January 11, 2006

World Media Watch

by Gloria R. Lalumia

BuzzFlash Note: WMW provides BuzzFlash readers foreign views and perspectives that are not usually available from the media here in the U.S. The presentation of these articles from these international publications is not an endorsement of their viewpoints.

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WORLD MEDIA WATCH FOR JANUARY 11, 2005

1//Asia Times Online, Hong Kong--SHI’ITE CHALLENGE TO US POLICY (In escalating their conflict with the United States over its efforts to weaken the Iraqi insurgency by co-opting Sunni political figures, Shi'ite party leaders may have delivered a fatal blow to the US strategy. US Ambassador to Iraq Zalmay Khalilzad has been trying to convince the Sunni population that a share of political power will protect their interests. But the ruling Shi'ite party - supported by the anti-US cleric Muqtada al-Sadr - has now broken decisively with that strategy, castigating both Sunni political leaders and the US as being apologists for terrorists. … The new Shi'ite strategy thus appears to be aimed not only at excluding or limiting Sunni participation in the government, but at striking back at the demand by Khalilzad last month that the SCIRI and the Badr give up control over the Interior Ministry, which has been responsible for paramilitary operations that include death squads and systematic torture of Sunni detainees.)

2//People’s Daily Online, China--CHINA CUTS ARMY BY 200,000 WITH GROUND ARMY RATIO TO RECORD LOW (Till Dec. 31, 2005, China had cut its army by 200,000 troops as scheduled. From the year 2006, the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) will operate under a new establishment system. The readjustment and reform program of the PLA was started in 2003. The strength of the PLA now has been reduced to 2.3 million troops after trimmed by 200,000. Through the reform, the proportion of the ground force to the whole army has fallen to a record low; … The proportions of navy, air force, and the Second Artillery Forces, as well as that for the battle force, have all seen a remarkable rise.)

3//EUobserver, Belgium--UKRAINE GOVERNMENT FALLS AS FRESH EU GAS WORRIES SURFACE (The Ukrainian parliament has sacked its government due to the gas price row with Russia, as the European Commission tries to soothe fresh worries over EU gas supplies. … President Viktor Yushchenko is seeking legal advice to keep the government in place until the March general elections. He said "This decision will be shown to be unconstitutional" while visiting Kazakhstan. Opposition parties brought the motion of no confidence after Kiev agreed to pay Russia $95 per 1,000 cubic metres instead of the previous $50 on 4 January. Kiev also faced criticism for getting a price agreement until the end of June only, as well as involving unnamed and unaccountable Ukrainian businessmen in the deal. … The current crisis is the second to hit Ukraine since the Orange Revolution in November 2004, after president Yushchenko dismissed his first government in a corruption scandal in September last year. … EU member states raised fresh gas supply concerns at an experts' meeting on Monday, with diplomats saying the June price deadline meant the same problems could resurface in the next few months.)

4//The Kuwait Times, Kuwait--DO KUWAITI WOMEN HAVE THE RIGHT TO VOTE OR NOT? (According to Al-Rai Al-Aam, a new law has recently been approved entitling fathers, brothers and husbands to remove the names of their female relatives from the electoral register, in effect barring them from voting. … In addition to the logistical details of implementing this legal folly, the ethical considerations are of far greater importance. If our society has deemed women to be equal citizens with men and able to assert their right to electoral participation and the chance to hold elected office; then let us stop hedging our bets. They either have the right to participate in the electoral process and run for office; or they do not.)

