New year, new hopes
New year, new hopes
A dull year is past, and new hopes are emerging. However, we foresee many problems, as 2004 is a political year highlighted not only by political strife, but also by a gloomy economy as a result of continuing political instability.
The optimistic would see the 2004 elections as a momentum to awaken this nation from its prolonged crisis. However, whether we would really arise or be buried would depend on how we elect our representatives and leaders.
Meanwhile, our hopes for economic improvement would vanish if we fail to use the upcoming elections as a momentum for change -- that is, if we fail to elect representatives and leaders who have the moral commitment to fight corruption, collusion and nepotism down to their roots.
Unfortunately, there is already a sign that the elections will be unsuccessful. Many "black", or dishonest and tainted, politicians have been included in the list of legislative candidates. Meanwhile, our laws still allow for money politics to influence the candidacy process at every step.
Thus, money politics might also influence the presidential election, prompting the nation to make another mistake in choosing its next president.
We, of course, do not want to have a leader who will take part in corrupt customs, and this is what we should prevent. Otherwise, our hopes for a better economy will remain a dream.
-- Republika, Jakarta
;AP; ANPA ..r.. NA-GEN--Editorial Roundup UNDATED: the Balkans JP/
On mad-cow disease
News of the first apparent case of mad-cow disease in the United States couldn't have come at a worse time: right in the middle of the holidays and with increasing demand for beef having recently set record-high prices.
Now, the question is how to best protect consumers and the cattle industry. The government should address concerns quickly and more comprehensively than it has.
Experts say the chance of any one person developing mad-cow disease is very small, should beef from an infected animal reach grocery stores. But that is only somewhat reassuring.
The brain, spinal cord and lower parts of the small intestine are considered the high-risk materials, not the muscle meat, such as steak and roast. U.S. Agriculture Secretary Ann M. Veneman has said meat is safe because of measures taken to keep nerve tissue out of the food supply - following the crisis in Great Britain that began in 1986 - but other countries take even more stringent precautions.
Among changes to consider here:
More testing and using tests that provide results faster.
-- The Des Moines Register, Des Moines, Iowa
On illegal immigrants
The administration is again moving on an initiative President Bush promoted during his campaign, but dropped once in office. And that is to find a way to legalize the status of the millions of illegal immigrants - primarily from Mexico - who fill crucial jobs across the country.
What's needed is a formal guest worker program that allows Mexican workers to cross the border legally and fill jobs here legally. It would slash illegal immigration - saving countless lives - provide a stable source of workers for companies that depend on immigrant labor, and provide needed protection for immigrants whose status as illegals today leaves them vulnerable to abuses by employers who use their illegal status as a form of control.
Critics of legalizing this immigration contend that it is a security problem since 9/11. But they are blind to the facts.
These illegals are here, in great numbers, and despite massive increases in border security the United States is unable keep them out. ...
It is time to recognize reality. If the immigrants are going to come, let them come openly, with the government's official blessing. Only then can this problem be turned into a solution that meets needs on both sides of the border. -- Pensacola News Journal, Pensacola, Florida
Diplomatic fallout of Iran's earthquake
In times of disaster, the world shows its good side.
People stand together in need - everyone is offering Iran help after the devastating earthquake. ...
Of course rich countries can do so particularly effectively, all problems aside.
Even the Americans are taking part, although for two decades they have had no diplomatic relations with the country, which President Bush counts among the 'rogues' - and their military aircraft are being allowed to land.
In an emergency tensions are forgotten, so it seems.
Moderate tones can be heard from Tehran too. The military says help from everywhere is welcome. President (Mohammad) Khatami says Iran can't cope alone with the disaster.
But not every difference has been swept away, of course. Even in this crisis, the interior ministry in Tehran says help from Israel isn't wanted.
Still, maybe the momentum from the aid can be used to calm tensions further.
If the aid continues into preparing the quake-prone areas for the future, for example through a joint rebuilding of Bam, that could contribute to opening up the country.
That will help everyone - far beyond the current disaster.
-- Tagesspiegel, Berlin
Palestinian-Israeli conflict
The recurrence of the cycle of violence between Israel and the Palestinians after a period of relative calm does not augur well for the Middle East peace roadmap on which all sides have been pinning great hopes.
In retrospect, in the absence of serious peace talks, the prospects for the return to violence become imminent.
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has also been doing everything possible under the sun to undermine the efforts to get the two sides back to the negotiating table.
This is the time for the U.N. Security Council to deal with the Palestinian conflict in a more determined way and take appropriate steps and measures to impose a real cease-fire or armistice in a bid to enforce a solution of its own on both the Israelis and Palestinians alike on the basis of its own Resolution 242 and the roadmap which it has recently endorsed.
