The right nationalism

The right nationalism

Indonesia's minister for administrative reforms has asked officials and leaders in the provinces to start every function with the singing of the national anthem, Indonesia Raya.

This aims to awaken the spirit of nationalism in us. It is the task of the apparatus in the provinces to strengthen unity amid separatist sentiments, especially in areas rich in natural resources.

However, if this spirit is brought onto the surface, this nation would not need to defend its unity. It would also be able to upgrade itself. This cannot be done only by shallow nationalism, with the yelling of slogans.

How do we make slogans that would awaken the spirit of nationalism, as expected by the minister?

Our nation, whose leaders have a poor mentality and whose economy is still weak, could only be fixed with a good examples from leaders of both central and provincial administrations.

Who knows? During the election, there might emerge a leader who could serve as a model and has the capability to strengthen the country's unity.

This leader would make us proud when we sing Indonesia Raya.

-- Bisnis Indonesia, Jakarta

U.S. and Iraq

We believe the time is right for the United States and Britain to recognize the failure of the occupation strategy to date, and speed up the process of forming a new government run by the Iraqis themselves. Hand in hand with this process, it will also be wise to fully reorganize the Iraqi police, military and other forces by and for Iraqis, in moving to restore order to the troubled country.

For its part, the U.S. government is taking an extremely cautious stand on the issue of transferring the authority for the governing of Iraq. We believe that the time is right to retool the occupation policy in a way that respects the aspirations of the Iraqi side.

Under our favored scenario, the United Nations would provide key support in creating the interim government and, once that administration is up and running, would become involved in the rebuilding of Iraq on a full-scale basis. Up until then, the U.S. and British forces should handle the job of restoring and maintaining security in the country. This, we feel, is an indisputable duty under the tenets of international law.

-- Asahi Shimbun, Tokyo

The plight of Aung San Suu Kyi

There should be little doubt that the plight of Aung San Suu Kyi grows more desperate by the day. The only national leader in Burma worthy of the name has been held under some form of detention for more than half the 13 years since her National League for Democracy's landslide election victory was annulled. ... There is no doubt about Ms Suu Kyi's courage. But the strain on her must be close to insupportable. The US government reported at the weekend that she has begun a hunger strike. Its expression of "deep concern for her safety and well- being" is well-founded.

Many hundreds, perhaps thousands of pro-democracy activists also languish in Burma's gulag. They must not be forgotten, either, no more than must the ordinary Burmese whose lives are blighted by avoidable poverty and repression. But it is Ms. Suu Kyi who has become a unique symbol of her benighted country's struggle for justice. The junta's denial of the hunger strike report, like its disingenuous plan for a "road map to democracy," should be dismissed with contempt. The new prime minister who peddles this deception, Khin Nyunt, is just another jumped-up general who has never fought a battle in his life but is a veritable Napoleon when it comes to oppressing defenseless civilians. Tougher U.S. sanctions came into effect last week; U.K. campaigners' efforts to cut western business, investment and tourism links are gaining ground. But how long before Burma's neighbors show similar determination to end this regional disgrace and, perhaps, save Ms. Suu Kyi?

-- The Guardian, London

The U.S. mission in Iraq

After this week's pessimistic economic forecast, it may seem like a poor time to propose a spending increase by the federal government.

But that is exactly what is needed - for the U.S. mission in Iraq.

We need to invest more money and more people in Iraq. That much has become apparent over the past few weeks.

This is a mission in which we cannot afford to fail. If we blow it in Iraq, U.S. credibility will be shot over the entire world. If we cave, as many Democrats are urging us to do, and hand over the mission to the United Nations, the world will know that we bit off more than we were willing to chew and will never trust us again. Our moral weakness and lack of commitment will be apparent and our enemies will rejoice.

-- The Courier, Findlay, Ohio

Was al-Qaeda behind Shiite mosque bombing

If it turns out that al-Qaida was behind last week's bombing of the Shiite mosque in Najaf that killed more than 100 people, including Shiite cleric Ayatollah Mohammad Baqir al Hakim, then it becomes obvious that the conflict in Iraq is spreading all the time. It is no longer Saddam Hussein supporters or the die-hard Baathists who are wreaking havoc on Iraq, but there are other forces taking part in the fight against not only U.S. occupation of the country, but also in order to destabilize the entire region.

