February 27, 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 FEBRUARY 27, 2006

1//The Independent, UK--BLUEPRINT TO GIVE POWER TO THE PEOPLE (A plan to revive Britain's dying democracy is launched today by an inquiry which warns that the parties are "killing" politics. The independent Power commission calls for sweeping changes to prevent a dangerous gulf between politicians and the people becoming even wider. Its ideas include allowing the public to initiate legislation and a shift of power back from the Government to Parliament, following criticism that Tony Blair has neutered it. The report will make uncomfortable reading for the Prime Minister, whose critics accuse him of eroding trust in politicians by going to war in Iraq on a false prospectus. But it could provide some of the key planks of a drive to re-engage people in politics already planned by Gordon Brown, his most likely successor. … Power to the People, the commission's 311-page report, demands a new electoral system "to ensure that all votes count by having some influence on the final outcome of an election." Although it does not propose a specific method, it suggests its goals could be met by the single transferable vote system in which voters mark candidates in order of preference. However, the inquiry concludes that electoral reform is only "one part of a wider 'jigsaw' of change required to re-engage the British people with their political system".)

2//Azzaman in English, Iraq--IRAQ’S SECTARIAN VIOLENCE ‘THANKS TO U.S. STYLE DEMOCRACY’ (The Shiite shrines in Samarra have been there for centuries, and have been protected by that Sunni-dominated city. The Sunnis venerated the shrines and treated them with the same degree of respect as their Shiite brethren. [Editor's Note: The Golden Dome of the Samarra Mosque was actually completed in 1905.] For centuries, Shiites and Sunni Muslims have lived together peacefully. No one even bothered to know or ask about the other’s sect or religious affiliation. We simply didn't want to know who was who. Today - and thanks to U.S. style democracy - we have become a violently sectarian society. In the nearly three years since the U.S. invasion, we have divided ourselves into uncompromising sects and factions, bent on undermining one another.)

3//Scotsman.com/Scotland on Sunday, UK--ANALYSIS: OVERSTRETCHED BRITISH TROOPS FACE FIGHT ON TWO FRONTS (Britain faces the prospect of fighting a war too far as a result of the devastation of the Shi'ites' holiest shrine, the Samarra mosque. The government's exit strategy to start pulling troops out of Iraq some time this year is now in serious jeopardy. Yet it is too late for Tony Blair to reverse another foreign military intervention - the dispatch of a 5,700-strong expeditionary force to Afghanistan - even if he were minded to do so. … For Blair the dilemma now is over resources. Already senior commanders are deeply concerned over fighting a "war on two fronts". … For Blair the dilemma now is over resources. Already senior commanders are deeply concerned over fighting a "war on two fronts." The Chief of the General Staff, General Sir Michael Jackson, has written to the British commander of the Nato force in Afghanistan, Lt Gen David Richards, asking if he has enough troops to cope. Richards is said to have asked for another 1,000 men, but this is impossible given the continuing commitments in Iraq. … Blair has already fought five wars in six years - the bombing of Iraq in 1998, Kosovo in 1999, Sierra Leone in 2000, Afghanistan in 2001, and Iraq again from 2003. The sixth war - Afghanistan again - could prove to be the breaking point.)

4//The News International, Pakistan--PAKISTAN TO SEEK CIVIL N-TECHNOLOGY FROM US (Pakistan will ask the US president to offer it cooperation in the peaceful use of nuclear technology. … It has become a foregone conclusion that Indian Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Sigh will accept all the US conditions for cooperation in nuclear field. Indian fast breeder reactor (FBR) which will produce more plutonium than uranium poured in it will also come under safeguards of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). … Diplomatic sources told The News that Pakistan would not have to face too many problems like India in bifurcation its civil and military programmes. US Under Secretary Nicholas Burns is in New Delhi and having marathon talks with his Indian counterpart, Shayam Saran. … Pakistan is monitoring the Indo-US nuclear deal very closely since India has been using its so-called civilian nuclear programme for the military purposes. Indians have never come out with the chart of their uranium utilisation that makes their bifurcation plan dubious and for the same reason President Bush has been constrained to asking India time and again to make its separation of the two programmes "transparent.")

