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| March 5, 2004 |
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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. * * * WORLD MEDIA WATCH FOR MARCH 5, 2004 1//Asia Times Online, Hong Kong--HOUSE OF SAUD - TO FALL OR NOT? (The vilification of Saudi Arabia by many in Washington after September 11, 2001, led to rash speculation that the United States might eventually turn on its longtime ally. But the sound and fury of ongoing neo-conservative polemics against the al-Saud dynasty have not signified a change in policy. The Saudi-US partnership is too profitable to risk throwing the baby out with the bath water, and it seems destined to endure, at least until the long-predicted fall of the House of Saud.) 2//The Philippine Daily Inquirer, Philippines--MILITARY MEDICS TO REPLACE CIVILIAN PEERS IN IRAQ: DFA (The 15 returning doctors and other medical personnel of the Philippine contingent to Iraq will be replaced by military medical personnel "as a precautionary measure," acting Foreign Affairs Secretary Rafael Seguis said Friday. In a press conference, Seguis said the shift from civilian to military personnel was in response to security assessments.) 3//The Sydney Morning Herald, Australia--BOEING WINS RIGHT TO TREAT FOREIGN WORKERS DIFFERENTLY (Aerospace giant Boeing Australia has been granted a legal exemption to discriminate against employees on the basis of nationality to allow it to meet US anti-terrorism requirements...Boeing told the Victorian Civil and Administrative Appeals Tribunal, which granted the exemption, that it was necessary because the US State Department required that it not "transfer technical advice, defence articles or furnish defence services" to anyone who was not Australian or American.) 4//The Chosun Ilbo, South Korea--SPECIAL EDITORIAL: THE INDEPENDENT PRESS UNDER SIEGE AND THE CRISIS IN REPRESENTATIVE DEMOCRACY (The Chosun Ilbo celebrates its 84th anniversary at a critical crisis for the independent press in Korea and representative democracy...Currently the independent press, which is the institution of expression for the people who think independently and act rationally, and representative democracy, their institution of representation, are being challenged simultaneously, and that symbolizes the situation of our era. Both institutions are a community of the same destiny. Who attacks it, how are they attacking it, and why?) 5//The Moscow Times, Russia--OPINION: FROM PURGE TO CONSOLIDATION (Although the nomination of Mikhail Fradkov as prime minister this week was no less unexpected than the dismissal of the Kasyanov government, there are objective reasons for it... Fradkov's appointment demonstrates that the president has decided to try to refute managerial axioms. The government will not be able to make decisions and will become a front for the presidential administration, just as much as the parliament is now. The problem is that the administration focuses on political matters and cannot serve as a substitute for the government on social and economic matters.) * * * 1//Asia
Times Online March 5, 2004 HOUSE OF SAUD - TO FALL OR NOT? The vilification of Saudi Arabia by many in Washington after September 11, 2001, led to rash speculation that the United States might eventually turn on its longtime ally. But the sound and fury of ongoing neo-conservative polemics against the al-Saud dynasty have not signified a change in policy. The Saudi-US partnership is too profitable to risk throwing the baby out with the bath water, and it seems destined to endure, at least until the long-predicted fall of the House of Saud. The United States and the House of Saud have maintained a mutually beneficial relationship for decades under which the US has gained access to the Arabian Peninsula's oil reserves and Saudi Arabia has willingly received US shipments of arms. But aside from the obvious economic incentives for a continuation of the status quo, Dr Sa'd al-Fagih, a Saudi dissident who heads the Movement for Islamic Reform in Arabia (MIRA), believes that Washington's dependence on Saudi cooperation in its "war on terror" has delivered it into a cul-de-sac, forcing the partnership on. "The Americans are stuck," he says. "They have gone too far in linking their fate with al-Saud. They had the chance to maneuver before September 11," but not now. That even the non-violent Saudi opposition, such as the MIRA, is Islamic and less amenable to US interests than the House of Saud is an added incentive for Washington to stand by the current rulers of Riyadh. In addition, with Iraq in turmoil, the last thing Washington needs is more uncertainty in the region. Dr Mai Yamani, a research fellow at the Royal Institute of International Affairs (RIIA) in London, and an expert on Saudi Arabia, says that the administration of US President George W Bush needs stability there. "Now that there's so much instability in Iraq," she said, "they have been trying to protect the al-Saud rule, and to maintain the system as long as they can." (SNIP) In the absence of a pliant Saudi opposition, no one at the center of the US administration seems ready to construct a new paradigm. The fear of what comes after al-Saud is just too forbidding. The militants aren't exactly the United States' natural allies, and the Islamic opposition is largely critical of al-Saud's pro-US policies. Al-Fagih suggests that Washington isn't interested in real democracy in Saudi Arabia anyway. He contrasts the Turkish parliament's obstinacy in considering Washington's request to invade Iraq from Turkish soil with Saudi Arabia's compliance during the first Gulf War. "Why would they make life for themselves difficult by encouraging democracy and allowing people to say 'we don't want American interests in our land'?" he asked. That the US-Saudi relationship has indirectly enriched all of President George W Bush's senior advisers can only work in favor of the status quo. Abandoning al-Saud would mean mothballing such organizations as the Carlyle group that provide beltway glitterati with a bottomless retirement fund garnered through Saudi defense and infrastructure contracts. The kingdom also has sticks to go with those carrots. Saudi Arabia has about US$1 trillion on deposit in US banks, and the same in the stock market, according to CIA agent Baer. A large withdrawal would devastate the US economy. (MORE)
MILITARY MEDICS TO REPLACE CIVILIAN PEERS IN IRAQ:
DFA The 15 returning doctors and other medical personnel of the Philippine contingent to Iraq will be replaced by military medical personnel "as a precautionary measure," acting Foreign Affairs Secretary Rafael Seguis said Friday. In a press conference, Seguis said the shift from civilian to military personnel was in response to security assessments. "Our current security assessment does not call for a withdrawal of forces. We believe that as a precautionary measure, we (should) replace our civilian medical component with military officials who have the training and experience appropriate to the situation," he said. Since the US takeover of Iraq, the security situation there has deteriorated, with sporadic attacks both against US forces and UN personnel. Last month, 12 Filipinos were slightly injured in a suicide bomb attack at a Polish military base in al-Hillah south of Baghdad. (SNIP) The Philippine government sent a 96-member team to Iraq as part of the United Nations humanitarian and peacekeeping forces there.
