MAJOR EARTHQUAKE AT NIAS ISLAND
Last night at 11:09 pm, an earthquake measuring 8.7 on the Richter scale occurred off the northwest coast of Sumatra, just a few hundred kilometres south of the 9.1 quake which triggered the Boxing Day tsunami. The epicentre was apparently very close, if not directly under Nias Island at a depth of about 30 km. Nearly all buildings in the main town on the island are said to have collapsed, and at least 1000 islanders are feared dead. Another report this morning put the expected loss of life at more than 2000. Reports from the area carried on MetroTV this morning, claim that the quake last night was felt to be even more violent and long-lasting than the quake 3 months ago. Nias Island is one of the top surfing destinations in the world, a tourism benefit which has resulted in many concrete buildings replacing traditional wood, bamboo and thatch constuctions, inevitably increasing the danger to life when they collapse.

Fortunately no tsunami was generated this time, but strangely enough a pair of "large" waves came ashore way over in east Java, frightening residents there and prompting a panicked exodus to higher ground. I find it difficult to believe that this could be connected to the earthquake at Nias. Almost humourously, with all the heightened sensitivity to unusual ocean wave activity, Metro reported on wave action at the Cocos Islands (between Indonesia and Australia) as being the only oceanic disturbance attributable (thus far) to this quake. Their news ticker reported that waves of "23 cm. in height" had come ashore there.

Residents of Samosir Island in North Sumatra report that they are still without power, and that they felt recurring quakes for several hours last night. The big quake was said to be the strongest ever felt in that area. Samosir is an island in the centre of a deep crater lake nestled in the middle of mountainous North Sumatra province, the famous Lake Toba. Video shown this morning on Indonesian tv showed the understandably skittish residents of Banda Aceh evacuating to higher ground last night, but the only casualties mentioned so far have been from traffic accidents in the mass exodus. Evidently the same occurred in Padang -- the other major city on the west coast, well south of Nias.

This morning's BBC report had me a bit confused initially, with the announcer talking about the panic and damage to Nias Island while showing pictures of people fleeing out of modern downtown shopping malls. What? There's no way Nias looks like that! It turned out to have been Hat Yai, a large town on the Gulf of Thailand (popular with Malaysians looking for some nightlife). The quake seems to have shaken Hat Yai enough to cause panic, which is surprising in that it is over 800 km. distant.

I've been trying to reach Tapaktuan by phone this morning without success. I'm glad that Ibu and Bapak are in Jakarta now, but eldest son was due to return to Aceh last Friday the 25th. He has his cellphone with him, but I can't get through on that number, nor on the landline I have for our neighbour. If the quake was felt so strongly all the way up in the highlands around Lake Toba, it will have most likely done some damage in Tapaktuan which is much closer. One worry, in addition of course to the still unclear conditions on Nias itself, must be for potential damage to roads and bridges just newly repaired along the Aceh coast, and the possibility that these transportation links which are still essential for continuing relief to areas devastated three months ago, might be once again broken.

Here are a couple of useful links from the US Geological Survey; the most recent earthquake list for Asia, and an earthquake map centred on this area.
- posted by Agam @ 12:58 PM 0 comments

 
ANOTHER IRAQI FREEDOM LOVER SPEAKS
With my brief sarcastic remarks yesterday on last weekend's annual (and dwindling, apparently) anti-liberation rallies, I neglected to point my readers to the other perspective, from inside Iraq. Let me rectify that now.

Husayn has been posting to his blog, Democracy in Iraq since December 04, and on Sunday he wrote an eloquent reflection on the last two years in his country, knowing that around the world that day, the "anti-imperialist movement" would be rallying in support of the "resistance".

So you ask me, Husayn, was it worth it. What have you gotten? What has Iraq acheived? These are questions I get a lot.

To may outsiders, like those who protested last year, who will protest today. This was a fools errand, it brought nothing but death and destruction. I am sheltered in Iraq, but I know how the world feels, how people have come to either love or hate Bush, as though heis the emobdiement of this war. As though this war is part of Bush, they forget the over twenty million Iraqis, they forget the Middle Easterners, they forget the average person on the street, the average man with the average dream.

Ask him if it was worth it. Ask him what is different. Ask him if he would go through it again, go ahead ask him, ask me, many of you have.

Now I answer you, I answer you on behalf of myself, and my countrymen. I dont care what your news tells you, what your television and newspapers say, this is how we feel. Despite all that has happened. Despite all the hurt, the pain, blood, sweat and tears. These two years have given us hope we never had.

