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