Gloria R. Lalumia's World Media Watch for February 6, 2008

WORLD MEDIA WATCH 

Summaries are excerpted from the source articles; the featured article follows the summary section. 

1//The Toronto Star, Canada
DION, HARPER MEET BUT CAN'T FIND COMMON GROUND ON AFGHANISTAN

Prime Minister Stephen Harper met briefly Tuesday with Stephane Dion, hoping to persuade the Liberal leader to support an indefinite extension of Canada's combat mission in Afghanistan, provided NATO steps up with reinforcements.  But before walking into the 25-minute meeting in the prime minister's office, Dion signalled yet again he won't budge on his position that the combat component of the mission should end as scheduled next February.  "I will say to the prime minister we are ready to find a role for Canada (in Afghanistan) after February 2009 but the combat mission. Is there something (else) we may explore together?" Dion told reporters shortly before the tete-a-tete.  "If he says no, it will be him who's not willing to see if, through his verifications, we may find compatibility."  In a statement, Dion's office said the leader was even more pointed during the meeting, spelling out his party's "firm and unwavering belief that the combat mission in Kandahar must end by February 2009."  The fate of the mission is in Dion's hands. With the NDP and Bloc Quebecois flatly rejecting the recommendations of the Manley panel, Harper's only hope of winning enough support in the minority Parliament for a motion to extend the mission rests with the Liberals. ... Some Liberals have privately suggested that Dion might agree to a compromise in which the primary role of Canada's troops would shift at least nominally to training, with some combat still inevitable.  Dion appeared to rule that out Tuesday. He said Canadian soldiers need to be able to protect themselves "but the idea that you are proactively seeking the involvement with the enemy is a clear definition of a combat mission and this must end in February 2009."

AN EXPANDED EXCERPT OF THIS FEATURED ARTICLE FOLLOWS THE SUMMARIES 

2//The Telegraph, UK
PRINCE ANDREW REBUKES AMERICA OVER IRAQ 

The Duke of York has launched an unprecedented attack on President George W Bush's White House administration for failing to listen more to the advice of the British Government over the Iraq war.  The Duke's criticism of Washington represents an extraordinary departure from normal protocol, which determines that members of the Royal Family refrain from public comment on sensitive international and political issues.  In a rare newspaper interview, with the International Herald Tribune, the Duke expresses his strong personal regret that the US failed to heed British advice over the post-war strategy for Iraq, with disastrous consequences.  On the eve of a 10-day mission to America in his role as British trade envoy, he told the newspaper that there were "occasions when people in the UK would wish that those in responsible positions in the US might listen and learn from our experiences".  He said that because of Britain's imperial history, it had experience of many of the foreign policy challenges now facing the US.  "If you are looking at colonialism, if you are looking at operations on an international scale, if you are looking at understanding each other's culture, understanding how to operate in a military insurgency campaign - we have been through them all," Prince Andrew said.  "We've won some, lost some, drawn some. The fact is there is quite a lot of experience over here which is valid and should be listened to."  The aftermath of the Iraq conflict fuelled a "healthy scepticism" towards what is said in Washington, and a feeling of "why didn't anyone listen to what was said and the advice that was given".  British opinion had been sought, he said, before adding: "It's not as if we had been forcing that across the Atlantic."  The Duke, who saw active service when as a Navy officer he flew helicopters during the Falklands conflict 26 years ago, still takes a keen interest in military affairs.

It is understood his criticisms of the US refer specifically to the British advice - rejected during the conflict itself - about how to conduct the post-war strategy for rebuilding Iraqi institutions and placing the country on the road to democracy. 

3//The Daily Star, Lebanon
'ESCALATION IS THE NAME OF THE GAME' (Analysis)