The council has the means to enforce its own resolutions on the Palestinian situation. It should exercise its authority without hesitation. Otherwise, the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians would continue to fester and deteriorate to an extent that it could become unmanageable."
-- The Jordan Times, Amman, Jordan
The United States and Iraq
The lasting impression of the war in Iraq is that it showed the Bush administration's new foreign policy put into practice.
A decisive question during the coming year is therefore of course if the policy will last.
In November, there is a presidential election, and the Democratic candidates are to a varying degree representing another view of the role of the only superpower in the world.
But the question is whether not a re-election of George W. Bush would have the most important consequences for the world's political climate. His re-election will, at least by their own standard, be interpreted as a clear acceptance of the foreign policy that has been conducted.
Then we can expect another four years of the same kind - and the question is how many international institutions will survive that. -- Dagens Nyheter, Stockholm, Sweden
Heading off al-Qaeda
We may never know if U.S. officials actually prevented al- Qaeda from carrying out a terrorist attack against the United States last week, but their ability to react to a perceived threat was certainly encouraging.
Counterterrorism agents, armed with what they say was credible evidence that terrorists affiliated with al-Qaeda and the Taliban were planning to launch an attack from France, convinced their French counterparts to cancel six Air France flights scheduled to leave Paris for Los Angeles.
The fear was that terrorists were planning a dramatic Christmas Eve attack against the United States. Reports have varied on whether Los Angeles or Las Vegas was the intended target.
Had terrorists hit either city, it would have been awful. Even if they hadn't struck a city, but instead hit a military installation, a power plant or a dam, a successful attack during the Christmas holidays would have been a major psychological blow - in addition to whatever physical destruction the attackers might have been able to cause.
Two years ago, various law enforcement and security agencies in this country seemed incapable of communicating with one another. The levels of incompetence and bureaucratic insularity were so high that the Immigration and Naturalization Service approved a student visa for Mohammed Atta six months after he died carrying out one of the Sept. 11 attacks.
Yet, last week, in anticipation of al-Qaeda's next move, U.S. officials were able to work with French officials and keep the six French jetliners grounded.
-- The Times-Picayune, New Orleans
The double standard of U.S. border control
As debate continues over the government's proposed border- crossing program, one aspect of the current policy deserves closer scrutiny - different treatment of our neighbors, depending on whether they come from north or south of U.S. borders.
Under the current system, guests from Canada with proof of Canadian citizenship are allowed to remain in the United States for up to six months without any visa. Visitors from Mexico, however, are limited to a 72-hour stay unless they apply for a tourist or business visa. Not only that, but Mexican citizens can't go more than 25 miles from the border, while Canadians are free to travel throughout the United States. ...
If homeland security were a concern, the restrictions should also apply to Canadians. After all, some of the Sept. 11 hijackers entered the United States from Canada, but as far as we know, none came in from Mexico.
Sen. John Cornyn, a Texas Republican, has introduced legislation to eliminate this unfair treatment. His bill would give Mexican citizens entering with visas the same six-month stay Canadian citizens enjoy. ...
This treatment of our southern neighbors doesn't stem from any security reason. It's based on the decades-old fear that visitors from Mexico will abuse the system and remain here illegally. But the current system doesn't stop those looking for work. It merely curtails tourism among Mexico's middle- and upper-class citizens and engenders ill will between the United States and Mexico. Our system is downright unneighborly.
-- The Gazette, Colorado Springs, Colorado
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The Lima News, Lima, Ohio, on attempts to limit cigarettes in movies:
In what might be one of the most egregious misuses of elected office, several states' attorneys general went to Hollywood last week to meet with movie industry executives in an attempt to limit the use of cigarettes in movies. While many state attorneys general made names for themselves with the 1998 tobacco settlement, we fail to see how the officials have any business telling Hollywood what it should or should not put in movies, at least not in their official capacities.
Smoking is an unhealthy habit and it's best for people if they never start smoking. Years of studies and common sense tell us these things are true. But how is it the government's responsibilities to be sure children get the message? In earlier times, parents made sure their children knew what was good and what was bad. Have we really come so far from that ideal that we need Hollywood to impart those messages?
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GetAP 1.00 -- JAN 2, 2004 01:55:01 ;AP; ANPA ..r.. NA-GEN--Editorial Roundup By The Associated Press=
JP/
By The Associated Press=
A selection of excerpts from editorials in newspapers worldwide: --- The Daily Telegraph, London, on George Bush and the war on terrorism:
Following September 11, 2001, George W. Bush warned that the war on terrorists and their sponsors would be long and of global reach. Persistent pursuit of such a goal was always going to be hard to maintain, whether because of the softer options offered the electorate by the political opposition or through bureaucratic inertia. Sensing this, two neo-conservatives, David Frum and Richard Perle, have issued a renewed wake-up call in a book to be published tomorrow.