5//Middle East Times, Egypt--ANALYSIS: ‘NEW GENERATION’ OF EAST AFRICAN LEADERS FALLS FROM WESTERN GRACE (Less than a decade ago, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni and Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi were extolled in the West as paragons of a "new generation" of African leaders: ex-guerrilla chiefs turned enlightened free market reformers and democrats. Today, those reputations are in tatters and the spigots of Western aid that once flowed to their governments are being twisted down amid growing concern that each is backtracking on his commitments and reverting to the African "big man" tradition of trying to stay in power for life. …  "The notion of the 'new generation' of democrats was a misconceived idea based on the analysis of inexperienced diplomats and the eagerness to wipe out the influence of East European ideology and Soviet influence at the end of the Cold War," a Western diplomat in Ethiopia said. … "When the former guerrillas discarded their camouflage and began sporting three-piece suits, the West took them at face value and showered them with fresh credit and bilateral aid," the official said. Meles took power in 1991 when his rebel forces ousted the remnants of Soviet-backed dictator Mengistu Haile Miriam's regime and embarked on an aid-propelled development and economic reform campaign that, coupled with a gradual easing of political restrictions, earned worldwide admiration. Museveni seized power in a 1986 coup, pledging to rid Uganda of decades of conflict and misrule at the hands of the likes of Idi Amin.)

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1//Asia Times Online, Hong Kong Jan 11, 2006
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/HA11Ak02.html

SHI’ITE CHALLENGE TO US POLICY
By Gareth Porter
(Gareth Porter is an historian and national-security policy analyst. His latest book, Perils of Dominance: Imbalance of Power and the Road to War in Vietnam, was published in June.)

WASHINGTON - In escalating their conflict with the United States over its efforts to weaken the Iraqi insurgency by co-opting Sunni political figures, Shi'ite party leaders may have delivered a fatal blow to the US strategy.

US Ambassador to Iraq Zalmay Khalilzad has been trying to convince the Sunni population that a share of political power will protect their interests. But the ruling Shi'ite party - supported by the anti-US cleric Muqtada al-Sadr - has now broken decisively with that strategy, castigating both Sunni political leaders and the US as being apologists for terrorists.

Responding to the January 5 suicide bombing in Karbala that killed 60 Shi'ites and wounded 120, Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, leader of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI), which heads the ruling Shi'ite coalition, said, "We hold responsible coalition forces and political elements that have openly announced their support for terrorism, for the pure blood that has flowed."

Sunni political leaders have publicly denounced terrorist acts, including the Karbala bombing. Nevertheless, Hakim suggested that his party would now block the bid by Sunni parties that won seats in parliament last month to participate in government.

The Sunni parties' alleged support for terrorism "for the sake of immediate political interests" would "only increase our willingness to exclude" those "who promulgate and make excuses for terrorism", he said. The Karbala bombing and the SCIRI response came just as talks were set to begin among Shi'ites, Kurds and Sunnis on the formation of a new government.

Although he did not refer to the United States, Hakim was making an obvious jab at Washington for its efforts to promote a prominent Sunni role in the next government and to weaken Shi'ite control over paramilitary forces used to fight the insurgents.

In an indication that Hakim's statement was part of an emerging Shi'ite plan to fend off the US Sunni strategy, 5,000 followers of Muqtada in Baghdad's Sadr City chanted, "We're going to crush Saleh al-Mutlaq with our slippers," referring to the Sunni political leader considered to be a supporter of the Sunni insurgency. Then they chanted: "No, no to Zalmay. No, no to terrorism."

Hadi al-Amiri, the secretary general of the Badr Organization, a Shi'ite militia group, repeated a previous Shi'ite argument that the Sunni political groups had been supporting terrorism, and that the US has been coddling them.

The new Shi'ite strategy thus appears to be aimed not only at excluding or limiting Sunni participation in the government, but at striking back at the demand by Khalilzad last month that the SCIRI and the Badr give up control over the Interior Ministry, which has been responsible for paramilitary operations that include death squads and systematic torture of Sunni detainees.

Until the Karbala bombing, the SCIRI had not responded publicly to US pressure, but it had clearly been waiting for the right opportunity to blast a US strategy they regard as favoring their enemies.

Although the Shi'ite counter-offensive may be intended in part to strengthen their hand in bargaining in the formation of the new government, it also reflects fundamental Shi'ite sectarian beliefs about the nature of the conflict with the Sunnis.

