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| March 12, 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 12, 2004 1//The Chosun Ilbo, South Korea--IRAQ DISPATCH MAY BE DELAYED AS ALLIES DISCUSS COMMAND STRUCTURE (Lt. Gen. Kim Jang-soo, chief operations director of the Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff, says that with the increase of offensive attacks recently in the Sunni Triangle, opposition forces are gathering in Hawija and the neighboring Hemlin mountains...A National Defense Ministry official says that the U.S. believes that Korean forces, organized for peace and reconstruction activities, may not have the military capacity to maintain order in an area where resistance forces are concentrated. "By this judgment, the U.S. wants to undertake direct responsibility of the region," the official says.) 2//The Moscow Times, Russia--LOOKS LIKE CELEBRITY (This weekend, millions of Russians will elect their next president. Opinion polls universally predict that the vast majority will cast ballots for incumbent president Vladimir Putin. Yet a number of Moscow artists have already voted for Putin in a different way -- with their paintbrushes...Despite her association of Putin with a biblical hero, Makhnyova denied that the portrait glorifies the president. "This is not an idealization," she stated. "If it were an idealization, it would show him as he would ideally want to be presented." Instead, she asserted, "It shows what is truly essential about this person.") 3//The Daily Star, Lebanon--US SYRIAN DIALOGUE ONGOING (Washington's recent announcement of its plan to start implementing sanctions against Damascus in accordance with the Syrian Accountability Act left Syrian officials convinced of the urgent need for a more efficient dialogue between the two sides - a dialogue which, according to Damascus, has actually never stopped. Officially unimpressed by this new development, Damascus remains convinced that the new United States stand was part of Washington's "double talk" in addressing Syria, one that consists of mixing positive and negative signs and messages to reach specific purposes... Whether or not this is wishful thinking, Damascus believes that both the US and Syria are still in need each other on a number of important topics.) 4//Foreign Policy in Focus, US--ANALYSIS: NEOCONS' IRAQ STRATEGY NOW FOCUSED ON SYRIA (The Bush administration still has an itchy trigger finger and is in search of another evildoer to confront...Even before US occupation forces settled into former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein's palaces in Baghdad, the neo-conservatives who have set the direction of the Bush presidency's radical foreign and military policies were looking toward Syria. And before the month is out, US officials said on Wednesday, President Bush will announce new sanctions against Syria - accusing the northern neighbor of Israel, Lebanon and Iraq of many of the same offenses that were leveled against the Hussein regime in Iraq.) 5//The Economist, UK--THROUGH A GLASS, DARKLY (The July 2002 reforms were ground-breaking for North Korea: the first real step away from central planning since the dawn of communism there in 1945...The indications are that the reforms are having a big impact. For a start, North Korea has recently acquired its first advertisement-for foreign cars, assembled locally by a South Korean majority-owned company.) * * * 1//The
Chosun Ilbo Updated Mar.11, 2004 19:47
KST IRAQ DISPATCH MAY BE DELAYED AS ALLIES DISCUSS COMMAND STRUCTURE U.S. forces have requested joint stationing with the soon to be dispatched Korean "Zayitun" unit, especially in certain regions in Hawija of Kirkuk, Northern Iraq, the Ministry of National Defense said Thursday. The planned dispatch of additional forces may be delayed by further talks between South Korea and the U.S. over the right of command. The advance forces were originally scheduled to head for Kirkuk from April 7 in three divisions, with the main forces following at the end of next month. Lt. Gen. Kim Jang-soo, chief operations director of the Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff, says that with the increase of offensive attacks recently in the Sunni Triangle, opposition forces are gathering in Hawija and the neighboring Hemlin mountains. Kim says, "The U.S. forces have expressed their wish to leave the 25th Division's 2nd Brigade stationed in Hawija." A National Defense Ministry official says that the U.S. believes that Korean forces, organized for peace and reconstruction activities, may not have the military capacity to maintain order in an area where resistance forces are concentrated. "By this judgment, the U.S. wants to undertake direct responsibility of the region," the official says. (MORE)