"We can feel the will to win ebbing in Washington," they write in An End to Evil. "We sense the reversion to the bad old habits of complacency and denial." They remind their readers that the likes of Osama bin Laden require another spectacular act of mass murder to justify their propaganda, and conclude that there is no middle way between victory and holocaust. ...
It is, perhaps, best to see the Frum and Perle book as the opening shot in a bid to set the agenda for a second Bush presidential term. The issues they discuss will be as relevant then as they are now, and their bold solutions will still deserve a reasoned response. For both men have fully grasped the seismic change in world affairs that September 11 represented.
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Corriere Della Sera, Milan, Italy, on criticism of Italy in the European media:
Two European papers, the Financial Times and Le Monde, speak of Italy and of its government in spitefully negative terms, in their editions of Monday and Tuesday.
The first asks if the laws asked for by Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi (in particular the one on false accounting) have not contributed to the seriousness of the Parmalat case.
The second lists Berlusconi's mistakes during his tenure as European Union president.
It is certainly true that the conflict of interest and the tailor-made laws passed by the Berlusconi government represent an ugly page in Italy's history.
It is also true that the boasting, the jokes and the pats on the back belong more to the style of a salesman and a soccer supporter than to that of a statesman.
But (we) have the impression that some of the liberal newspapers of Europe are inventing an Italian scapegoat in order to mobilize the indignation of their moralist readers.
If (the newspapers) want to do Berlusconi a favor they should continue in this way. They will guarantee him the support of the little nationalism that still exists in this country. --- La Razon, Madrid, Spain, on greater airline security:
The nature of the Sept. 11 attacks and the terrorist threats and plans that have since come to light amply explain the demands by U.S. authorities that foreign airlines should have armed police among their passengers. ... The U.S demand is reasonable not only because it boosts security but also because it comes from a country which is known to be a preferred target of international terrorism. ...(Spain's) Interior Ministry would do well to heed the request as it would also benefit Spanish airline passengers. ... But neither should we ignore warnings by Spanish pilots and crews who roundly reject firearms on planes. We must not forget that a shot from a gun in a pressurized cabin thousands of meters up in the air could have disastrous effects. But this should spur the search for an equally effective alternative to conventional firearms with which to arm the agents so as to avoid an attack and overcome those who would try to cause another firestorm like that of Sept. 11.
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Asahi Shimbun, Tokyo, on mad-cow disease in the United States:
The repercussions from the first case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy in the United States have been felt around the world, with many countries suspending imports of U.S. beef.
In Japan's case, the United States is a chief beef supplier along with Australia. U.S. beef accounts for 30 percent of all beef consumed in Japan. If the import ban continues, beef prices will likely soar. ...
It will not be possible to resume U.S. beef imports while consumer anxiety lingers.
It had long been said there was no reason to worry about BSE in North America. But earlier this year, BSE infection was confirmed in Canada. When we consider how BSE that originated in Europe spread to Asia and North America, it has to be acknowledged that containing BSE within borders is extremely difficult.
What kind of an inspection system is required to allow beef imports and exports? Isn't it about time for governments to start international discussions about inspection systems, presenting their individual screening standards?
There is no need to fear BSE excessively. But in order to eradicate consumer anxiety, each country needs to establish a stringent inspection system. Retailers, too, should display reliable information about where and how the meat was produced. --- Aamulehti, Tampere, Finland, on the Serbian elections:
Voters in countries that were born from the ruins of former Yugoslavia don't seem to have learned a thing from the dismal history of the region, but are again ready to throw matches into the powder keg of chauvinism.
In a short space of time extreme nationalists won elections in Bosnia, Croatia and, most recently on Sunday, in Serbia where the largest parliamentary group is turning out to be the greater- Serbia Serbian Radical Party led by Vojislav Seselj who stands accused in the war crimes tribunal in The Hague.
Another Serb, also on trial in The Hague is former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic who was elected to Parliament even though the socialist party he leads didn't do well otherwise.
The Serbian election result was a harsh protest against the Hague process. However, despite their election defeat the democratic Serbian parties cannot bend to the will of the public but must be allowed to rectify the bloody past of the country.
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Berlingske Tidende, Copenhagen, Denmark, on the Serbian elections,
What is worrisome is that the largest party in the country has a leader, the nationalist Vojislav Seselj, who has been jailed by the U.N. tribunal at The Hague. And that the former president, Slobodan Milosevic, who is charged with war crimes, could appear on the ballots...
The outcome of the election can possibly be interpreted as the electorate punishing the government because it has not lived up to (the voters') expectations. In such case, the punishment is inappropriate because it points directly back at a policy that has brought nothing good for either Serbia or any of the countries in the Balkans. --- MORE[
GetAP 1.00 -- JAN 2, 2004 01:54:39