The controversial division of Indonesia's province of Papua has finally been postponed. The decision was made during a meeting on political and security affairs chaired by Coordinating Minister for Political and Security Affairs Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.
Unfortunately, the decision to postpone the division of Papua into several provinces was made after several Papuans have fallen victim to the creation of Central Irian Jaya province late last week.
The latest conflict in Papua, which erupted last Saturday, is a reflection of the government's poor policy. The conflict also reflects overlaps in laws, poor socialization of the laws, and the government's failure to understand its people's aspirations.
The conflict stemmed from certain rules, including Law No 45/1999 on the division of Irian Jaya, issued during former president, BJ Habibie's term.
Habibie issued the law to prevent the easternmost province from seceding from Indonesia.
He also issued Presidential Decree No 327/1999 on the nomination of Central Irian Jaya and West Irian Jaya governors.
Habibie, however, delayed the implementation of Law No 45/1999 and revoked his presidential decree after the House of Representatives rejected them.
Habibie's successor, Abdurrahman Wahid, changed the name of Irian Jaya into Papua on Dec. 25, 2000.
Wahid's successor, President Megawati Soekarnoputri issued another rule, that is, Law No 21/2001 on special autonomy for Papua.
Unfortunately, Presidential Decree No 1/2003 on the acceleration of the creation of Central Irian Jaya, East Irian Jaya and West Irian Jaya has triggered conflict.
This daily has suggested that any system of rule the government has already issued should thus be legitimized clearly, otherwise the flaws in managing the country would be taken advantage of by irresponsible people.
-- Media Indonesia, Jakarta
Shuttle report
The seven astronauts who perished with the Shuttle Columbia on Feb. 1 could have been saved. NASA does not do enough for the safety of its men. These are the conclusions reached by a panel of experts charged with determining who was responsible for the accident.
It is a very harsh accusation brought against the American space agency. The defense is as expected: it was impossible to foresee that the small damage to the heat shield tiles would be fatal.
It will be a long debate. What is certain is that NASA is no longer the organization that made us dream at the time of the lunar missions.
In the Sixties, space exploration had similar goals to military research and commanded almost unlimited resources. This is no longer the case.
Paradoxically, as space travel becomes routine, the adventure becomes more dangerous. Of course there's no such thing as a zero risk, but the real question is one of conscience. Did NASA really do everything that was humanly possible? Isn't it time for certain senators in Congress to examine their consciences as they suggest patching up old shuttles instead of investing in new development? -- La Stampa, Turin, Italy
Bombay bombing and India-Pakistan ties
So far, no one has taken responsibility for the terror action in the Indian city of Bombay in which about 50 people lost their lives and 150 were seriously injured. It can therefore only be pure speculation about who was behind it, even though India authorities already pointed to militant Islamic organization Lashkar-e-Taiba, based in Pakistan. ...
Lashkar-e-Taiba is one of two terror organizations fighting for a free Kashmir, and has strong indirect support from Pakistan. ...
Pakistan was quick to condemn the Bombay bomb, which was aimed at innocent civilians. At first, India accepted the condemnation. But yesterday, Deputy Prime Minister Lal Krishna Advani, known as a hawk in foreign policy, said Pakistan's declaration would not be credible unless the country turns over 19 people that India wants for terrorism.
It is hard to say whether that statement signals a harder Indian line that could torpedo the difficult peace process Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee put his prestige behind. ... If that dialogue breaks down, the consequences will be great.
-- Aftenposten, Oslo, Norway
The operation in Iraq
Having forced the war in Iraq without support of some of his strongest foreign allies, President George W. Bush now finds himself in need of help from those very same people. Secretary of State Colin Powell recently met with United Nations Secretary- General Kofi Annan to try to win support for a resolution calling on member states to give more help to Iraq. But Secretary Annan has made it clear that the Security Council is unlikely to back additional troops in Iraq without United States' concessions to share decision-making and responsibility with the U.N. ...
Therein lies President Bush's problem. He wants help ... but insists the U.S. will continue to control all the military, economic and political decisions in post-war Iraq. ...
President Bush should now ask for U.N. help and be prepared to allow some United Nations' involvement in decision-making in Iraq. ...
Having assured Americans that peace was at hand in Iraq and everything was under control less than a month ago, President Bush now must explain how it is that the al-Qaeda that he said was being dismantled has managed terrorism in various places around the globe and other terrorists are at work in Israel. ...
America is moving swiftly into darker days. Unlike the horrendous events of World War I and II, the terrorism spreading throughout the globe results in part from U.S. insistence that America knows best. Its implications are ominous.
-- The Day, New London, Connecticut
Another report on 'Columbia'
It's the story of our time more than any other, symbolic of a period in which we trust large public and private organizations with a part of our future. It's a story about the weaknesses that exist in some of the ruling technocratic giants and scientists when they lose their sense of mission - when they 'go off their rocker,' as it were.