LOOKS LIKE CELEBRITY This weekend, millions of Russians will elect their next president. Opinion polls universally predict that the vast majority will cast ballots for incumbent president Vladimir Putin. Yet a number of Moscow artists have already voted for Putin in a different way -- with their paintbrushes. One such artist is Irina Makhnyova, whose portrait of Putin is currently on display at the House of the Government of the Russian Federation, better known as the White House. Putin is casually dressed in Makhnyova's portrait, with a warm, almost Gandhi-like smile on his face. His eyes are directed at a phantasmagoric wooden ship, which appears to be floating in the air between his outstretched hands. "If he will have love, if he will genuinely believe in the potential of this country, he will make the ship real," Makhnyova said in a recent interview. Makhnyova explained that the ship is a reference to the biblical story of Noah's ark. According to Makhnyova, who is known for the rich symbolism of her paintings, Noah was an ordinary man whom God chose for the difficult task of saving the world. Likewise, Putin was initially reluctant to become president, but now faces the daunting challenge of rescuing Russia. Despite her association of Putin with a biblical hero, Makhnyova denied that the portrait glorifies the president. "This is not an idealization," she stated. "If it were an idealization, it would show him as he would ideally want to be presented." Instead, she asserted, "It shows what is truly essential about this person." (SNIP) The national obsession with Putin has extended well beyond the news media. A recent pop song, "I Want a Man Like Putin," extolled the sex appeal of the Russian president. Meanwhile, manufacturers have created a variety of Putin paraphernalia, from Putin tapestries made by a Kostroma textile mill to a 1.5-kilogram chocolate Putin by the high-end confectioner Konfael. (MORE)
US SYRIAN DIALOGUE ONGOING Washington's recent announcement of its plan to start implementing sanctions against Damascus in accordance with the Syrian Accountability Act left Syrian officials convinced of the urgent need for a more efficient dialogue between the two sides - a dialogue which, according to Damascus, has actually never stopped. Officially unimpressed by this new development, Damascus remains convinced that the new United States stand was part of Washington's "double talk" in addressing Syria, one that consists of mixing positive and negative signs and messages to reach specific purposes. (SNIP) Significantly, the US announcement that Syria was about to incur sanctions was accompanied, by other more positive signs from Washington. Among those are comments made a few days ago by US State Department spokesman Richard Boucher, who highlighted the reinforced Syrian measures to control the Syrian-Iraqi border, while asking for further Syrian effort in this respect. Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage also made a series of significant remarks during a talk-show at the Al-Hurra television, which made overall positive impressions in Damascus circles. The US official said he believed that Syria can play a significant role in the Middle East and called on Syrian President Bashar Assad to undertake more serious steps to consolidate this role. He also said he did not believe that Syria was implicated in the recent events which occurred in Iraq, referring to the violent events on Ashoura. While also urging Damascus to reinforce its vigilance on its border with Iraq, Armitage recognized however, the substantial efforts that Syria has already deployed in this respect. In addition, other rather encouraging signs could also be detected on the US-Syrian track. One of those is the recent appointments in Damascus and Washington respectively of ambassadors to the two countries. Naji Mustapha was sent to Washington about three weeks ago while the US Ambassador to Damascus, Margaret Scooby, assumed her functions two months ago. Political observers believe that such appointments would not have been decided if a political deadlock between the two countries was really serious. The fact that the announced sanctions are more likely to be economic than political as specified by US officials was also perceived in Damascus circles as a "lesser evil," considering that economic relations between the two countries have never been prosperous to start with. Whether or not this is wishful thinking, Damascus believes that both the US and Syria are still in need each other on a number of important topics. (MORE)
ANALYSIS: NEOCONS' IRAQ STRATEGY NOW FOCUSED ON
SYRIA Getting out of the political quicksand of Iraq, or at least burying the bloody occupation as an embarrassing daily news item, is mission number one for the re-election campaign of US President George W Bush. And though extricating US troops and political capital from the mess the Bush administration created in Iraq may be mission impossible, the president's political and ideological handlers have proved adept at spinning the administration out of scandals and misadventures. Their operating principle, which they've enshrined as an official national security strategy, seems to be: the best defense is a good offense. After all, when they're down in the polls, and the "bring 'em on" machismo no longer seems to get the patriotic rise it once did, the Bush team doesn't retreat; it advances with more tough words backed by military muscle and missionary