Just around three weeks ago, Husayn wrote that he had lost a close family member in a recent terror bombing -- you may remember it, more than a hundred Iraqis died. Husayn's cousin, he wrote, was a peaceful man whose children are now without their father. He said he won't be able to blog as much now, because he needs to take up extra work to help out his cousin's family. I include this just for a background information here, now we go briefly back to his essay on the anniversary:

We have been brought from darkness to light. And not only has the future been made better for Iraq, but the martyrs of our nation, their blood is watering the roots of democracy across the world. We are watching our neighbors come closer to the light, and this only pushes us more, and makes us stronger in our burning desire to reach the finish line, to realize the dream that our people have had for so long.

No, we will not give up, and we will not say that the last two years were a waste. They for all their trouble have been momentus. They for us, have been a turning point in history. Whether or not you agree, this is how it looks from Iraq.

OK, so Agam has found another Iraqi who is glad to be free -- big deal, right? Husayn's blog is only one of many on my sidebar, written by Iraqis who are equally determined to embrace democracy at the end of a long nightmare under their ex-tyrant. But wait -- Husayn was rewarded for his eloquence and idealism by many reader responses, some of which he answers in a follow up post yesterday. While he says the vast majority of responses were positive (his "2 Years" post was mentioned and linked by quite a few other bloggers), it still amazes me that there are people who would be so nasty, and stubbornly anti-everything toward him. Perhaps these few angry respondents may have written in haste, pumped up by the day's anti-America rants and giant puppet heads, and all the wonderful Nazi-like regalia on display, that they couldn't consider their words more carefully. A sample from a reader in Boston:

Sure you have hope, but do your countrymen? Do those who died for imperialism have hope? How does it feel to get robbed for oil by the worlds strongest nation? Talk about these things, and then I might start reading your blog.

A constant refrain of these folks who slam people like Husayn, and the Iraq the Model brothers, are that they are sure they know what it's like in Iraq, better than Iraqi people who live there. Another reader, this one in UK:

Despite what everyone else in the world says, you are saying that things in Iraq are good. Ignorng the fact that everyday bombs are blown up, you are happy. Despite the fact that Americans are wasting money in Iraq, you thank them. May I ask you, are you blind or just stupid?

And there are worse, including someone who writes, "I hope you get yours." It was signed Nameless, to which I would like to add also Brainless and Soulless. Please check out how our Iraqi friend answers these, and note his surprise that there are people in the West who are content to live under dictators (most of these negative insulting stuff came from outside the Arab world, indeed from first world western countries).
- posted by Agam @ 12:06 PM 0 comments

 
UNTIED NATIONS?
Can the United Nations be "fixed", or reformed? Or does the world need a new organisation to meet needs different from those of 60 years ago? I think the answer should become more clear in the next few months, now that Kofi Annan has released his plan for UN reform. The world body is in need of a wholesale restructuring, not just adding a few more Security Council permanent members and a bit of tinkering around the edges.

The Human Rights Commission is becoming an absurd self-parody, because totalitarian states and tinpot dictatorships are the most motivated in becoming members -- all the better to squelch and suppress criticism of their own human rights records. China has taken this to an art form, using procedural rules to avert -- not a debate or a vote, but the mere raising of the issue of its own record. The infamous "no action motion" has been quite successful for them.

Dictators seem to have more influence and power at the UN, despite being fewer in number, than do democratic countries. It's a scenario that could form the basis for a Monty Python sketch, except if the Pythons did it, it would at least be funny. I've always been a supporter of the UN ideal, which is why I feel so disgusted at what it has become. I think the gang-up on Israel at the "anti racism conference" a few years ago was the turning point for me, the eye opener. With membership should come responsibility to fundamental human rights and freedoms -- if that can't be achieved through reforms, then a new body should be built from scratch. Anybody for a United Democratic Nations, where there are at least some minimal standards for membership?

I had actually been thinking that Paul Wolfowitz would have been a good choice for UN Ambassador, but I'm even gladder to see him going to the World Bank. I like Wolfowitz, he's a good, smart and compassionate man. Not what the self-described "progressives" like to paint as the evil neo-Zioncon baby killer -- but then I would guess that upwards of 90% of those who have labelled him thus, have never actually listened to him deliver a speech or engage in intellectual conversation. I'll never forget seeing him in extremely hostile surroundings at New York University a couple of years ago, having a one-on-one interview on stage and then engaging with highly antagonistic students and faculty for questions and answers. He showed himself to be a man of principle, and he kept his cool in that inferno of taunts and shrill insults, and my estimation of him was increased considerably.

