Let's contemplate the violence around us

Let's contemplate the violence around us

In the newspapers last Friday were at least four stories of
violence: Wahyu Hidayat, a student at the state-run Public
Administration Institute in Bandung, was mobbed to death by
fellow students. A student brawl claimed the life of Sirma
Yanuar, 16, in North Jakarta, and there was a follow-up report on
the death of the police officers in Central Sulawesi. There was
also a story about the discovery of a woman's mutilated body in
Depok.

Many of us ignored these stories, but many others wondered why
there is so much violence in our lives now?

We believe these tragedies could have been avoided. Now all we
can do is take these tragedies and learn from them in order to
prevent future incidents.

An investigation into the deaths of the four police officers
in Central Sulawesi is proceeding.

The impact of this violence is that people feel less secure
and safe, while security is a prerequisite for those living and
trying to make ends meet in the capital.

With guaranteed security, we could build a more democratic
society. Democracy means respect for the rights and functions of
others. These recent stories prove that democracy and violence
antagonize each other.

What we can do is prevent more violence from taking place in
our society. Let us live humbly and respect each other, and we
will be able to ensure security and comfort.

-- Kompas, Jakarta

;JP;
ANPAk..r..
Otherop-Iraq-attack
On Iraq
JP/6/OTHER

On Iraq

Most Iraqis aren't racking their brains over whether Saddam
loyalists or al-Qaeda was responsible for the attacks on the
Jordanian embassy, the U.N. mission and Shiite leader Mohammed
Baqir al-Hakim. The fact is they see themselves confronted with a
kind of force previously unknown in Mesopotamia.

In addition there has been an unprecedented wave of
criminality, ranging from murder to larceny and kidnapping. Fear
has become a constant companion. And worst: It won't get better,
but just the opposite.

Regardless of religion or political or social position there
is agreement: The American occupiers, still unable to guarantee
security almost five months after the fall of Baghdad, are
responsible for the precarious situation.

Loud criticism of the coalition is even coming from people who
have been working closely with the United States.
The list of mistakes held up to the coalition is long.

Why were the police and the military dissolved? Why are the
borders open, so that anyone who wants to can walk in? After five
months of "freedom," the Iraqis want to see their police back on
the streets and their own soldiers on the borders. They think
they are capable of doing what the American army has failed to
do.....

Maybe soldiers from Poland, Mongolia or Nicaragua can help
defuse the strained relationship between occupying power and
population, but they are not the solution. Only the Iraqis
themselves can fill the security vacuum.

In Najaf and Karbala - the hallowed cities of the Shiites - a
special U.S. police unit is supposed to take up duty in coming
days. Suddenly this is going very fast. But this method of
casting Iraqi warnings to the wind and correcting one's own
mistakes is proving to be fatal and expensive.

-- Tages-Anzeiger, Zurich, Switzerland