zeal. The Bush administration still has an itchy trigger finger and is in search of another evildoer to confront. Even before US occupation forces settled into former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein's palaces in Baghdad, the neo-conservatives who have set the direction of the Bush presidency's radical foreign and military policies were looking toward Syria. And before the month is out, US officials said on Wednesday, President Bush will announce new sanctions against Syria - accusing the northern neighbor of Israel, Lebanon and Iraq of many of the same offenses that were leveled against the Hussein regime in Iraq. The charge list includes developing biological and chemical weapons of mass destruction, condemning the US occupation of Iraq, supporting international terrorism and succoring anti-US and anti-Israeli guerrilla forces. Further, immediately before the invasion of Iraq, Undersecretary of State for Arms Control and International Security John Bolton traveled to Israel and promised Prime Minister Ariel Sharon that "it will be necessary to deal with threats from Syria, Iran and North Korea afterwards". In April 2003, Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz warned: "There's got to be a change in Syria." (SNIP) The appointment of David Wurmser, a long-time advocate of US military action against Syria, to the staff of Vice President Dick Cheney in September 2003, followed by the president's signing of the Syria Accountability Act in December were widely regarded as another signal that the US regional restructuring crusade might soon be embarking on the road to Damascus. (MORE)
THROUGH A GLASS, DARKLY So far as a visitor can tell in this secretive land, North Korea's economic reforms are starting to bite. But real progress will require better relations with the outside Pyongyang and Pukchang -- Communist North Korea has started to experiment with economic reform, and opened its door a crack to the outside world. Though its culture of secrecy and suspicion stubbornly persists, it was deemed acceptable for your correspondent to visit Pyongyang's Tongil market last week. Here, stalls are bursting with plump vegetables and groaning with stacks of fresh meat. You can even buy imported pineapples and bananas from enthusiastic private traders. But how about a photograph? Most foreigners think of North Korea as a famished nation, and the authorities are evidently keen these days to tell the world about the great strides their economy has made since reforms were introduced in July 2002. Logic might seem to suggest that a snap showing the palpable result of the reforms would be acceptable too. But it is not. The officials were friendly but firm: no pictures of fat carrots. The July 2002 reforms were ground-breaking for North Korea: the first real step away from central planning since the dawn of communism there in 1945. The government announced that subsidies to state-owned enterprises were to be withdrawn, workers would be paid according to how much they produced, farmers' markets, hitherto tolerated, would become legal and state enterprises would be allowed to sell manufactured products in markets. Most of these enterprises, unless they produced "strategic items", were to get real autonomy from state control. Almost two years on, how to assess the success or failure of these reforms? That climate of secrecy makes it deeply frustrating. Even the simplest of statistics is unavailable. Li Gi Song, a senior economist at Pyongyang's Academy of Sciences, says he does not know the rate of inflation. Or maybe he is not telling. After all, he says, "We can't publish all the figures because we don't want to appear bare before the United States. If we are bare then they will attack us, like Afghanistan or Iraq." So what follows can be little more than a series of impressions. The indications are that the reforms are having a big impact. For a start, North Korea has recently acquired its first advertisement (pictured above)-for foreign cars, assembled locally by a South Korean majority-owned company. Or, to be more basic, take the price of rice, North Korea's staple. Before the reforms, the state bought rice from state farms and co-operatives at 82 chon per kilo (100 chon make one won, worth less than a cent at the official exchange rate). It then resold it to the public through the country's rationing system at eight chon. Now, explains Mr Li, the state buys at 42 won and resells at 46 won. (SNIP) Reform, such as it is, has plainly made life easier for many. But rescuing the North would take large amounts of foreign money, as well as measures more far-reaching than have yet been attempted. At present, there is no way for the government to get what it needs from international financial institutions like the World Bank. Such aid as comes will be strictly humanitarian, and investment in so opaque a country will never be more than tentative. Domestic reform on its own cannot fix an economy wrecked by decades of mismanagement and the collapse of communism almost everywhere else. | ||||||
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