5//The Manila Times, Philippines--JOURNALISTS VOW TO FIGHT 1017 (The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines on Sunday expressed alarm at the casing of publications and the surveillance of newsmen. At a meeting in Quezon City, the group agreed to issue a single editorial questioning Presidential Proclamation 1017 declaring a state of national emergency. “We’re very alarmed with what happened to Tribune, casing of publications, deployment of troops in TV stations,” Carlos Conde, secretary-general of NUJP said. He added that there are “unconfirmed reports that [GMA 7 Broadcaster] Arnold Clavio is being followed. We’re very alarmed [that] some of our colleagues are wondering until when this atmosphere would remain.” … The President has invoked Section 17, Article 12 which grants power to “temporarily take over or direct the operation of any privately owned public utility or business affected with public interest” in times of national emergency. Journalists said, however, that the only defense they have against the proclamation is coverage and doing what they have been doing at this time which is resist being cowed by the threats as they enjoin colleagues and members of civil society to take a stand on the issue. … Meanwhile, the Partido Demokratiko Sosyalista ng Pilipinas said it views with apprehension the present crackdown on the media. … “A government that fears media is a weak government; one that can withstand responsible journalistic attacks and criticisms is truly strong. The best defense any government can have against media and its enemies is good governance.”)

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1//The Independent, UK Published: 27 February 2006

BLUEPRINT TO GIVE POWER TO THE PEOPLE
By Andrew Grice, Political Editor

A plan to revive Britain's dying democracy is launched today by an inquiry which warns that the parties are "killing" politics.

The independent Power commission calls for sweeping changes to prevent a dangerous gulf between politicians and the people becoming even wider. Its ideas include allowing the public to initiate legislation and a shift of power back from the Government to Parliament, following criticism that Tony Blair has neutered it.

The report will make uncomfortable reading for the Prime Minister, whose critics accuse him of eroding trust in politicians by going to war in Iraq on a false prospectus. But it could provide some of the key planks of a drive to re-engage people in politics already planned by Gordon Brown, his most likely successor.

The commission, chaired by the QC and Labour peer Helena Kennedy, calls for an end to the first-past-the post voting system - the goal of The Independent's Campaign for Democracy launched last May after Labour won a majority of 67 with only 35 per cent of the votes cast and the support of just 22 per cent of the electorate. The campaign has won the support of almost 40,000 people.

Power to the People, the commission's 311-page report, demands a new electoral system "to ensure that all votes count by having some influence on the final outcome of an election." Although it does not propose a specific method, it suggests its goals could be met by the single transferable vote system in which voters mark candidates in order of preference.

However, the inquiry concludes that electoral reform is only "one part of a wider 'jigsaw' of change required to re-engage the British people with their political system".

Other proposals include lowering the voting age to 16; a £10,000 limit on individual donations to parties; decentralising power from central to local government; curbs on the powers of party whips; more powers for select committees to hold ministers to account and tighter rules on media ownership.

It bluntly warns politicians they must learn from the success of single-issue pressure groups which shows that people have disengaged from parties rather than political issues.

Baroness Kennedy of the Shaws said: "Politics and government are increasingly in the hands of privileged elites as if democracy has run out of steam. Too often citizens are being evicted from decision-making - rarely asked to get involved and rarely listened to. As a result, they see no point in voting, joining a party or engaging with formal politics.

"Parliament has had many of its teeth removed and government is conducted from Downing Street."

(MORE)

2//Azzaman in English, Iraq February 24, 2006

IRAQ’S SECTARIAN VIOLENCE ‘THANKS TO U.S. STYLE DEMOCRACY’
By Abdujabbar al-Samarrai

The holy men whose shrines dot our land all unequivocally denounce violence. Many of them in fact have been victims of intolerance and violent actions by their adversaries.

Today Iraqis – whether Shiite or Sunni – are sad, after the bombing of Holy Shrine of al-Askari in Samarra.