Wednesday's second anniversary of the alliance of opposition heavyweights Hizbullah and the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) finds them in a new phase of escalating political tension and street violence with fading prospects for any solution, a number of analysts told The Daily Star on Tuesday.  "Escalation is the name of the game, that's for sure," said Amal Saad-Ghorayeb, visiting scholar at the Carnegie Middle East Center. "It was looking pretty bad - it's looking really bad now."  The March 8 opposition pulled its ministers from the Cabinet in November 2006 and has pushed since then to topple the March 14 governing coalition. The stand-off worsened after the shooting deaths of seven Shiite demonstrators on January 27 in Beirut's Mar Mikhael-Shiyyah neighborhood. The opposition had begun increasing its pressure on March 14 before the day now becoming known here as Black Sunday, but those deaths marked a "turning point," Saad-Ghorayeb added.  "That would be second to the July war [in 2006 against Israel] in terms of souring the relations and deepening the rift" between March 8 and March 14, she said.  The judiciary has charged 11 members of the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) and six civilians in the clash, but politicians on both sides have continued to intensify their rhetoric. Hizbullah has thrown blame on members of the government and individuals in the LAF, while March 14 leaders have said the opposition desires the return of Syrian troops to Lebanon.  "That's really exacerbated the situation, made it much uglier," Saad-Ghorayeb said. "There's absolutely no middle ground anymore."  The deaths became political fodder as the two factions find themselves still in a stalemate in this new escalation stage, with each side trying to collect as many cards as it can before any major domestic or international event that could alter the balance, said retired General Elias Hanna, who teaches political science at Notre Dame University and elsewhere.  "Everyone's using it from a political point of view," he said. "You have a new dynamic now. It is totally different."  The street violence appears to have scuttled the chances for LAF commander General Michel Suleiman as a consensus presidential candidate, although the political camps' inability to reach a comprehensive deal involving his candidacy also led to the emergence of the escalation, Hanna added.  

4//Inter Press Service News Agency, Italy
TURKEY: HEADSCARVES DECIDE NATIONAL IDENTITY (Analysis)

Turkey's Islamic-rooted governing party is moving ahead with hotly contested constitutional amendments that would lift the ban on headscarves at universities. Opponents see it as a danger-laden step undermining the currently rigid secular regime by introducing Islamic principles that may extend far beyond higher learning.  Critics of the government express the fear that Turkey, while aspiring for full EU membership, may actually slide into a restrictive, religious society. On the other hand, advocates of lifting the ban see it as a step towards freedom of expression of the kind Western universities enjoy.  The ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), with its leaders originally from an Islamic party that was banned, have linked up with the Nationalists Movement Party to make the amendments lifting the ban. The two parties have enough votes to do so - 410, while 367 are required. The bill is already in a parliamentary commission on fast-track motion. It could be adopted within 10 days.  The main opposition Republican Peoples Party (CHP), founded by creator of secular Turkey Mustafa Kemal Ataturk in the 1920s, has announced it would seek annulment of the changes through the Constitutional Court.  Over 100,000 people marched in capital Ankara Saturday against proposed changes to lift the ban.  The proposed changes would lift restrictions only on what Turks call the "basortusu", a small headscarf worn by millions of women across the country of 70 million. It would not apply to a headscarf like a turban, considered a symbol of Islamic fundamentalism. Most wives of AKP members wear the 'turban'.  Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, once a firebrand member of an Islamic party and now heading a party and government on a platform of conservatism, had promised the party's devout Muslim powerbase it would lift the ban. He said the changes are aimed only at ending discrimination against female students at universities, and restoring their rights to university education.  "No basic human rights pose a threat to democracy or the fundamental values of the Republic," Erdogan declared. "The AKP government is a safeguard of our secular order."  "This is not a religious matter," said opposition CHP leader Deniz Baykal. "It is highly political." He accuses AKP of trying to pass the turban off as "basortusu", and says the turban is "not Turkish, but a foreign import" coming from the Wahabi sect in the Arab world.  AKP member Husnu Tuna has said "the target is to lift the ban everywhere," leading to criticism that the AKP may have a hidden Islamic agenda despite claims to the contrary.  