It's in this way, in any case, that you might read the report, published Tuesday, Aug. 26, by the investigative commission on the Columbia space shuttle accident which took place Feb. 1 this year. Seven astronauts died after 16 days in space at the end of the flight, when Columbia exploded on its return journey above Texas ....
A remarkable document in its frankness, indeed brutality, the report denounces first the drift of the NASA culture. It stigmatizes the passage from an obsessional culture of security to a culture demanding missions at all costs. It's this perversion of objectives that generates a mentality of 'it has to happen,' one which leads to blindness toward certain risks ... and to the weakening of the systems of precaution ....
The study of this causal chain - the example of the collective mistake - should interest all large organizations.
-- Le Monde, Paris
;AP; ANPA ..r.. NA-GEN--Editorial Roundup UNDATED: be great JP/
UNDATED: be great --- Helsingin Sanomat, Helsinki, Finland, on bringing tyrants to justice:
Three simultaneous events in the world underline how inconsistently and hypocritically the world community treats tyrants. President Saddam Hussein is being tracked down in Iraq - with good reason - and with no regard to expenses in money and human lives. At the same time, Liberian president Charles Taylor is allowed to slip into exile to Nigeria, and one of the most brutal dictators in recent history, ex-Ugandan president, Idi Amin, dies after spending two luxurious years exiled in Saudi Arabia.
But it would be unfair to blame only Saudi Arabia or African countries, because the Western world is equally stained by the selective treatment of flagrant violators of human rights.
U.N.-led justice has made some advances in the past few years with the agreement in Rome in 1998 to set up the International Criminal Court.
Unfortunately, the beginning has not been too auspicious, because the three central world powers, China, Russia, and the United States, have not ratified the agreement.
... the United States - though often raising its voice over human rights violations - is a country willing to use any available methods to block the work of the ICC. It has even threatened to cut off military aid to countries that refuse to agree to bilateral agreements to make Americans exempt from war crimes tribunals.
The ICC is so far the best attempt to create an international system to control and hold perpetrators of war crimes and tyrants accountable. But the same goes for the ICC as for all other activity initiated by the U.N.: it is the member countries themselves that decide how well it will work. ---
--- --
De Telegraaf, Amsterdam, Netherlands, on shipyards: The closing of the Van der Giessen De Noord shipyard is a bad business. Not only is it bad for the 400 people who will lose their jobs, but also bad for the Netherlands: a piece of history and expertise will be lost. The shipyard ran into financial problems in part because of competition from countries that pay their workers less. That's a market force that the ship building industry can't escape. Worse is the accusation that other countries - especially other countries in Europe - unfairly subsidize their shipyards. The European Union should investigate this charge. ---
--- The Patriot-News of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, on American troops in Iraq:
The Bush administration is under growing pressure to increase the number of troops in Iraq amid an upsurge in deadly terrorist attacks and general lawlessness.
At the same time, a new Newsweek magazine poll found that 48 percent of Americans want U.S. troops brought home. ...
The administration line continues to be that troop strengths are adequate, but it is lobbying hard for other countries to send troops and appears ready to push for a U.N. Security Council resolution to formalize that appeal. ...
Clearly, the administration was ill-prepared for postwar demands in both Iraq and Afghanistan, assuming, as Vice President Dick Cheney put it, that U.S. troops "will be greeted as liberators." ...
America should be pressing ahead to restore Iraqi political and police control. And it should redouble efforts to keep the United Nations engaged in Iraq and other countries, assisting the U.S. with security, humanitarian and economic needs. But until those efforts pay dividends in the form of boots on the ground, America will need additional forces to restore order before the situation spirals out of control in an ever-mounting cost of blood and treasure. ---
Daily News, Los Angeles, on the recall and special interests: Remember California's do-nothing Legislature, the hapless body that couldn't pass the state budget for months and didn't fix anything when it finally did? The Oct. 7 recall election has made those days a thing of the past. ... Suddenly, legislators are ready to get to work, and work hard, to crank out legislation at breakneck speed. In total, Gov. Gray Davis stands to sign or veto as many as 1,300 pieces of legislation - that's more than 10 for every member of the Legislature - before his Oct. 7 judgment day. And it's judgment day that drives the frenzy. Special interests of all kinds - business, labor, attorneys and more - know that Davis is desperate for campaign cash and so is everyone else. ...(T)he special interests see this time as a going-out-of-business sale - everything must go, no reasonable offer refused. This is their chance for once-in-a-lifetime bargains, deals that won't still be around should the state come under new management on Oct. 8. ... Because business in Sacramento is done with a wink and a nod - rather than a quid and a quo - it's impossible for anyone to prove any actual wrongdoing except for those foolish enough to get caught on tape. But the signs are everywhere, and 1,300 new laws from now, it's doubtful that the lot of average Californians will be any better. ...
