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World Media Watch
by Gloria R. Lalumia
BUZZFLASH NOTE: Once again, these are the views and perspectives of the individual papers, not of BuzzFlash or Gloria. They offer BuzzFlash readers a way of reading what other nations are saying about the crisis, whether we like it or not. We repeat: This is not an endorsement of their viewpoints.
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1//Arab News, Saudi Arabia-OPINION: WHO'S NEXT? NO ONE AND EVERYONE (Now consider the candidates for the position of "the next one". They all know how far they can go without risking their existence. Let us begin with Syria, now singled out by part of the US media as "the next one."... Today, there is no possibility that Syria will allow itself to be pushed into a corner in which the survival of its regime will be at stake. Syria knows how not to believe its own incendiary slogans, and how to compromise when it has to. Iran is also referred to as a possible "next." But Iran, too, has a mechanism for change. The regime can get rid of a few angry mullahs, replacing them with smiling ones, if and when necessary.)
2//The Japan Times, Japan--JAPAN TO MAKE 'RESPONSIBLE CONTRIBUTION' TO REBUILDING IRAQ (Japan hopes to have a visible presence in Iraq's reconstruction process. But for that to happen, the government believes the U.N. must play a central role. Officials said Japan's role will be limited if post-Hussein Iraq comes under a U.S.-led military occupation, which would clash with the nation's war-renouncing Constitution.)
3//The Hindustan Times, India--INDIA'S RESOLUTION ON IRAQ WAR HICCUP IN POST-WAR PIE (What is worrying for India is that its efforts to get on board reconstruction efforts in Iraq lack a high-level diplomatic exercise. Even now India's diplomatic contacts lack teeth compared to many other countries that have made high-level contacts with the US President and British PM. Even the contacts made by Indian diplomats with some Iraqi Opposition leaders in London have been peripheral.)
4//The Daily Star, Lebanon--HIZBULLAH MOVES TO COURT CHRISTIANS (Syria's growing interest in the "Christian file" has tremendously increased recently, especially following Bkirki's recent anti-war stands. For his part, the Maronite patriarch emphasized the importance of internal unity to face regional challenges. According to sources close to Bkirki, Cardinal Nasrallah Butros Sfeir reasserted during the Tuesday meeting his previous stand that anything that harms one Lebanese faction affects all Lebanese groups, in a reference to potential threats against Hizbullah.)
5//The Independent, UK--RUSSIA AND CHINA BLOCK US EFFORTS TO CONDEMN NORTH KOREA'S NUCLEAR STANCE (On a visit yesterday to South Korea, Russia's Defence Minister, Sergei Ivanov, warned that North Korea was stiffening its resolve in the light of the US-led assault on Iraq. He said Pyongyang would be encouraged to ignore the UN because it had been weakened by Washington's decision to invade Iraq without Security Council backing.)
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1//Arab
News Friday, April 11, 2003 / 9 Safar 1424
http://www.arabnews.com/Article.asp?ID=25042
OPINION: WHO'S NEXT? NO ONE AND EVERYONE
Amir Taheri, Arab News Staff
Who's next? This is the question now asked in teahouses all over the Middle East. There are two answers to the question. The first is: no one. The second is: everyone.
Let us begin with the first answer.
There will be no new target because Iraq was a unique case. Although most regional regimes have varying records of brutality, Saddam Hussein's regime was the only regime that tried to wipe a member state of the United Nations off the map. It was also the only regime since World War I to use chemical weapons not only against adversaries in a war but also against its own people.
(SNIP)
Now, look at other regimes in the region. All have some mechanism for change and have shown flexibility whenever their survival has been at stake. In some cases, such as Egypt under Anwar Sadat, the new ruler would purge the regime of some elements and lead the country in a new direction. Syria was able to develop an internal mechanism for change, known as "The Corrective Movement."