So Wolfy is going to the World Bank, a place where I think his idealism is well suited. Surprisingly, I hear now that Canada's Foreign Affairs Dept. has announced that it supports his placement, as does Chancellor Schroeder. I'll bet Joschka Fischer must be ticked off about that. Perhaps the days of the World Bank bureaucrats bending over backwards to bend some of its own regulations (and outrightly ignore others) for the approval of oppressive states such as China, might be finally at an end.

Current World Bank president James Wolfensohn presided over a shameful episode, approving financial assistance to China for eviction of Tibetan and Mongolian nomads from an area in Tibet's Amdo region (now known as "China's Qinghai Province") and the population transfer of Han and Hui Chinese resettlers into the pastoralists' lands. Generally this kind of resettlement is considered to violate the rights of the original population, and in cases of disputed territories is an even bigger no-no. But China has already accomplished the marginalising of Uighurs in Xinjiang, and Mongolians of "Inner Mongolia" into minorities in their own lands (Han Chinese became large majorities in both these regions within a very short time due to China's resettlement policies), and now Tibetans are getting the same treatment. The world may or may not be able to ameliorate these marginalisation plans toward non-Han minorities, but the World Bank sure doesn't need to be funding it. Wolfowitz, I believe, will not let that kind of thing happen on his watch.

The weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth over the nomination of John Bolton to represent the US at the UN has been quite, er, delicious. He's been the "bad cop" in the North Korea portfolio with his blunt spoken style, and that's just what's needed to spur serious movement on UN reform. I know, he's been quoted saying he doesn't believe in the UN, that you could knock 10 floors off and it wouldn't make a bit of difference. Well, with all the scams and corruption, the abuses of populations it's supposed to be assisting, the phenomenal wastage and the ideological echo-chamber within, some blunt talk from the US rep is exactly what the UN needs right now. What does Bolton think about offering incentives to repressive regimes (in straight talk, that's known as "appeasing dictatorial thugs")? He replies, "I don't do carrots." Heh. I can hardly wait to see him at UNSC meetings! More on this from Mark Steyn. A wai to LGF for the link.

Leave aside for the moment, UNSCAM (the UN's Iraqi Oil for Palaces and Kickbacks scheme), and the now known to be worldwide problem of UN peacekeepers abusing of women and children, or the myriad of other problems for which the UN has proven to be absolutely ineffectual, and let's just consider the most urgent current emergency -- that of Darfur. For eleven months, the UN has been frozen into inaction, while defenceless refugees continue being attacked from the air and on the ground.

China has lucrative contracts for Sudanese oil, and has been protecting the duplicitous Khartoum regime and Janjaweed Arabist thugs by blocking Security Council action. Couldn't we get a "no-fly zone" going here? Maybe a few targetted sanctions to hurt the regime in their bank accounts, a little beefing up of the meagre African forces who are in Darfur now? Since everyone has to wait for UN approval for any such life-saving activities, and this is the only right and proper way to take any decision for launching any actual measures, then let's see it all work the way the proponents say it's supposed to.

I've been waiting (not to compare with the waiting of several million homeless, hungry and defenceless Africans under attacks by camel-borne thugs as well as Khartoum's own gunships -- or the waiting in vain of the several hundred thousand souls who couldn't quite wait long enough to get saved by the "international community") and watching for this good, responsible international activity, for eleven months already. No sign of movement yet, but I'm still hopeful...

After all, the world has a new committment to work together to deal with crises, it's been years already since the SecGen of UN proposed his "Annan Doctrine" on the limits of national sovereignty in cases of catastrophe, genocide and the like, and almost as many years since Canada has been developing the "new" international concept of Responsibility To Protect. So with all this new progressivity and evolution of the international system, where are the measures which would save lives? I'll tell you where. All this consensus and responsibility is nowheresville, because one or two non-democratic (anti-democratic?) members of a so-called "Security" Council can stop any such measures if it's in their own interests to do so. Of course it's even easier to stall and block and thwart the protection of innocents, when such a non-democratic (anti-democratic?) country is a "big five" one, like China.