As we mourn the destruction of this holy site, we have all to remember that if alive, the saint himself would have been the first to condemn the kind of the violent reprisals we have seen over recent days.

(SNIP)

There is no question that today, more than any time before, we are required to pursue the path of dialogue, tolerance and reconciliation for which these holy men sacrificed their lives.

The Shiite shrines in Samarra have been there for centuries, and have been protected by that Sunni-dominated city. The Sunnis venerated the shrines and treated them with the same degree of respect as their Shiite brethren. [Editor's Note: The Golden Dome of the Samarra Mosque was actually completed in 1905.]

For centuries, Shiites and Sunni Muslims have lived together peacefully. No one even bothered to know or ask about the other’s sect or religious affiliation. We simply didn't want to know who was who.

Today - and thanks to U.S. style democracy - we have become a violently sectarian society. In the nearly three years since the U.S. invasion, we have divided ourselves into uncompromising sects and factions, bent on undermining one another.

Let us recall the message of tolerance and coexistence our holy men wanted to spread. If we are really their followers and descendants, then we should work together as brothers who can tolerate one another, coexist with another and are ready for compromise and reconciliation.

3//Scotsman.com/Scotland on Sunday, UK Sun 26 Feb 2006

ANALYSIS: OVERSTRETCHED BRITISH TROOPS FACE FIGHT ON TWO FRONTS
Ian Mather, Diplomatic Correspondent

Britain faces the prospect of fighting a war too far as a result of the devastation of the Shi'ites' holiest shrine, the Samarra mosque.

The government's exit strategy to start pulling troops out of Iraq some time this year is now in serious jeopardy.

Yet it is too late for Tony Blair to reverse another foreign military intervention - the dispatch of a 5,700-strong expeditionary force to Afghanistan - even if he were minded to do so.

The scene is already shifting to Afghanistan, where British troops will take over from the Americans in the southern province of Helmand. Hundreds of British army engineers have arrived to build a base ahead of the main force, which is due to be in place by the end of June.

This is no short-term fix. The initial deployment is for three years. But the Department for International Development has pledged £500m over five years to encourage Afghan farmers not to grow the highly profitable opium crops, and the British troops will be at the forefront of the enforcement policy.

However, it concedes that the process could take between 10 and 15 years, and it is likely that Nato troops - British or otherwise - will stay for some or all of that time.

Nor will it be easy. The Taleban and their al-Qaeda allies are lethally active in Helmand, with an attempted suicide bombing targeting the province's governor, teachers being beheaded for providing education for girls, and the murder of aid workers, including the shooting of one while he was praying at a mosque.

For Blair the dilemma now is over resources. Already senior commanders are deeply concerned over fighting a "war on two fronts". The Chief of the General Staff, General Sir Michael Jackson, has written to the British commander of the Nato force in Afghanistan, Lt Gen David Richards, asking if he has enough troops to cope. Richards is said to have asked for another 1,000 men, but this is impossible given the continuing commitments in Iraq.

Defence Secretary John Reid has admitted that British troops will be overstretched. He told the Commons recently that the so-called Harmony Guidelines, according to which soldiers are given 24 months between operational deployments, will be breached, with the average break being cut to 21 months. "That is not satisfactory," he added.

For Blair the dilemma now is over resources. Already senior commanders are deeply concerned over fighting a "war on two fronts". The Chief of the General Staff, General Sir Michael Jackson, has written to the British commander of the Nato force in Afghanistan, Lt Gen David Richards, asking if he has enough troops to cope. Richards is said to have asked for another 1,000 men, but this is impossible given the continuing commitments in Iraq.

(SNIP)

Blair has already fought five wars in six years - the bombing of Iraq in 1998, Kosovo in 1999, Sierra Leone in 2000, Afghanistan in 2001, and Iraq again from 2003. The sixth war - Afghanistan again - could prove to be the breaking point.

4//The News International, Pakistan Monday February 27, 2006-- Muharram 28, 1427 A.H.

