
is, how much will his capital buy in what could be a contentious
"marketplace," a Congress and nation sharply divided by war,
social-values issues and fiscal policy.

Bush's tone and demeanor at last week's post-election news
conference indicated he sees his victory as a mandate for a broad
agenda of domestic reforms on which he campaigned. Certainly,
compared to some elections in which the victor claimed a mandate
by a far smaller margin -- John F. Kennedy did so after beating
Richard Nixon by 2/10 of 1 percent -- Bush's 51 to 48 percent,
3.5 million-vote margin over John Kerry could empower the
president to set ambitious goals for his second term. ...

Certainly the president is entitled to push the policies that
he thinks are in the nation's best interests. But it would be a
mistake to do so in a partisan atmosphere. He pledged to work
across party lines to help heal the rifts caused by the campaign.
If he breaks that pledge, he could find himself in the same
failed-second-term syndrome as some predecessors who overreached.
Bush indeed has political capital. We only hope he spends it
wisely.
---
On the Net:
http://www.heraldnet.com/stories/04/11/07/edi-editorial002.cfm
---
San Francisco Chronicle, on the Fallujah attack:

The immediate military outcome of the offensive by U.S.
soldiers and Marines against insurgents in control of Fallujah is
hardly in doubt. Our troops, accompanied for symbolic purposes by
thin ranks of newly trained Iraqis, will take charge of the city,
notorious for the killings and dismemberment of four American
contractors last March.

... The Fallujah offensive is supported by the interim Iraqi
government of Prime Minister Ayad Allawi in the hope that
pacifying Fallujah will help the country to hold credible
national elections in January.

Yet, questions remain about the likely success of this
strategy. Some in the minority Sunni community threaten to
boycott the voting, while clerical leaders of the Shiite majority
see it as their path to power.

... United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan is not
confident that Iraqi violence can be quelled sufficiently to
create an effective election climate, or that a military
offensive now will aid the democratic cause. He warned against
launching the Fallujah offensive. ...

The Bush administration's policy for remaking Iraq faces hard
testing in the next few months.
---
On the Net:
http://sfgate.com
---

Lebanon Daily News, Lebanon, Pennsylvania, on the killing of
Dutch filmmaker Theo Van Gogh:

Many Americans may have missed the story of how Dutch
filmmaker Theo Van Gogh was shot, had his throat cut and had a
long jihadist manifesto pinned to his flesh with a knife as he
cried out for mercy. This happened in Amsterdam, the most pacific
and tolerant of European capitals, in broad daylight, last
Tuesday.

Van Gogh, the great-grandnephew of the famous artist, was a
provocative satirist and social critic with secular postmodern
liberal views. His film "Submission," features a woman in a see-
through burka telling the story of an abusive and violent
marriage from which her own family would not protect her for
religious reasons. ...

The suspect in Van Gogh's death is a 26-year-old Moroccan
immigrant who belonged to the same Islamist cult as Abu Musab al-
Zarqawi, who directs the jihad in Iraq. ...

... There can be no place in Western civilization for people
who react to those who offend them by murdering them in cold
blood or issuing religious edicts calling for their death. ...

... Also deplorable is the apparent answering crime to Van
Gogh's death: The bombing of an Islamic elementary school on
Sunday. The bomb, whether by design or great good fortune, went
off at 3:30 a.m. The most hopeful thing we could say is that the
bombers were trying to send a message without sending blood into
the gutters, but hate is hate, and crime is crime, and the
bombing, like the murder, was both.
----
On the Net:
http://www.ldnews.com/Stories/0,1413,139101412523478,00.html
---
The Post-Standard, Syracuse, New York, on morality:

Morality may be the surprise issue of the 2004 campaign. But
whose morality?

According to exit poll interviews, one-fifth of the voters
cited "moral values" as their chief concern. Words like
"morality," "faith" and "family values" seemed to resonate as
never before in the electorate. And of those voters, eight in 10
picked President Bush.

This doesn't mean challenger John Kerry is somehow less
"moral" than Bush. The former altar boy who carried a rosary and
Bible with him on the campaign trail has no less "faith" than the
incumbent. So how come his "values" failed to impress all those
American voters?