So where are the protests? Where are the banners reading "No Blood for Oil!", "Stop Trading Rapes and Killings for Stability of Dictators" and "People's RepubliKKK of China Protects Genocidal Sudanese Arabist Killers of Ethnic Africans!". Where are the giant puppets of Hu Jintao and Wen Jiaobao with blood dripping fangs, and carrying faux Nazi regalia? Where?

Don't be silly; all banner painters and papier mache artisans have been extremely busy since way back last April (when the UN became very much "seized" of the Darfur issue). Why, they've needed all this time to prepare for the big 2 year anniversary last weekend of Chimpyshrub McBushitler's aggression on Saddam's genocidal regime, and the freeing of his former subjects. Must make sure that never happens again! Hands off Iran, Syria and Sudan, right? Victory to the noble Iraqi resistance fighters and down with Israel is just so much more de rigeur than, say "No More African Blood for Chinese Oil Contracts", right? Would this, er.. slant have anything to do with International A.N.S.W.E.R., Stop the War Coalition and allied groups being front organisations for the Socialist Workers' Party, Workers of the World Party, Kim Jong Il fans, and so on? And that the "People's" Republic of China is the last real surviving hope in the world for these idealistic and hardy Stalinists.... I think I'm seeing some pattern here, but I'm sure it's only my imagination.

I have no idea if it's really possible to "fix" the United Nations at this point. Even though the count of democratic states continues to increase (round about 100 out of 191), as we've seen, the dictatorships still seem to have enough blocking power to stymie the most basic consensus on an urgent matter of human rights and human lives. Urgent for me, I hope urgent for you, like it was urgent last year for John Danforth, then UN Ambassador from the US who was incredibly passionate about the need for the world to do something immediately. It had to be done through the UN, and consensus and cooperation -- but eleven months of being hamstrung by one or two stubborn UNSC members is just too ridiculous for words. But just be patient; if you think Khartoum is pushing the limit here, remember that Saddam had most of the world wrapped around his little finger, running back and forth with resolutions, inspections, evictions of resolute inspectors, and perpetual debate about it all for twelve years -- so I'm sure the Khartoum regime can push it out for a few more years at least. Probably the refugee problem will diminish gradually, as the genocidal killing by government gunships and Janjaweed militiamen reduces them to more manageable numbers. [Do I need to mark that out as sarcasm?]

So a majority of countries are now, at least to some basic extent (admittedly, some quite minimally as yet), democratic. But how does one actually reliably recognise a real dictatorship? Here is a handy seven point guide to help. The sad thing is how much actual truth there is in these, but the one that grates the hardest for me is #5: "They are a member of the UN Human Rights commission (not 100% foolproof but getting closer every year)." Dictatorships have a great interest in occupying those seats in order to block and suppress discussion of their own records (as I said, China has made a fine art of this), while only a few democracies are as strongly motivated for actual human rights reasons. In my view, only democratic countries which meet a non-minimal standard for human rights and freedoms should be allowed membership on that commission. Now I see that among Kofi Annan's new reform proposals, is included an idea for a new Human Rights Council -- which Russia and China apparently have already opposed, so it's possible it might be something better than totally useless.

Several wais, to InstaPundit for Coyote's dictatorship guide and LGF for the weekend demo reportage sites.

CONDI COMES TO ASIA
Secretary of State Rice has been in China, and it's not really a surprise that they are not permitting any open discussion of the type Colin Powell had when he visited a few years ago. There was a bit of a kerfuffle then, when his townhall style meeting with students in Peking was transcribed for publication in the official Party mouthpieces -- heavily edited and changed, of course. But never mind, it's all non-partisan censorship, as Hilary Clinton found out when her book was published in China with certain parts chopped out and others changed, for a more healthy and wholesome message for Chinese readers.

A Washington Post editor got a taste of this recently, when he was in China for the rubberstamp meeting of the National "People's" Congress. He did an interview with People's Daily, and what they published got him into a spot of hot water when he got home. More on this from Michelle Malkin, who notes a partial clarification by Washington Post managing editor Philip Bennett to broadcaster Hugh Hewitt, wherein he claims People's Daily severely misquoted him:

The version published in the People's Daily includes numerous and important inaccuracies. In many places words and sentences were removed to change the meaning of what I said. In some places words or sentences were invented that I did not say. In one typical example, where I said "China is not a democracy" the People's Daily version quoted me as saying "China is not a democracy either by American standards." At the same time, comments critical of China were deleted.