PAKISTAN TO SEEK CIVIL N-TECHNOLOGY FROM US
Nuclear, terrorism issues to dominate US president’s visit

By Muhammad Saleh Zaafir

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan will ask the US president to offer it cooperation in the peaceful use of nuclear technology.

No formal agenda has been prepared for the summit talks between President General Pervez Musharraf and President George W Bush but Kashmir, terrorism and nuclear proliferation with reference to Iran are on top of the items to be discussed here and as well in New Delhi beside other issues.

It has become a foregone conclusion that Indian Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Sigh will accept all the US conditions for cooperation in nuclear field. Indian fast breeder reactor (FBR) which will produce more plutonium than uranium poured in it will also come under safeguards of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

The Indians are asking for seven years exemption to their FBRs from IAEA’s safeguards. India is short of energy. It does not have much uranium to use in nuclear reactors. This situation will force India to get refuge in the lap of Americans, the sources said.

Diplomatic sources told The News that Pakistan would not have to face too many problems like India in bifurcation its civil and military programmes. US Under Secretary Nicholas Burns is in New Delhi and having marathon talks with his Indian counterpart, Shayam Saran.

It is expected that New Delhi and Washington will ink the agreement but it would be subject to approval of the US Congress. The next stage would be agreement with the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) for the supplies of fuel. The NSG works under an agreed framework where the safeguards are essential for obtaining supplies.

Pakistan is monitoring the Indo-US nuclear deal very closely since India has been using its so-called civilian nuclear programme for the military purposes. Indians have never come out with the chart of their uranium utilisation that makes their bifurcation plan dubious and for the same reason President Bush has been constrained to asking India time and again to make its separation of the two programmes "transparent".

(MORE)

5//The Manila Times, Philippines Monday, February 27, 2006

JOURNALISTS VOW TO FIGHT 1017
By Candice Y. Cerezo, Researcher

The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines on Sunday expressed alarm at the casing of publications and the surveillance of newsmen.

At a meeting in Quezon City, the group agreed to issue a single editorial questioning Presidential Proclamation 1017 declaring a state of national emergency.

“We’re very alarmed with what happened to Tribune, casing of publications, deployment of troops in TV stations,” Carlos Conde, secretary-general of NUJP said.

He added that there are “unconfirmed reports that [GMA 7 Broadcaster] Arnold Clavio is being followed. We’re very alarmed [that] some of our colleagues are wondering until when this atmosphere would remain.”

Manuel Luis Quezon 3rd, a broadsheet columnist, said, “The PCIJ [Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism] blog is concerned because they say their content is being analyzed.”

“These are threats that we face overtly in front of us. But I also say watch your back because there are threats like advertising boycott, libel suits that can be filed against some of us. These are not direct threats. These are subtle threats and because of this we need to adhere to the highest standards of our possession. Let’s not give them more ammunition than they already have,” said Ricky Carandang, an anchor in the ABS-CBN News Channel.

(SNIP)

The President has invoked Section 17, Article 12 which grants power to “temporarily take over or direct the operation of any privately owned public utility or business affected with public interest” in times of national emergency.

Journalists said, however, that the only defense they have against the proclamation is coverage and doing what they have been doing at this time which is resist being cowed by the threats as they enjoin colleagues and members of civil society to take a stand on the issue.

They also brought up the idea of writing a pooled editorial on the issue of Proclamation 1017 in taking a unified stand against the government’s attempt to muzzle the press.

Journalists added that they will draft a resolution demanding the withdrawal of Proclamation 1017 which will be circulated to the media.

Teodoro said intimidation of the media through 1017 will not just have a chilling effect on them, adding that, “We’ll see effects of that in some coverages. Journalists should take ‘more care’ in a positive way.”

Meanwhile, the Partido Demokratiko Sosyalista ng Pilipinas said it views with apprehension the present crackdown on the media.

(SNIP)

The party said, “To restrict press freedom would be tantamount to restricting the growth of the country and its people.

“A government that fears media is a weak government; one that can withstand responsible journalistic attacks and criticisms is truly strong. The best defense any government can have against media and its enemies is good governance.”