Now consider the candidates for the position of "the next one". They all know how far they can go without risking their existence. Let us begin with Syria, now singled out by part of the US media as "the next one." Throughout the Cold War, Syria maintained close ties with the Soviet Union but refused to sign a military pact with it or grant it bases. President Hafez Assad also made sure that he met all the American presidents, from Nixon to Clinton. Although Syria's Golan has been under Israeli occupation, not a shot was ever fired against the Jewish state from Syrian territory.
Today, there is no possibility that Syria will allow itself to be pushed into a corner in which the survival of its regime will be at stake. Syria knows how not to believe its own incendiary slogans, and how to compromise when it has to.
Iran is also referred to as a possible "next." But Iran, too, has a mechanism for change. The regime can get rid of a few angry mullahs, replacing them with smiling ones, if and when necessary. Whenever its survival has been seriously threatened, the Khomeinist regime has always backed down. The Khomeinists captured the American hostages but made sure that none of them was harmed. In 1984 when the US Navy sunk half of Iran's navy, the mullahs kept the whole thing quiet and opened secret channels to both Washington and Israel to ease pressure on themselves.
(SNIP)
Now to the second answer, that is: Everyone could be the next target.
The last Gulf War was aimed at restoring a status quo that had been upset by the Iraqi invasion. The current war is to change the status quo. Thus all the regimes in the region would have to change themselves. Those who regard change as an enemy will be in for rude shocks.
2//The Japan Times April 11, 2003
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/getarticle.pl5?nn20030411a1.htm
JAPAN TO MAKE 'RESPONSIBLE CONTRIBUTION' TO REBUILDING IRAQ
By JUNKO TAKAHASHI, Staff writer
Japan will make a "responsible contribution" to the reconstruction of postwar Iraq, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda said Thursday, responding to the effective collapse of President Saddam Hussein's regime the previous day.
However, the government apparently has not reached a consensus on the extent of Japan's involvement, awaiting news of the United Nations' role in rebuilding the war-torn country.
(SNIP)
Fukuda said finance ministers and central bankers from the Group of Seven major nations may "broadly" discuss the reconstruction of Iraq during their two-day meeting in Washington that begins Friday.
"Japan will make a responsible contribution (to the reconstruction) as the second-biggest economy in the world," Fukuda said.
Japan hopes to have a visible presence in Iraq's reconstruction process. But for that to happen, the government believes the U.N. must play a central role.
Officials said Japan's role will be limited if post-Hussein Iraq comes under a U.S.-led military occupation, which would clash with the nation's war-renouncing Constitution.
(SNIP)
"Until the U.N. role is determined, there won't be much we can do," one senior administration official said. "There will be no legal basis for us to do reconstruction work in Iraq if a military occupation continues there."
(MORE)
3//The Hindustan Times New Delhi, April 10
http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/181_231769,0008.htm
INDIA'S RESOLUTION ON IRAQ WAR HICCUP IN POST-WAR PIE
Saurabh Shukla
India's attempts to get a share of the pie in post-war Iraq have come up against a few hiccups. When the Ambassador to US, Lalit Mansingh, met State Department officials recently to convey New Delhi's eagerness to play an important role in reconstruction efforts in Iraq, the US communicated its displeasure at the unanimous resolution that Parliament has passed deploring the action in Iraq and seeking immediate withdrawal of forces.
US interlocutors also expressed concern at the timing of the resolution. India has tried to impress on US interlocutors that it values growing bilateral ties with Washington and that it held its ground despite Opposition pressure, but the government fears some damage. Besides, the government also fears that the anti-India lobby in Washington could play this up to deny India strategic leverage.
"This kind of resolution at this stage has no relevance and is likely to prove detrimental to the Iraq situation and also in relation to the US, which wants to build a close strategic relationship with us for reasons much larger than Iraq," said M.K. Rasgotra, former foreign secretary.