There are a number of other specific quotes of a questionable nature which he has yet to elaborate on. Michelle's on it.

TAPAKTUAN NEWS
Family readers will be pleased to hear that Agam's Ibu and Bapak have been transported from Tapaktuan to Jakarta by their eldest son, the one who so kindly hosted me down there in October. The news isn't completely good though, as Ibu's mental state has become badly disturbed again, as she was after the abduction of her youngest son Uddin -- Agam's best friend and brother -- on the day of a big referendum drive in Aceh in 1999. She had been getting medicine and was improving slowly over time, but even though Tapaktuan wasn't badly damaged in the tsunami, it may be that the disaster had an effect on her. Bapak has been in the hospital as well, but I'm not clear on the ailment. I don't think it's too serious, but I feel so much better that they are in Jakarta now, with lots of family to care for them. Brother A says they'll stay until next Lebaran (the celebration following Ramadan), so that takes up most of 2005. I hope I can get down there soon to visit.

Brother A also tells me he is on contract now for building a whole lot of fishing boats to replace those destroyed in December, and I may be able to help with this from Bangkok. We're looking for about 500 small marine diesel engines, 20 - 30 horsepower Yanmars would be about right. My old sailboat had a Yanmar, and it was a good, reliable machine. Brother A also mentioned Mitsubishis, but I can't seem to locate any models of that size, only big 6 cylinder jobs. Good quality second hand reconditioned engines might be alright as well, so if anyone in the neighbourhood (Singapore, Padang, Medan) has any leads, use the email up on the sidebar.

FREEDOM ON THE MOVE
It's been great to see the stirrings of democratic aspirations lately, from Lebanon to Iran and Gulf states to central Asia. Of course all this would have happened anyway, right.... as Howard Dean used to say, "I question the timing!"

As usual, getting a local perspective or a "well connected to the locals" perspective is made possible by the blogosphere.

Afghanistan's newest (and maybe first) blogger, is the Afghan Warrior, check him out for some interesting writings on how freedom is working out there. For some excellent analysis and reporting on the Lebanon situation, don't miss Across the Bay, and if you're up for some delightful fisking of Juan Cole's "informed" commentary on the Middle East, this is your stop as well. Lots has been happening in central Asia, most notably in Kyrgyzstan the past few weeks (I see it made some of the normal news channels today), and for watchers of that region, Registan is the place to be. For broader views of these movements, I've been enjoying Austin Bay, and also the Publius Pundit.

Other recent blog discoveries which are sharing my interest in the worldwide democratic movement generally, are the Seeker Blog and Solomonia, the latter of which was added quietly to my blogroll in the last week or two, and promptly returned the favour unsolicited. I like it when that happens, so check him out.

On the The Arab Street (please do read Hitchens' dissection of that disappearing expression), there is a new Iraqi blogger named Ahmad, the Iraqi Expat, who is based in London but seems quite well connected with family and friends not only in Iraq but nearby countries also. In fact I just had to clip this short post from him to give readers a taste of Lebanese humour, as he offered us a new joke from Beirut last week:

There are five differences between Syria and E.T.:

1. E.T. looked better
2. He learned to communicate
3. He came alone
4. He had his own bike
5. And he wanted to go home!

Heh. And finally we move down to Australia, where some very fine writers seem to originate..... it's the Jihad Pundit, "The Arab Street Neoconservative." I like your attitude, habib.

NOT DEAD YET
Thomas Lipscomb writes on Editor and Publisher that in his estimation, neither Rathergate nor Easongate should be considered to be pushing up the daisies quite yet. Some inside info on Eason Jordan's situation regarding the "off the record recording":

Not only was there a tape, but CNN admits it never asked for it, as CNN spokeswoman Megan Mahoney has revealed to me. There was no problem with getting a copy of the notorious "off the record" tape from the World Economic Forum. When I asked WEF's Klaus Schwab whether he would have made a tape available, cut to just Eason Jordan's remarks, and give it to Jordan and CNN, he replied: "Of course. And they could make any distribution of it they wished."

CNN had the power and the obligation to release the tape as a news organization. That responsibility was its bond to the public trust. If the head of its news department had gone off his head, firing him and getting back to basics would help to keep that trust intact. Why wouldn't CNN, like Dan Rather, want to "break that story?"