(MORE)

2//People’s Daily Online, China UPDATED: 15:26, January 09, 2006
http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200601/09/eng...

CHINA CUTS ARMY BY 200,000 WITH GROUND ARMY RATIO TO RECORD LOW

Till Dec. 31, 2005, China had cut its army by 200,000 troops as scheduled. From the year 2006, the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) will operate under a new establishment system.

The readjustment and reform program of the PLA was started in 2003. The strength of the PLA now has been reduced to 2.3 million troops after trimmed by 200,000.

Through the reform, the proportion of the ground force to the whole army has fallen to a record low; the air force has cut corps (base) and started regional commanding; the Second Artillery Forces improved the organization of the battle force by cutting and merging some departments.

China has also downsized the number of logistical organizations and personnel and military educational institutions.

The proportions of navy, air force, and the Second Artillery Forces, as well as that for the battle force, have all seen a remarkable rise.

Besides, the number of PLA's officers has also been brought down by 170,000, resulting in an improved officer-soldier ratio.

(SNIP)

Marching towards a proper scale, a rational structure, capable institutions, quick commanding as well as strong fight, the PLA has structurally enhanced its combat capabilities.

RELATED: THE CHINESE PEOPLE’S LIBERATION ARMY
http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/data/organs/pla.shtml

3//EUobserver, Belgium 10.01.2006 - 18:47 CET
http://euobserver.com/9/20651

UKRAINE GOVERNMENT FALLS AS FRESH EU GAS WORRIES SURFACE
By Andrew Rettman

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - The Ukrainian parliament has sacked its government due to the gas price row with Russia, as the European Commission tries to soothe fresh worries over EU gas supplies.

Two hundred and fifty out of 450 Ukrainian members voted against prime minister Yuri Yekhanourov's cabinet on Tuesday (10 January), Reuters and BBC report.

President Viktor Yushchenko is seeking legal advice to keep the government in place until the March general elections.

He said "This decision will be shown to be unconstitutional" while visiting Kazakhstan.

Opposition parties brought the motion of no confidence after Kiev agreed to pay Russia $95 per 1,000 cubic metres instead of the previous $50 on 4 January.

Kiev also faced criticism for getting a price agreement until the end of June only, as well as involving unnamed and unaccountable Ukrainian businessmen in the deal.

Russia had originally pushed for price hikes to $230 per 1,000 cubic metres, with Ukraine foreign minister Boris Tarasyuk saying in December that the price push might be calculated to damage president Yushchenko's bloc.

The current crisis is the second to hit Ukraine since the Orange Revolution in November 2004, after president Yushchenko dismissed his first government in a corruption scandal in September last year.

EU gas worries resurface

The gas row sent shockwaves through the EU on 2 January, when supplies to member states such as Hungary dived hours after Russia turned off the gas to transit state Ukraine.

EU member states raised fresh gas supply concerns at an experts' meeting on Monday, with diplomats saying the June price deadline meant the same problems could resurface in the next few months.

A Ukrainian diplomat told EUobserver Russia will "no doubt" ask for sharp price hikes again, probably in mid May, but predicted Moscow would keep the gas flowing this time around.

"They would be stupid to do it a second time. They already dealt quite a blow to their reputations," he added.

The European Commission also tried to soothe nerves after seeing details of the Russia-Ukraine deal, saying that, under the terms of the contract, the new $95 per 1,000 cubic metres price will remain valid until 2007 if the two sides cannot agree on a new price.

But commission officials were unsure what might happen after 2007 in the worst case scenario, adding that the fall of the Ukraine government throws extra uncertainty into the situation.

4//The Kuwait Times, Kuwait Tuesday, January 10, 2006 17:00Tuesday, January 10, 2006
http://www.kuwaittimes.net/localnews.asp?dismode=article&artid=21335258
[At time of posting, BuzzFlash was unable to connect using this link.]