By targeting U.S. and all others suspected of aiding the interim Governing Council in Baghdad would indicate that the perpetrators are either members of al-Qaida or a group closely associated with it.

If terrorism, as opposed to the struggle for liberation, wins in Iraq, then it may extend its tentacles to other countries in the region and lay waste everything that stands in its way. If the Middle East and the Gulf region are allowed to burn, then Europe and the rest of the world would be threatened and become destabilized as well.

That's why the world's major powers must put their differences behind them and concentrate for once on what is good for the international community.

-- The Jordan Times, Amman, Jordan

The Denver Post, Denver, Colorado, on a role for the U.N. in Iraq

It's encouraging that the Bush administration now indicates it's amenable to some sort of international peacekeeping force in Iraq under United Nations sponsorship.

However, there are conditions to the idea that Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage aired at the United Nations recently. Chief among them is that the U.N. contingent be commanded by an American. The American military establishment long has been reluctant to have U.S. troops under foreign operational command.

It may not be clear to Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, but it's obvious to us and to other observers that the 138,000 U.S. troops and smaller contingents of British and other allied forces aren't sufficient to keep order and quell guerrilla attacks by die-hard Saddam Hussein partisans and fundamentalist Islamic terrorists.

Also, because Iraq's oil production hasn't resumed as quickly as expected, the petroleum revenues that the White House was counting on to help pay to rebuild the country haven't been forthcoming. Iraqis (rightly) complain that such basics as electric power and water are lacking, and each passing day adds to the discontent.

The repeated guerrilla attacks, including the devastating truck bombing of U.N. headquarters, have caused some international humanitarian organizations to withdraw from Iraq because their personnel don't feel safe. That is a major setback for the United States.

Although the United States and Britain essentially "went it alone" to topple Hussein, there is no way that these two powers can stabilize the country and rebuild it without substantial international cooperation. ...

GetAP 1.00 -- SEP 5, 2003 00:28:23 ;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: --- Dagens Nyheter, Stockholm, Sweden, on North Korea:

Despite continued North Korean threats, the reactions to last week's meeting in Beijing were mainly positive. Assistant U.S. Secretary of State James Kelly talked about "a productive start," that all six participating countries agreed on meeting again was seen as a step forward.

Evidently, the talks on North Korea's possession of nuclear weapons must continue. Pyongyang is a threat to peace that must be disarmed.

The question is, however, if the policy that is pursued is the right policy. It has - to put it mildly - not resulted in anything. And the alternatives are few. The use of violence can trigger a major war and economic sanctions have limited effect against a country that is already isolated and miserably poor.

Pyongyang must - besides disarm - continue to refrain from terrorism, return all kidnapped Japanese citizens, stop smuggling narcotics and adopt the convention on chemical and biological weapons.

In return, the United States should give a binding promise about not being first to use nuclear weapons, delete North Korea from the list of states that support terrorism and open diplomatic relations with Pyongyang. ---

---

The Daily Telegraph, London, on the incoming French ambassador to Damascus:

There can be few more inauspicious starts to an embassy abroad than that of Gerard Araud, the incoming French envoy to Israel. M. Araud is reported as telling two colleagues that the Israeli prime minister, Ariel Sharon, is a "lout" and that the Israelis are "paranoid."

The Quai d'Orsay has vigorously denied these comments, but there is no doubt that such attitudes are not uncommon in the French diplomatic corps. ...

It is a measure of how deep-rooted these attitudes are that M Araud had been viewed as one of France's more pro-Israel officials, after serving in the cabinet of the pro-Zionist former defense minister, Francois Leotard. How are such attitudes to be explained? There is certainly much "clientitis," in the sense that there are many Arab countries and only one Jewish state. Indeed, France's ambassador to Israel during the first Gulf war, Alain Pierret, wrote a book describing how difficult it was to obtain a hearing for the Israeli case within his own government.

