by Gloria R. Lalumia
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//The
Moscow Times, Russia--POLLS SHOW PEOPLE LIKE PUTIN, NOT HIS POLICIES (..."Putin
clearly appears as a winner in the war against terror," pro-Kremlin
political analyst Sergei Markov said. During the crisis, Putin performed
the role of the nation's military leader well, but he has not yet shown
himself to be a successful economic manager. "He has not raised living
standards, he has not created conditions for small and medium-size businesses,"
Markov said. That is why Putin's "abnormally high" rating is
likely to decrease when and if issues such as housing sector reform or
the fight against corruption take priority in people's minds, Markov said.)
2//PakTribune.com, Pakistan--FBI FORMS SPECIAL FORCE TO HUNT AL-QAIDA
FUGITIVES ("The force is made because the government was not showing
interest in the capture of al-Qaida members," the official said adding
"the rise of MMA and their clear No to operation against al-Qaida
compelled the FBI on forming the force".)
3//The Daily Pioneer, India--ISOLATE PAK, SAYS ADVANI (Paying homage to 107 BSF jawans martyred during the year, most of them in Jammu and Kashmir fighting terrorism, Mr Advani said Pakistan, having been defeated thrice in war and having realised it can never win a direct confrontation with India, had resorted to terrorism... Mr Advani had dared Pakistan to fight a fourth war with India, instead of engaging in proxy war targeting temples and innocent civilians, while addressing an election rally in Bhuj town of Gujarat on Saturday.)
4//Institute for War and Peace Reporting, UK--LAYING DOWN THE LAW (The shootings of student demonstrators two weeks ago was, officials admit, a failure on the part of police to show restraint in controlling protests over conditions at Kabul University. But it's not easy to train the officers, many of them former mujahedeen, for their new role in civil society.)
5//The Independent, UK--CONFLICT WILL LEAVE NHS SHORT OF STAFF (The Government is under pressure to spell out the potential threat to the health service if key personnel are called up to assist in preparing for a war against Iraq...Charles Heyman, editor of Jane's World Armies, said it was still unclear how many people would be called up or for how long they would have to leave their NHS posts in the event of military action. "From surgeons right through to nurses, the medical reservists are absolutely essential because since 1990 the armed forces medical services have been decimated," he said.)
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1//The
Moscow Times Monday, December 02, 2002 / Updated 02 December 2002
12:30 AM MT
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2002/11/29/012.html
Friday, Nov. 29, 2002. Page 3
POLLS
SHOW PEOPLE LIKE PUTIN, NOT HIS POLICIES
By Andrei Zolotov Jr.
Staff Writer
Likely as a result of national consolidation in the aftermath of the hostage crisis in Moscow, President Vladimir Putin's job approval rating jumped to an all-time high of 83 percent in November, one of the country's leading pollsters said.
The All-Russian Center for Public Opinion Research, or VTsIOM, said that a poll conducted among a representative sample of 1,600 Russians on Nov. 22-25 showed that Putin's rating grew this month by six percentage points from a steady 77 percent in September and October.
The percentage of those who disapprove of Putin's performance dropped from an average of 20 during the past five months to an all-time low of 15 percent.
The poll's margin of error is 3.8 percent.
At the same time, when asked about specific aspects of Putin's domestic policies, Russians were more critical of their president. Only 33 percent consider Putin's handling of the economy and citizens' welfare a success, while 62 percent consider it a failure to various degrees.
Only 18 percent said Putin had been successful in "routing the rebels in Chechnya," and 73 percent, up from 67 percent in March, said he had failed. A question about Putin's success in finding a political settlement in Chechnya brought similar results.
(SNIP)
"It is similar to what Americans call rallying around the flag, only in our country the president acts as a national symbol."
Leaders' approval ratings typically increase when a country feels itself in danger or under attack, as U.S. President George Bush's experienced after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
Levada said he also senses a growing desire for revenge. While at the beginning of the year about two-thirds of respondents said the Chechnya conflict should be phased out through negotiations, in November more people (48 percent) argued for a continuation of the war than for talks (43 percent).
"Putin clearly appears as a winner in the war against terror," pro-Kremlin political analyst Sergei Markov said. During the crisis, Putin performed the role of the nation's military leader well, but he has not yet shown himself to be a successful economic manager. "He has not raised living standards, he has not created conditions for small and medium-size businesses," Markov said.
That is why Putin's "abnormally high" rating is likely to decrease when and if issues such as housing sector reform or the fight against corruption take priority in people's minds, Markov said.
"If he is successful, his rating is bound to decrease," he said. "That will mean that the country is becoming normal."
2//PakTribune.com Friday November 29, 2002 (1042 PST)
http://www.paktribune.com/news/index.php?id=10472
FBI FORMS SPECIAL FORCE TO HUNT AL-QAIDA FUGITIVES
QUETTA, November 29 (Online): The US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has formed a special force to hunt down fugitives of al-Qaida in the rugged tribal areas of NWFP and Balochistan.
The force comprising of retired local army, paramilitary and police personnel will assist the FBI in its hunt for al-Qaida members who entered Pakistan after the intense US raids on Afghanistan last year.