At the beginning of this kerfuffle, WEF promised several interested bloggers that the tape would be released. Then they changed their mind and said no, it's off the record. Now it appears that they are willing to release it to CNN, but CNN has not been willing to ask for it. C'mon there, 'most trusted source in news'; do they shoot journalists, or don't they?

OF COURSE THEY DO?
Giuliana Sgrena is convinced that she was intentionally targetted for assassination by US troops, so there's one point on Eason's side at least (but then she changed her mind about it, so who knows what she believes this week). However, due to her support for the freedom-fighting head choppers and her bona fide anti-American credentials, she was certainly not targetted for kidnapping by the comradely "insurgents" ... or something like that. I think I'll wait until the investigation before assuming that we know anything about what happened to her and her rescuer / negotiator from the Italian security services.

However this is a short piece which I'd wanted to include last week which seems like a pertinent bit of info, but at the time I couldn't lay my hand on it when I wanted to post. It's been published on a few blogs though, so avid blogospherians might have seen it. But since many of my readers are not avid blogospherians, I found it on Chrenkoff, which appears to have been the origin for this translation anyway. One of Arthur's readers, Hagel has translated an article from a Dutch newspaper "Nederlands Dagblad", written by one of Giuliana Sgrena's own journalistic colleagues (the original is here):

Journalist Sgrena didn't like the Yanks
Filed on 3/8/2005 06:53

By Harald Doornbos

BEIRUT - "Be careful not to get kidnapped", I said to the female journalist sitting next to me on a small plane flying to Baghdad. "Oh, no", she said, "we are on the side of the Iraqi people. No Iraqi will kidnap us."

Eight days later this woman, Giuliana Sgrena, was kidnapped by armed Iraqis during a visit to the university of Baghdad. A month later she is freed. But don't ask how. For four weeks she was in captivity, appeared crying in a videotape, begging for her life and the withdrawal of Italian forces from Iraq. She also said that "Iraq wasn't a place for journalists". Then followed negotiations between Italian authorities and the group of kidnappers, who threatened to behead her.

It's highly likely that ransom was paid Friday, after which Italian security agents picked her up. But the trouble didn't end here. Just after Sgrena was freed, her car was shot at when, on the way to the airport, the driver drove too fast towards an American checkpoint. One bullet hit Sgrena in the shoulder and one of the secret agents died.

Sgrena, who arrived in Rome Saturday, claims that the Americans tried to kill her. The member of the secret service received a state funeral yesterday and is revered as a hero in Italy.

It doesn't sound nice to attack a colleague. But Sgrena's attitude is a complete disgrace to journalism. Didn't she say, sitting next to me in the airplane, that "normal journalists like you" don't stand behind the Iraqi people. "The Americans are the biggest enemies of mankind", the three women told me, because Sgrena traveled to Iraq with two Italian colleagues who also disliked the Yanks.

When I told I wasn't going to sit in Baghdad, but travel as an embedded journalist, I was treated as the Big Traitor. "I just don't want to be kidnapped", I said. "That is the only reason I go with the Americans."

Jeering. "You don't get the situation. We are anti-imperialists, anti-capitalists, communists", they said. The Iraqis only kidnap stooges of the Americans, the enemies of the Americans have nothing to fear.

Now I told them that I thought they weren't sane. You cannot deny that Al-Qaeda-like groups operate in Iraq, who specifically target western journalists. And Al-Qaeda warriors are the Arabic equivalent of fascism: anti-American, anti-Jewish and above all anti-communist.

But well, the three knew better. When we arrived in Baghdad, I waited on an American jeep which was going to pick me up. I saw how one of the three Italian women walked around crying, because an Iraqi had stolen her computer and television equipment. Shivering they stood outside, waiting for a taxi to bring them to Baghdad.

With her total prejudice Sgrena didn't only put herself in danger, but because her conduct an Italian security agent is dead and the Italian government spent millions of euros trying to save her life. Let's hope Sgrena chooses another job. Propagandist or parliamentarian maybe. But she should quit journalism immediately.