The size of France's burgeoning Muslim population plays a part, too. Consequently, it is hard to imagine the incoming French ambassador to Damascus dismissing Bashar Assad of Syria, the head of totalitarian state, in the same fashion. And then there is the ideological component. Many Europeans suffer from post-colonial guilt, France's elite particularly so because of Algeria. It is not so much influenced by Marx or Jesus, but rather by Frantz Fanon, the apostle of decolonisation. His book The Wretched of the Earth has conditioned several generations into accepting the notion that the natives must liberate themselves from white oppression through violence. ... ----

Frankfurter Rundschau, Frankfurt, Germany, on the sinking of a derelict Russian nuclear submarine: (President Vladimir) Putin reacted faster than he did almost exactly three years ago when the nuclear submarine Kursk sank in the Barents Sea. But the accident, with nine deaths, shows that the heirs of the glorious Soviet fleet have not learned very much. The K-159, a nuclear submarine from the 50-year-old November class, had been lying rusting for decades at the Gremikha naval base. The death trap was not seaworthy. In order to take it more than 200 nautical miles to Polarnye to have its nuclear reactor removed, it was attached to four pontoons, and the contraption was towed by a sea-going tug. That is a bargain-basement method. ... Yes, there must be an investigation, as Putin said - on board a Russia missile cruiser off Sardinia. Three years ago, the death of 118 sailors wasn't reason enough for Putin to break off his vacation. This time, he is seeing through his state visit to Italy. Putin is staying true to himself. ---

--- Corriere della Sera, Milan, Italy, on European Union enlargement: After the sickness known as "Europessimism" of some time ago, we are now facing an excess of "Euro fever". Applications and invitations for entrance to the European Union are multiplying, at times ignoring the objective limits of the federation. First of all, yes or no to Erdogan's Turkey? And why not welcome Israel into the European Union as well, as has been suggested, with the intention of offering protection to those six million Jews? To affiliate Israel into the EU now, however, could amplify the Middle Eastern conflict, instead of favoring the peace plan road map. Can we really imagine the European Union extending as far as the explosive Gaza Strip? Lastly, the hypothesis has been proposed of a co-option of Russia into the EU. Putin and his government appreciate the intentions and kind words, since they already consider themselves European, but ... they know well, from direct experience of that world extending from St. Petersburg to Magadan, that it is not possible to convert Europe into Eurasia. [ Volkskrant, Amsterdam, Netherlands, on the Dutch Foreign Minister and NATO: Dutch Foreign Minister Jaap de Hoop Scheffer's visit with U.S. President George W. Bush Wednesday can be viewed as a test of his suitability for the post of NATO secretary general. De Hoop Scheffer denies having the ambition, but that's all part of the game. Having a shot at the job begins and ends with the Americans, who will carefully weigh the stance of each country in the Iraq war in making their choice. The Germans and Belgians can forget it, and France isn't a member. Spain and Portugal have a chance, but Spain already provides the European Union's foreign secretary, and Portugal's foreign minister is too Europe-focused. The British just had the job and the Danish don't have a good candidate. De Hoop Scheffer is very Atlantic-focused: he went so far as to support the war without a U.N. resolution. All that counts in his favor as a candidate, despite the Dutch government's decision not to send fighting troops to Iraq. But NATO isn't what it once was since the turbulence of last year. The Americans have made the distinction between "new" and "old" Europe, and they may want to reward one of the new members, such as Poland, who directly supported the U.S. war effort. [ Le Figaro, Paris, on U.S. President Bush: Victorious in Iraq in 1991, George Bush Senior lost the 1992 elections because of the economy... In foreign policy as in state budget management, a lot separates the father and son. But Bush junior, just like his dad, hasn't yet seemed to have succeeded in making the economy his best asset... The Clinton era's glorious decade is no more than a memory. Unemployment has reached its highest in nine years. In three years, 2.7 million jobs have been lost in the United States... Are things near changing? In Iraq, the situation is worsening from day to day, and in August the number of American soldiers killed since the end of the conflict surpassed the 138 killed during the war. In Afghanistan, the Taliban are still active. Israelis and Palestinians are still on the verge of war... To be re-elected, he can do nothing but pray that the growth is still evident on the eve of November 2004, and, whatever happens, sort out his politics in Iraq. --- MORE[

GetAP 1.00 -- SEP 5, 2003 00:28:08