"The force will cover the area from Chaman in Balochistan to Miranshah in the NWFP near the Afghan border," an official in the home department told Online on the condition of anonymity.
(SNIP)
"The force is made because the government was not showing interest in the capture of al-Qaida members," the official said adding "the rise of MMA and their clear No to operation against al-Qaida compelled the FBI on forming the force".
The second reason is that FBI was spending a lot of money on the local spies for collecting informations against al-Qaida and Taliban, he said and added, they (FBI) has decided to regulate the operation by forming a regular force.
3//The Daily Pioneer Monday, December 02, 2002
http://www.dailypioneer.com/secon3.asp?cat=\story2&d=FRONT_PAGE
ISOLATE
PAK, SAYS ADVANI
Pioneer News Service/New Delhi
Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani urged the international community on
Sunday to isolate terror states and said Pakistan was aiding and abetting
terrorism as it did not have the mettle to fight another direct war with
India.
Stepping up his offensive against Islamabad, Mr Advani said, "Terrorist organisations are dangerous but terrorist States are far more dangerous. The international community should ostracise such terror States in the interest of democracy, civilisation and humanity."
(SNIP)
Addressing the 37th Raising Day Parade of the Border Security Force (BSF) at its Chhawla campus, the Deputy Prime Minister, without directly referring to Pakistan, said though the neighbouring country has banned some terrorist outfits under international pressure, it continued to provide protection and refuge to such elements.
Paying homage to 107 BSF jawans martyred during the year, most of them in Jammu and Kashmir fighting terrorism, Mr Advani said Pakistan, having been defeated thrice in war and having realised it can never win a direct confrontation with India, had resorted to terrorism.
"Innocent civilians, women and children are being made targets. This poses a grave threat not only to the common man but also to democracy, civilisation and humanity. Earlier the world realises it, the better it would be for humanity," the Deputy PM said. Mr Advani had dared Pakistan to fight a fourth war with India, instead of engaging in proxy war targeting temples and innocent civilians, while addressing an election rally in Bhuj town of Gujarat on Saturday.
(MORE)
4//Institute for War and Peace Reporting 29-NOV-02
http://www.iwpr.net/index.pl?archive/arr/arr_200211_38_1_eng.txt
LAYING
DOWN THE LAW
By Shoib Safi in Kabul (ARR No. 38, 29-NOV-02)
Shoib Safi is an independent journalist in Kabul.
The authorities face a difficult task transforming thousands of former soldiers into professional policemen.
Not so long ago they were Northern Alliance soldiers fighting on a rugged battlefield - now the country's police force must learn to think and act as civil servants.
The shootings of student demonstrators two weeks ago was, officials admit, a failure on the part of police to show restraint in controlling protests over conditions at Kabul University. But it's not easy to train the officers, many of them former mujahedeen, for their new role in civil society.
...After being inactive for a decade, Kabul's three-year police academy programme - set up under the Najibullah regime and closed when it collapsed in 1992 - was reopened three months ago, with the help of money from Germany. The academy - whose lecturers have received training overseas - currently has around 1,500 full-time students in addition to working police who take short-term professional courses.
But with 9,000 officers in Kabul province and 75,000 nationwide, it will take more than a couple of years to have a fully professional civilian police force.
(SNIP)
Interior Minister Taj Mohammad Wardak said the police have been instructed repeatedly not to shoot demonstrators, but most of them have had little or no training in other techniques to deal with civil disobedience and don't have adequate crowd control equipment either. "The interior ministry has a lot of problems because it has to start from zero," he said. "We don't have tear gas, nor people who could use it properly."
The minister said police also were thrown off guard by the strength of the demonstrations, but could not explain why they opened fire. The shootings are being investigated by a commission made up of officials from several ministries. But for all the force's problems, Wardak insisted that his men were decent and law-abiding, " Most of the police are brave mujahedeen. They lack proper training and equipment and are not paid well, but they are doing a good job nonetheless," he said.
5//The Independent 01 December 2002
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/story.jsp?story=357425
CONFLICT
WILL LEAVE NHS SHORT OF STAFF
By Jo Dillon, Deputy Political Editor
The Government is under pressure to spell out the potential threat to the health service if key personnel are called up to assist in preparing for a war against Iraq.
Military experts estimate that up to 1,000 members of the 4,829-strong Medical Reserve Corps could be called up "within weeks". But cuts to the Defence Medical Services employed by the Army, Navy, and Air Force have led to staff shortages that now must be met by the reservists - the vast majority of whom are employed by the NHS.
Charles Heyman, editor of Jane's World Armies, said it was still unclear how many people would be called up or for how long they would have to leave their NHS posts in the event of military action. "From surgeons right through to nurses, the medical reservists are absolutely essential because since 1990 the armed forces medical services have been decimated," he said.
(SNIP)
Dr Liam Fox, the Conservative health spokesman, is to put down parliamentary questions this week to force the Government to explain the potential cuts to NHS services. "Because of the run-down of the armed services medical personnel, the effects on the NHS will be proportionately greater than in any conflict we have had to fight before," he said. "They will be relying even more heavily on NHS staff."
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©
2002, Gloria R. Lalumia
insight@zianet.com
Updated listings of Radio for Progressives on the internet at http://www.zianet.com/insightanalytical
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