... If you don't happen to be an evangelical Christian; if
your views of "morality" and "family values" don't include a ban
on gay marriage or civil unions, outlawing abortion and embryonic
stem-cell research; if you are uncomfortable erasing the line
between church and state; this election provided only cold
comfort.
---
On the Net:
http://www.syracuse.com/opinion/poststandard/index.ssf?/base/opinion- 3/1099648586315781.xml
---
The Herald, Everett, Washington, on President Bush's second term:

If people learned anything about George W. Bush in his first
term, it's that he isn't afraid to think big. Those who love him
admire his zeal; those who loathe him are terrified by it.

The mild overture he made to Democrats following his re-
election last week hardly signaled a retreat from his aggressive
style. It was an invitation to help him implement his party's
goals, not an offer to compromise them. But even in that light,
the president has a rare and real opportunity to forge consensus
and make historic progress on some difficult, long-standing
issues.

Two of them: Social Security reform and the Israeli-
Palestinian conflict.

Social Security, as Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan
has warned repeatedly, cannot in its current form support the
impending retirement of 77 million baby boomers. Major changes
must be made, and they'll be unpopular. ...

In the Middle East, the distraction of the war in Iraq kept
the Israeli-Palestinian peace process on the back burner of U.S.
foreign policy. Now, with a leadership change coming to the
Palestinian Authority, the president should seize the moment and
reassert traditional U.S. leadership. ...

Historic opportunities don't often intersect with a leader who
has the vision and political capital to take advantage of them.
We hope this president realizes that.
---
On the Net:
http://www.heraldnet.com/

GetAP 1.00 -- NOV 12, 2004 01:22:26
;AP;
ANPA ..r..
Editorial Roundup
By The Associated Press=
JP/

By The Associated Press=
Here are excerpts from editorials in newspapers around the world:
---

---
On the Net:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion
[
-- La Nacion, Buenos Aires, Argentina, on post-election
Afghanistan:

For the first time in 5,000 years, Afghans have freely chosen
their national leaders. Hamid Karzai was declared the winner in
the first presidential elections in the country, which has been
plagued for years by tyranny, wars and high levels of poverty.

After three weeks of investigating, authorities determined
there was no fraud that should invalidate the result of the
elections. The joint electoral committee that Afghans formed with
the United Nations confirmed that Karzai earned 55.4 percent of
the votes cast Oct. 9. In addition, a call has been made for
opponents to cease fighting and work together to rebuild the
nation. ...

The country's economy has grown by 15 percent over the last
three years, small businesses have multiplied, and some 3.3
million refugees living in neighboring countries have returned.
These positive facts inspire hope that the first electoral
process in Afghanistan will mark an opportunity to end the
enormous poverty ... that prevails in that society.
---
On the Net:
http://www.lanacion.com.ar/opinion/Nota.asp?nota-id=652116
[
Sueddeutsche Zeitung, Munich, Germany, on the U.S. and Iraqi offensive in Fallujah:

The offensive in Fallujah is filled with political and
military symbolism, which is why America's future in Iraq could
be decided in this city.

The attack by U.S. troops and Iraqi National Guard members
falls between two elections.

In the United States, the commander in chief has just been
freshly legitimized. ... In Iraq , elections are supposed to be
held in January, by which time the offensive should long have
been successfully concluded.

Such a success would strengthen the incumbent Iraqi Prime
Minister, (Ayad) Allawi.

But Fallujah is more than a town -- it is now the symbol of
resistance, it is the insurgents' recruitment office. ...

This, in the eyes of the occupied nation, is where its
relationship with the occupiers will be decided. For the
Americans, Fallujah is supposed to become an example of strength
and determination.

Washington cannot accept terrorism and Islamic extremism
becoming established.
---
On the Net:
http://www.sueddeutsche.de
[
La Stampa, Turin, Italy, on Bush's administration:

With 59 million Republican votes at his side, President George
W. Bush begins to design his strategy for the new four year
term. ... Don't pull back a millimeter from the fight against
terrorism and stay on the offensive against those States that
support it, without repeating the same mistakes committed in
Iraq.

Bush wants to stay on the offensive against terror because
this is the mandate he received by an electorate who has rewarded
the idea that only by promoting freedom worldwide, you can obtain
freedom domestically.