And millions of Euros will buy an awful lot of bomb making supplies, I should think. How many deaths will eventually be attributable to that?
- posted by Agam @ 8:30 PM 0 comments

 
SHIFTING SANDS IN INDONESIA
The tsunami disaster and subsequent relief efforts have apparently shifted more than the Aceh coastline. A new poll of Indonesian attitudes toward the United States, radical Islamic terrorism and associated issues seems to indicate a dramatic shift in an encouraging direction. Conducted on behalf of Terror Free Tomorrow (a group which appears to be focussed on the potential support bases of terrorism) between February 1 - 6, 2005 by Indonesian polling firm Lembaga Survei Indonesia, the poll finds that there are now more Indonesians who support American efforts against terrorism, than oppose them. Support for bin Laden and his movement has dropped significantly, while favourable attitudes toward the United States have increased. View a summary of the poll's findings here, a few of which I will quote:

• For the first time ever in a major Muslim nation, more people favor US-led efforts to fight terrorism than oppose them (40% to 36%). Importantly, those who oppose US efforts against terrorism have declined by half, from 72% in 2003 to just 36% today.
  
  
• For the first time ever in a Muslim nation since 9/11, support for Osama Bin Laden has dropped significantly (58% favorable to just 23%).
  
  
• 65% of Indonesians now are more favorable to the United States because of the American response to the tsunami, with the highest percentage among people under 30.
  
  
• 71% of the people who express confidence in Bin Laden are now more favorable to the United States because of American aid to tsunami victims.

Get the full report in MSWord format, Acrobat PDF, or MS Powerpoint.

Read some of the news coverage on the poll. Not surprisingly, the rapid response of the US to the tsunami disaster, the sight of the world's most powerful military force put in the service of rescuing and sustaining the survivors, seems most responsible for the shift in opinion. Also noted in the above link, a recent Ipsos poll indicates that the American public wants to see a greater proportion of their country's foreign aid going to Indonesia.

TAPAKTUAN UPDATE
The Catholic relief agency Caritas Australia has a short account of the current situation in Tapaktuan, where many refugees from neighbouring areas have taken sanctuary in the town and surrounding villages. The local people are doing their best to cope, but appear to be getting minimal assistance from outside -- no NGO's are operating there.

REPORTING ON THE TIBET-CHINA ISSUE
One thing that constantly amazes me around this time every year, is the consistent refrain we hear whenever the Dalai Lama's annual message for Tibetan National Uprising Day is reported. "Dalai Lama says Tibet can find a solution within the People's Republic of China." As if this is news! Reporters treat it as though it was some sort of policy change, and commentators frequently remark on how the "Free Tibet" movement and supporters will react to what they feel is a retreat on the Tibetan government's position. People who seem to feature themselves as experts on the Tibet question would do well to inform themselves (at least a little bit) on the history of relations between the exile Tibetans and the Chinese government.

The Dalai Lama himself frequently reminds reporters (and anyone else who might care) of Deng Xiao Peng's policy statment on Tibet, which was that "outside of complete independence, all things can be discussed." The Tibetan leader has been trying to make some headway for a mutually agreeable solution within this framework, and had announced his stance on working out these problems within the Chinese republic when he addressed the European Parliament in Strasbourg way back in 1988. That makes it 17 years since this had been the Tibetan position (and certainly not without opposition from many Tibetans committed to full independence). His Holiness is the only person alive today who is capable of bringing his people along with this policy, which he believes could be beneficial to both sides. The words of his message which I posted last Friday will certainly bear this out.

But really, get with the program you China reporters, commentators and self-styled "Tibet experts" -- stop talking about a 17 year old policy decision as though it were something new and astonishing which will surely take the wind out of the sails of the Tibetan Freedom Movement. The Tibetans, or at least their current leadership, have faith that emancipation could be found within the socialist paradise of the PRC. If pundits are convinced that this cannot happen within China, they should please be explicit as to why the Dalai Lama's faith in Chinese goodwill must be totally misplaced.

I watched the unprecedented BBC Question Time China this past weekend. This must have been an amazing experience for the studio audience, to participate in such a free and open debate. It was exactly the type of panel debate with audience participation which is a fixture of Indian television -- and indeed the BBC itself has a weekly Question Time India that examines all sorts of controversial issues. It's funny that something so normal for Indian audiences (or Thai or Indonesian audiences, for that matter), would be considered such a milestone for China.