5//Asia Times Online, Hong Kong
CELEBRITY RISES TO POWER IN OSAKA

While celebrities-turned-politicians in Japan are nothing new (and prone to disgrace), an outspoken 38-year-old lawyer and TV advice show host recently elected as Osaka prefecture's governor is raising hopes even beyond his electoral base.  Toru Hashimoto's landslide victory ... with more than 1.8 million votes thoroughly trounced rival Sadatoshi Kumagai, who received a little less than 1 million votes. When Hashimoto takes office in early February after the four-year term of incumbent Fusae Ota ends, he will be the youngest of Japan's 47 governors.  He also largely owes his success to female and young unaffiliated voters who frequently watch his TV shows where he discusses legal options for people with marital and financial issues.  Through his frequent TV appearances on civil law suit programs and comedy quiz shows he is well known not just in the Osaka area but also nationwide. His experience as a lawyer has also given him an understanding of Japan's legal and bureaucratic complexities, a requirement without which celebrity politicians otherwise fail and lose their popularity. ... Analysts believe that local electoral results, especially when a large prefecture like Osaka is involved, serve as a political barometer for national-level politics. Even though not supported by the national headquarters of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and its junior coalition partner, the Komeito, the support for Hashimoto from the prefectural chapters of these parties would suggest the ruling coalition is likely to perform well in the Osaka region should there be a general election this year. ... Hashimoto's age is an asset, according to many who were interviewed by the media. They see in him a new hope. In Japan some of the old traditions are breaking. Voters no longer simply vote for a candidate on grounds of experience and age alone and prefer to give a chance to a candidate who seems capable and genuinely promises to bring reform. As Hashimoto said in his victory speech, "I'm only 38 years old, but I've got a lot of energy and I want to borrow everybody's energy to help change Osaka." ... Hashimoto is watched closely by media and his every action will be scrutinized. He earned a bit of notoriety after he once said Japan should possess nuclear weapons and on another occasion he was reported to have commented that Japanese men hiring Chinese prostitutes was a form of Japan's official development assistance.

FEATURED ARTICLE 

1//The Toronto Star, Canada   Feb 05, 2008 07:18 PM

DION, HARPER MEET BUT CAN'T FIND COMMON GROUND ON AFGHANISTAN

The Canadian Press 

OTTAWA-Prime Minister Stephen Harper met briefly Tuesday with Stephane Dion, hoping to persuade the Liberal leader to support an indefinite extension of Canada's combat mission in Afghanistan, provided NATO steps up with reinforcements. 

But before walking into the 25-minute meeting in the prime minister's office, Dion signalled yet again he won't budge on his position that the combat component of the mission should end as scheduled next February. 

"I will say to the prime minister we are ready to find a role for Canada (in Afghanistan) after February 2009 but the combat mission. Is there something (else) we may explore together?" Dion told reporters shortly before the tete-a-tete. 

"If he says no, it will be him who's not willing to see if, through his verifications, we may find compatibility." 

In a statement, Dion's office said the leader was even more pointed during the meeting, spelling out his party's "firm and unwavering belief that the combat mission in Kandahar must end by February 2009." 

The fate of the mission is in Dion's hands. With the NDP and Bloc Quebecois flatly rejecting the recommendations of the Manley panel, Harper's only hope of winning enough support in the minority Parliament for a motion to extend the mission rests with the Liberals. 

Dion has said he won't allow Liberal MPs to vote freely on the matter. 

Neither Dion nor Harper spoke to reporters after the meeting. Dion wants to brief his caucus Wednesday morning before speaking publicly about his chat with the prime minister, the statement said. 

Dimitri Soudas, a spokesman for Harper, said the prime minister reiterated during the meeting that the government is adopting the recommendations of the panel headed by former Liberal deputy prime minister John Manley. 

The Manley panel recommended that Canada agree to extend the counter-insurgency battle in Kandahar but only if NATO allies come up with 1,000 additional troops to reinforce Canadian soldiers and some heavy-lift helicopters and aerial surveillance craft. 

According to Soudas, Harper told Dion: "If we are unable to secure extra combat troops and equipment, Canada will not be extending the mission in Afghanistan." 

Harper has been trying to rustle up the necessary reinforcements in a series of calls to NATO leaders. In the past week he has spoken to U.S. President George W. Bush, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and French President Nicolas Sarkozy. 

(SNIP) 

Some Liberals have privately suggested that Dion might agree to a compromise in which the primary role of Canada's troops would shift at least nominally to training, with some combat still inevitable. 

Dion appeared to rule that out Tuesday. He said Canadian soldiers need to be able to protect themselves "but the idea that you are proactively seeking the involvement with the enemy is a clear definition of a combat mission and this must end in February 2009." 

(MORE) 

Copyright 2008, Gloria R. Lalumia

WORLD MEDIA WATCH 

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