(SNIP)
What is worrying for India is that its efforts to get on board reconstruction efforts in Iraq lack a high-level diplomatic exercise. Even now India's diplomatic contacts lack teeth compared to many other countries that have made high-level contacts with the US President and British PM. Even the contacts made by Indian diplomats with some Iraqi Opposition leaders in London have been peripheral.
(MORE)
4//The Daily Star Beirut, Thursday April 10, 2003. Updated 08:30
AM +3GMT
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/10_04_03/art4.asp
HIZBULLAH MOVES TO COURT CHRISTIANS
Visit to Bkirki was part of bid to consolidate internal stability
Resistance denies feeling danger after American threats against Syria
Zeina Abu Rizk
Special to The Daily Star
Tuesday's high-profile visit to Bkirki by a Hizbullah delegation raised eyebrows as to the move's political significance in light of the challenges the party might face in the future.
Sources familiar with the issue said that both sides agreed to boost the role of dialogue between them, as well as reactivate a long-dormant committee that was originally formed more than a decade ago.
For many, the resistance's move to draw closer to Bkirki at this time may be related to the latest US warnings and accusations against Syria and Iran, two main countries known for their substantial support for Hizbullah. The Lebanese resistance could therefore be trying to gain more internal support, especially from the Christian side, often associated with the West.
But Hizbullah sources asserted that the party had no such fears, adding that any threat against the resistance would in fact constitute a menace against the whole country.
(SNIP)
A Hizbullah delegation met earlier this week with the mufti of the republic, Sheikh Mohammed Rashid Qabbani, and also visited on Wednesday acting head of the Higher Shiite Council, Abdel-Amir Qabalan. On Thursday, the party delegation will visit Elias Aoude, the Orthodox bishop of Beirut, and later visit the country's three senior leaders.
The party sources explained that it was crucial to reinforce internal unity and solidarity at this point, to avoid any repercussion or negative impact on the country following the US-led war against Iraq. The entire region is targeted.
The sources asserted that the visit was not the outcome of any mediation effort. There has been no mediator on this track, the sources said, admitting however that the move enjoys Damascus' encouragement.
Syria's growing interest in the "Christian file" has tremendously increased recently, especially following Bkirki's recent anti-war stands. For his part, the Maronite patriarch emphasized the importance of internal unity to face regional challenges.
According to sources close to Bkirki, Cardinal Nasrallah Butros Sfeir reasserted during the Tuesday meeting his previous stand that anything that harms one Lebanese faction affects all Lebanese groups, in a reference to potential threats against Hizbullah.
(MORE)
5//The Independent 11 April 2003
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/politics/story.jsp?story=396025
RUSSIA AND CHINA BLOCK US EFFORTS TO CONDEMN NORTH KOREA'S NUCLEAR
STANCE
By David Usborne in New York
North Korea signalled yesterday that it has no plans to back down in its confrontation with the United States over nuclear weapons.
Pyongyang's move came a day after talks at the United Nations Security Council failed to produce an agreed statement condemning North Korea for resuming its nuclear activity. Both Russia and China are blocking American efforts to adopt a common statement.
Washington has denied it has any plans to strike North Korea, but state radio in Pyongyang said the fact that the issue had even been discussed at the UN amounted to "a prelude to war". North Korea insists it may be the next target and it is not therefore about to reduce its defence efforts. The state-run news agency said: "The Iraqi war launched by the US pre-emptive attack clearly proves that a war can be prevented and the security of the country and the nation can be ensured only when one has physical deterrent force." It did not refer specifically to nuclear weapons.
On a visit yesterday to South Korea, Russia's Defence Minister, Sergei Ivanov, warned that North Korea was stiffening its resolve in the light of the US-led assault on Iraq. He said Pyongyang would be encouraged to ignore the UN because it had been weakened by Washington's decision to invade Iraq without Security Council backing.
(MORE)
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© 2003, Gloria R. Lalumia, insight@zianet.com
Radio for the Left at http://www.zianet.com/insightanalytical/radio.htm
