On the Bali bombing
On the Bali bombing
The Indonesian government's caution in pronouncing on the nature of the Bali Bomb attack is understandable as the country, alone among the Southeast Asian core nations, has consistently downplayed the reach of the al-Qaeda terror network from its Middle Eastern base.
Question: Will Indonesia now be prodded to live up to its duty of handling the menace? The Bali attack will have taught nothing if nations most at risk maintain the delusion that dealing with terror cells would compromise domestic political order.
The Bali incident prompts two questions. First, President George W. Bush needs to take a step back in the light of the attack and think hard: Has his campaign against organized terror been sidetracked by his obsession with Iraq? Second, Indonesia will be inviting unwelcome American intervention if it does not face up to what is clearly a violation of its honor.
-- Straits Times, Singapore
Indonesia and terrorism
As the devastating explosion Saturday on the Indonesian island of Bali shows, the United States can lead the war against international terrorism - but can't win it alone.
Indonesia - the most populous Muslim nation - is rapidly becoming a haven for domestic and foreign Islamic terrorists, who hope to use it as a new base of operations. However, President Megawati Soekarnoputri has chosen not to bear the political risk of tackling this enormous security problem head-on and her nation has just paid a steep price for her timid, ineffective leadership.
Despite pressure from the United States and Indonesia's neighbors, Megawati has failed to aggressively push for the passage of a strong anti-terrorism law that has been stalled in the Indonesian parliament. ...
Any hope of defeating terrorism requires a high level of international cooperation - which Megawati has unwisely chosen to withhold. The tragic folly of that approach should be obvious to Megawati and other Indonesian political leaders. The terrorists responsible for the Bali attack cared only about wreaking havoc against the West, and nothing about the serious harm they caused Indonesia.
-- The News Tribune, Tacoma, Washington
Sniper-induced fear in Washington
The sniper who is taunting police and gunning down victims at random is doing far more than frightening the residents of the Washington, D.C. area. His twisted spree of killing has sent a shudder through every American.
We can imagine what the fear must be like in Washington and its suburbs. We can imagine because the victims are just ordinary people, going about daily routines - pumping gas, mowing the lawn, going to school, shopping at a strip mall. ...
When police catch him, they will likely find an explanation. There's already one tantalizing clue: a Tarot card with the message, "Dear policeman, I am God." That suggests a set of personality traits to criminologists, so the maniac may start to come into focus. Many think his skill with a rifle suggests someone with military or police training. Some theorize he's an intelligent, middle-aged white man who has recently suffered a humiliating setback that triggered the spree. In this age, is it too much to wonder if these could be the deliberate acts of a terrorist? ...
-- Chicago Tribune, Chicago
Iraqi denial and deception
Iraq has made denial and deception a finely tuned art designed to convince the world Saddam Hussein's regime isn't cooking up deadly weapons of mass destruction.
An analyst with the Defense Intelligence Agency called the Iraqi denial and deception program "a deliberate, methodical, extensive and well-organized national-level, strategic effort, which aims at deceiving not just the United States, not just the United Nations or even the public media, but, in fact, the entire world."
John Yurechko, a DIA expert on information operations and "D&D," as he refers to denial and deception, said Hussein goes to great lengths in concealing his intentions from the world. ...
Since the end of the Gulf War, he explained, Iraq's denial and deception campaign has had three main goals: blur the truth about Iraqi compliance with the Nuclear Proliferation treaty and U.N. resolutions; keep U.N. Special Commission inspectors from learning the full extent of Iraq's WMD capabilities and prevent UNSCOM from completely disarming Iraq's nuclear, chemical, biological and long-range missile programs in accordance with U.N. resolutions. ...
This is why international inspectors must be given unbridled access to scour Iraq for biological and nuclear weapons.
-- American Press, Lake Charles, Louisiana
On a war against Iraq
President Bush's speech last Monday seeking support for war against Iraq was a succinct reiteration of the reasons he thinks Saddam Hussein poses a threat to U.S. security. But once again, we think he failed to make the case that a unilateral, pre- emptive attack by the United States is necessary or even advisable....
The administration repeatedly has failed to discuss the potential ramifications of such a strike, how it would establish a friendly regime once Saddam is gone, how it would deal with instability in the region caused by a war and how it would pay for the war and rebuilding a decimated Iraq.
Bush's pose as the liberator of the Iraqi people rings hollow. ...
The president would do well to consider backing a plan advocated by some members of Congress, including Rep. John Spratt, D-S.C. ... Instead, he has called for "coercive inspections" of Iraqi weapons sites, conducted by a coalition of forces under United Nations auspices. This approach would have two advantages: 1. The president would make clear that the U.N. must enforce its own rules against Iraq; 2. The United States would make the obvious but seldom stated point that Iraqi weapons pose a greater threat to its neighbors and even much of Europe than they do to this country. ...
-- The Herald, Rock Hill, South Carolina