GetAP 1.00 -- AUG 29, 2003 00:15:25 ;AP; ANPA ..r.. NA-GEN--Editorial Roundup By The Associated Press= JP/
By The Associated Press=
Here are excerpts from editorials in newspapers in the United States and abroad: --- Asahi Shimbun, Tokyo, on six-way talks on North Korea in Beijing:
North Korea's pursuit of a nuclear weapons capability threatens the peace and security of not only the Korean peninsula but also the whole of Northeast Asia. The meeting in Beijing is the first historic opportunity for all countries with direct interest in the issues, and with influence in their resolution, to be represented.
Japan, South Korea, Russia, China and the United States all have their own agendas for the talks. In general, however, it is considered that it is best to begin with the premise that not much will emerge in the way of tangible results.
But time should not be squandered on talking. If North Korea pursues its nuclear program while the talks are being held, any conclusion will be delayed that much more, and accomplished facts will be made in its nuclear armament. Japan cannot tolerate such a situation, and such a scenario could render the six-way talks themselves meaningless.
To avoid that, we want those involved in the six-way talks to do one thing from the outset: Make North Korea stop reprocessing spent nuclear fuel to produce plutonium-type bombs and freeze all other elements of nuclear development at once. Whether this position succeeds will depend upon how they plan to assure North Korea that the United States has no intention of invading North Korea by force. We hope the U.S. government will soon present its own plan for a breakthrough. --- Sueddeutsche Zeitung, Munich, Germany, on Rwanda elections: (President Paul) Kagame's victory was certain in advance.
Firstly, many Hutus support him because they can see how he has stabilized the country and boosted the economy.
And secondly, the man has a security apparatus that made it nearly impossible for any opposition figure to campaign for himself in the election. Opponents were intimidated and locked up.
No one could expect Kagame and his governing party to let themselves in for a dangerous adventure.
In truly fair elections, there would have been a danger that the Hutus would vote out the Tutsi Kagame. That minority rightly considers that a mortal danger - not just because of the 1994 genocide, but also because, in neighboring Burundi, the change of government in 1993 set off a war between Hutus and Tutsis that is still going on today. ...
If, as he always says, Kagame really intends to make Rwanda democratic, he must change his style of rule.
As long as there is no freedom of opinion, as long as political opponents are silenced and as long as he rules with a powerful police apparatus, his opponents will grow in number." --- Der Bund, Bern, Switzerland, on Rwanda elections: A little bit free, a little bit fair - but certainly no more. If an office holder is confirmed by 95 percent of the votes, there's a suspicion of cheating. Paul Kagame did everything in the campaign to make sure he could relax on election day. But he would have won the election without cheating, because the gaunt Tutsi is seen as peacemaker in his nation and enjoys much respect. Since he assumed office, he has done everything to heal the divisions in the nation - which has been made up almost exclusively of victims and culprits since the 1994 genocide - and to stabilize Rwanda. He subordinates everything to this goal. Critics are sent to prison on the pretext that they threaten national unity. The most important Hutu opposition party was declared illegal last spring because it allegedly was stirring up ethnic hate. Also Kigali's refusal to extradite accused Tutsi government members to the war crimes tribunal in Arusha is officially taken in the name of stability. But Kagame's domestic priorities had the direst consequences in Congo. He sent his troops deep into the neighboring country with the aim of making harmless the Hutu militias - which retreated there after the genocide. But on the side, Kigali used the incursion for its own enrichment. A part of the economic prosperity of Rwanda - of which Kagame can be proud - stems from the shameless exploitation of Congolese resources. Because he pacified his country, Kagame wears the halo of reconciliation, in the view of western investors as well. But whoever looks closer will see that he still has the stuff of a merciless warrior. It is to be hoped that he does not resort to it in case of growing opposition in the country. ---
The Daily Telegraph, London, on Bombay bombing and India- Pakistan relations:
Post-September 11, it is easy for a politician to court favor with his constituents by evoking the specter of Islamic radicalism. That is, predictably, what L.K. Advani, India's deputy prime minister, did yesterday in Bombay following the deaths of more than 50 people in car bombings.
Mr. Advani, who represents the militant face of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), did not apportion specific blame for the twin atrocities, but said that Pakistan had been waging a "war of terrorism" against the Indians since ... 1971.
... Mr. Advani might, instead, reflect on the siege mentality that the aggressive Hindu nationalism of his party has instilled in Muslim Indians.
... Last year ... the BJP rode to re-election in Gujarat by playing on the alleged Islamic threat. It will doubtless try the same card in state elections ... and in the general election due in 2004. The truth is that the party has not much to show from leading coalition governments at federal level over the past five years.
... In the absence of achievement in job creation or improved security, the Muslim threat makes a convenient whipping-boy.
...The playing of the communal card for electoral gain will reap a whirlwind within, rather than across the Pakistani border. India remains a secular state with a Muslim population of around 120 million. To push it towards becoming a Hindu republic in which they will have no place is to risk immeasurably greater chaos than that inflicted by the bombers of Bombay. ---
GetAP 1.00 -- AUG 29, 2003 00:15:12
GetANT 1.20 -- AUG 29, 2003 11:22:21