We are now at a time when the new administration takes shape
and this is the right moment for Europe to attempt to influence
the course of events in Washington. It's not a coincidence that
Britain's Prime Minister Tony Blair is to arrive at the White
House and France's Foreign Minister Michel Barnier has launched
the proposal to strengthen the dialogue between the US and the
European Union. Both will put Bush's intentions to the test.
---
On the Net:
http://www.lastampa.it/redazione/default.asp
[
Stavanger Aftenbladet, Stavanger, Norway, on the U.S. elections:

It was the biggest turnout since 1960. The Kerry camp was
overjoyed. Commentators in the U.S. and Europe were sure that a
big turnout would help the Democrats. Instead, George W. Bush,
with his message of patriotism and conservative Christian values,
had the largest reserves.

For liberal America, this must be food for thought. Bush is
the most controversial president since Richard Nixon. He is mired
in Iraq, which costs American lives every week. He hasn't created
new jobs. He has given huge tax breaks to the rich. And he has
the majority on his side anyway. ...

The Republicans, the party for the economic elite, managing to
mobilize average citizens is result of a weakening link between
the economy and politics. ...

With the economy removed from politics, values, culture and
style moved in. ... Bush has managed to play on the antipathy
rural voters and laborers often feel toward the urbane, liberal
elite.

(For the Democrats) a key question will be how to renew a
dialogue with the social groups they alienated.
---
On the Net:
http://stavanger-aftenblad.no/

[

Singapore Straits Times, on Arafat's legacy:

The imminent departure of the gravely-ill Yasser Arafat will
remove the only icon that Palestinians have had since their land
was transformed by the United Nations into the Jewish state of
Israel 56 years ago. He reinvented himself from being a civil
engineer in Kuwait, part of the six-million-strong Palestinian
diaspora living in various countries but not in the independent
state that it yearned to have.

He was a practitioner of the in-your-face school of politics
whose primary weapon was his personal veto: No to opportunities
for Palestinian statehood offered by sympathetic leaders like
former U.S. President Bill Clinton, no to anything other than
full and complete possession of the historical Palestinian
homeland -- the maximalist approach that Israel would never
countenance. Like many ambitious men with a driving dream and an
emotionally charged constituency, Arafat substituted stubbornness
for statesmanship. That is why Palestinians now lack a clear
voice for their cause. Arafat has left behind only a tattered
flag for them.

That flag will never be hoisted in an independent Palestine
unless the re-elected and energized U.S. President George W. Bush
brings intransigent Israelis, Palestinians of all ideological
hues, the overly cautious Europeans and the United Nations, to
the bargaining table.

As Arafat's name becomes one for the ages, it is fair to ask:
What if he had been more practical on behalf of dispossessed
Palestinians and less focused on grandstanding? His flag would
have stood for full-fledged statehood today, not as a symbol of a
worthy cause that failed during his extraordinary lifetime. Say
this for Yasser Arafat: he was sui generis but that was not
enough.
---
On the Net:
http://www.straitstimes.com/
[
The Egyptian Gazette, Cairo, Egypt, on Arafat:

Like comatose Yasser Arafat, the Palestinian cause is clinging
to life. Both have been co-related for decades. But Arafat's
passing should by no means sound the death knell to the long-
unresolved problem.

Arafat is an enduring symbol of his people's struggle for
nationhood. He epitomizes their dream for ending Israeli
oppression and forging a new future. Like all freedom fighters,
Arafat's larger-than-life stature will live on. What will things
be like after Arafat's departure? The question is on the minds of
several sides ... the Palestinians, the Israelis and the United
States.

Tel Aviv and Washington have been at pains to marginalize
Arafat, depicting him as a main obstacle to making peace between
the Palestinians and the Israelis. Arafat's physical
disappearance is most likely to come to the pleasure of both
Israel and the United States. They will be hankering after
finding someone to step into his shoes. Of course, this hand-
picked successor will have to promote the American-Israeli
agenda.

Arafat's disappearance may galvanize the United States to
revive efforts to broker an end to the Palestinian-Israeli feud.
These endeavors should be sincere, impartial, and most important
of all, based on U.N. resolutions. Sticking to these yardsticks
holds the key to a happy ending to everyone.
---
On the Net:
http://www.eltahrir.net
[ MORE[

GetAP 1.00 -- NOV 12, 2004 01:15:35