BOEING WINS RIGHT TO TREAT FOREIGN WORKERS DIFFERENTLY Aerospace giant Boeing Australia has been granted a legal exemption to discriminate against employees on the basis of nationality to allow it to meet US anti-terrorism requirements. (SNIP) Foreigners employed by the company will be required to wear different identification and will have their computer and technology access restricted. The ruling also allows colour-coded security badges to distinguish Australian, Canadian and American employees of Boeing. Boeing told the Victorian Civil and Administrative Appeals Tribunal, which granted the exemption, that it was necessary because the US State Department required that it not "transfer technical advice, defence articles or furnish defence services" to anyone who was not Australian or American. (MORE)
SPECIAL EDITORIAL: THE INDEPENDENT PRESS UNDER SIEGE AND THE CRISIS IN REPRESENTATIVE DEMOCRACY The Chosun Ilbo celebrates its 84th anniversary at a critical crisis for the independent press in Korea and representative democracy. The independent press' mission is to keep watch on power. The mission of representative democracy is to keep absolute power in check. Both emerged on the basis of a public that was born of modern civic society and both thinks independently and acts rationally. Currently the independent press, which is the institution of expression for the people who think independently and act rationally, and representative democracy, their institution of representation, are being challenged simultaneously, and that symbolizes the situation of our era. Both institutions are a community of the same destiny. Who attacks it, how are they attacking it, and why? Seeing the situation precisely for what it is can be said to be the first step in defending the independent press and protecting representative democracy. The crisis they face today lies in how this public is being exchanged for a "mass" and a "crowd" that responds emotionally and acts spontaneously to the symbol manipulation of political authority. Looking at the situation with the press today, one easily sees the cause and effect. The core mission of the press in a democratic society is to be critical and watchful of power. By doing so the press participates in the molding of public opinion, and the process of public opinion molded in this manner encouraging self-correction on the part of power is the positive exchange between the media and power. This is not possible without an independent press that maintains an appropriate distance from power. Since the emergence of the current government, however, the situation has turned the exact opposite. Political authority has unleashed an all-out attack on the independent press. The attack is indiscriminate in its means. To begin with, has blocked the press from carrying out its essential functions, by denying access and refusing coverage by the independent press. (MORE)
OPINION: FROM PURGE TO CONSOLIDATION Although the nomination of Mikhail Fradkov as prime minister this week was no less unexpected than the dismissal of the Kasyanov government, there are objective reasons for it. The rejected candidates were all members of one of the two groups that are the mainstays of President Vladimir Putin's regime: the siloviki and the liberals. Appointing a member of one group would have offended the other, strengthened mutual hostilities and might even have led to provocations. Therefore, Putin appointed the only person who had ties to both groups: Fradkov is both a silovik (despite his mild appearance) and a free market advocate (though, of course, no liberal fundamentalist ? la Alexei Kudrin). His appointment should have reassured the European Union, which has received a signal that the normalization of relations may soon be possible -- relations that have been aggravated for no reason, due to mutual obstructionism and unprofessionalism on the part of Russian liberals (the Economic Development and Trade Ministry, according to available information), attempting to uphold Russia's national interests and to outdo Dmitry Rogozin. (SNIP) Fradkov's nomination signals a new stage in the consolidation of power. From now on, not only major decisions, but any vaguely significant decision will be taken by the president alone, who, following in the footsteps of the Sun King, Louis XIV, will repeat the sacred phrase: "L'?tat -- c'est moi." Putin still has to learn through trial and error that one man cannot take the place of the state, and that management theory advice on delegating responsibility is not simply a caprice of irresponsible international consultants. Fradkov's appointment demonstrates that the president has decided to try to refute managerial axioms. The government will not be able to make decisions and will become a front for the presidential administration, just as much as the parliament is now. The problem is that the administration focuses on political matters and cannot serve as a substitute for the government on social and economic matters. This will expand the possibilities for the destructive lobbying of big business interests -- in particular, the interests of those groups that are directly fused with the state and comprise the new oligarchy in epaulets, which tries to portray its attack on the old Yeltsin-era civilian oligarchy as a drive to eradicate the oligarchy, period. Most likely, we are in for capitalism in epaulets, rather than state capitalism, in which the new epauletted oligarchs will assume the role of the old oligarchs in the Yeltsin epoch, unwaveringly utilizing the state's capacity for force and coercion. An entirely liberal program, conducted in the interests of the epauletted oligarchs (although not as zealously as the liberal fundamentalists' plan), will be accompanied by selective application of the law (about which German Gref spoke in the context of the campaign against tax loopholes) and disdain for citizens' interests. Indeed, why bother to pay attention to the interests of ordinary people who have no possibility of influencing the state (but nonetheless support the president)? Following the 2004 budget, which does not provide for the protection of social payments from inflation and reduces the share of social expenditures vis-?-vis 2003, we may be hit by an income tax rate hike and a toughening of housing reform, which would lead to excessive growth in housing payments and the streamlining of procedures to evict those who fail to pay. (MORE) |
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