DO KUWAITI WOMEN HAVE THE RIGHT TO VOTE OR NOT?
By Ahmad Al-Khaled

According to Al-Rai Al-Aam, a new law has recently been approved entitling fathers, brothers and husbands to remove the names of their female relatives from the electoral register, in effect barring them from voting.

If the report is accurate, a slew of details will have to be worked out in order to determine exactly how the law will be implemented. What proof will the male relatives be required to exhibit in order to prove their relationships with their wives, sisters, and daughters? A marriage certificate for a husband to prove he is married to his wife would seem to be enough. But what if he was subsequently divorced. If a divorced man removes his former wife's name from the voting register, what recourse will the ex-wife have in getting her name back on the list?

If a husband "allows" his wife to register to vote, what rights do her father and brother have if they disagree? Will a brother be able to remove his sister's name from the list even when her father and husband approve her registration?

In addition to the logistical details of implementing this legal folly, the ethical considerations are of far greater importance. If our society has deemed women to be equal citizens with men and able to assert their right to electoral participation and the chance to hold elected office; then let us stop hedging our bets. They either have the right to participate in the electoral process and run for office; or they do not.

(MORE)

5//Middle East Times, Egypt January 9, 2006
http://www.metimes.com/articles/normal.php...

ANALYSIS: ‘NEW GENERATION’ OF EAST AFRICAN LEADERS FALLS FROM WESTERN GRACE

NAIROBI -- AFP -- Less than a decade ago, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni and Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi were extolled in the West as paragons of a "new generation" of African leaders: ex-guerrilla chiefs turned enlightened free market reformers and democrats.

Today, those reputations are in tatters and the spigots of Western aid that once flowed to their governments are being twisted down amid growing concern that each is backtracking on his commitments and reverting to the African "big man" tradition of trying to stay in power for life.

While questions about leadership and misrule have long hounded Africa, the falls from grace of Museveni and Meles are particularly worrying not only for the high hopes pinned to them but for apparent misreadings of their intentions, analysts say.

"The international community was desperate to find a success story in Africa and was quick to embrace any regime that showed any semblance of this," Ugandan political commentator Andrew Mwenda said. "In the process, they were duped into thinking that, at last, we were witnessing a change in Africa.

"If they were really serious, they should have seen that these leaders were one and the same as the past generation of leadership on the continent," said Mwenda, a frequent critic of Museveni.

His view is shared by others, including diplomats and some officials, in the two countries.

"The notion of the 'new generation' of democrats was a misconceived idea based on the analysis of inexperienced diplomats and the eagerness to wipe out the influence of East European ideology and Soviet influence at the end of the Cold War," a Western diplomat in Ethiopia said.

"The notion was not based on the reality on the ground," he said on condition of anonymity, echoing comments from a Ugandan finance ministry official who has watched Museveni with growing unease.

"When the former guerrillas discarded their camouflage and began sporting three-piece suits, the West took them at face value and showered them with fresh credit and bilateral aid," the official said.

Meles took power in 1991 when his rebel forces ousted the remnants of Soviet-backed dictator Mengistu Haile Miriam's regime and embarked on an aid-propelled development and economic reform campaign that, coupled with a gradual easing of political restrictions, earned worldwide admiration.

Museveni seized power in a 1986 coup, pledging to rid Uganda of decades of conflict and misrule at the hands of the likes of Idi Amin. He quickly became a donor favorite and won plaudits for among other things, an anti-HIV/AIDS program that was hailed as a model for Africa.

Both were showered with billions in international aid.

But as Museveni enters his 20th year at Uganda's helm this month ahead of February elections, he has come under fire for repealing presidential term limits, and the candidacy of his main rival - who faces treason, terrorism, rape and weapons charges - may be nullified ahead of the polls.

In Ethiopia, Meles, now in his 15th year in power, has drawn criticism for a massive crackdown on dissent after deadly unrest that hit the country after disputed elections last May. A total of 131 opposition figures and journalists now face trial on treason and other serious charges.

(MORE)