I have to say that the two Chinese government representatives, among the five panelists, seemed much more unfamiliar at dealing with openly contending opinions, as was the audience. Indeed, the audience seemed to be loving it. Also on the panel were David Tang, a Hong Kong designer, Chris Patten, the last British governor of Hong Kong, and Isabel Hilton who has lived in China and has written about it for many years. See her book "In Search of the Panchen Lama" for an in depth look at the historical roots of the Panchen Lama's succession kerfuffle. All in all, a very lively debate touching on many of the issues which divide the Chinese leadership from proponents of democratic governance, and getting right down to the fundamental philosophical differences. Tibet was only mentioned once, very obliquely. Both Ms. Hilton and Mr. Tang were very eloquent in expressing these principles in relation to Hong Kong's governance, the issue of Taiwan, and the need for political participation for the Chinese as a whole. The arguments proffered by the PRC's representatives were quite obviously inadequate, amounting to rehashing of the standard PRC rhetoric, and feigned ignorance of any of the documented cases of the widespread abuses of fundamental human rights in their country.

STOP MURDERING KOREAN MUSLIMS!
I suppose I could put this item down to the same sort of one-sided or blinkered reporting which also obliterates any positive news about the work being done by those countries now striving to help Afghanistan and Iraq emerge into the light (and as always, please see Arthur Chrenkoff's blog for his latest roundups of news little noticed by the world at large). But this little story from back in February seems to illustrate how warped the general view has become. An American school teacher had her class make a project of writing letters to service men and women stationed abroad, and so a soldier who is stationed in South Korea -- in the service of protecting that country from a nuclear weapons armed lunatic -- found himself being lectured by children about his participation in the "killing of Muslims", the wanton destroying of their mosques, and so on and so forth. The serviceman seemed very depressed by being attacked by these budding little radicals, and I sure don't blame him.

Should anyone still need a wake-up to the type of sick slaughter (overwhelmingly of Muslims) that was halted by the overthrow of Saddam, please visit Iraqi Truth Project. This is a documentary film entitled "Weapon of Mass Destruction" -- a documentary which is destined to be studiously ignored by many, and is highly unlikely to get the widespread attention and adoration which was lavished on Michael Moore's dishonest farce. Take time to view the short trailer, linked at the top of the page. The film was made with the input of one Victor Davis Hanson, and that for me is a strong assurance of the film's credibility.

THEY SHOOT JOURNALISTS, DO THEY?
I would imagine that Eason Jordan may have been trying to contact Giuliana Sgrena lately, hoping to get some backup for his assertion before an international audience at Davos that US soldiers target journalists for assassination. The reporter for the Italian communist newspaper il Manifesto is convinced that she survived, not a standard procedure against an apparently aggressive threat, but rather a targetted assassination. In her account, tellingly entitled "My Truth", she describes their wild car ride to the airport (after, according to many sources, a ransom of between 7 to 10 million euros was paid for her -- coalition and Iraqi authorities were kept in the dark about that, and the ensuing Italian "rescue" operation). After hearing for days about how they were driving slowly and carefully, and didn't see any checkpoint at all, this is evidently what she wrote as her "truth":

The car kept on the road, going under an underpass full of puddles and almost losing control to avoid them. We all incredibly laughed. It was liberating. Losing control of the car in a street full of water in Baghdad and maybe wind up in a bad car accident after all I had been through would really be a tale I would not be able to tell.

The car was said to have been hit by a rain of bullets, while Giuliana says she was picking them up off the seats by the handfulls. Here are some pics of the car, and more here. Somebody needs some extra target practice..... but wait! She also claims the car was fired on by tanks. That's one tough little car!

I recall another Italian hostage captured in Iraq, who showed his captors what some Italians are made of. He won't get as famous as Ms. Sgrena, though, who bragged to everyone within earshot as she travelled to Baghdad, that her staunch anti-Americanism would protect her, and that "insurgents" would never harm her because she was on their side. I certainly hope that the joint US-Italian investigation will be able to piece this whole episode together honestly. It might be easy for the il Manifesto journalist to enjoy the excitement of her release with a wild out of control joyride ("We all incredibly laughed..."), without giving much thought to the people who are car bomb targets each and every day.

Here is a short email sent to Little Green Footballs last week, from an LGF reader jlucas:

My son, who is home from Baghdad on for two weeks R&R, was mad as hell about the reports that Sgrena claimed US troops intentionally tried to kill her. He told me that his platoon (and, presumably hundreds or thousands of other US troops) spent considerable time searching for her, trying to find and release her. Each time he and his troops stop a car or enter a building they put their lives at risk. They did this -- putting themselves at risk -- following orders to try to find and rescue her, not to kill her. If US troops were trying to kill her instead of rescue her, it hardly could have been kept a secret, since all hundreds or thousands of troops searching would have to have received similar orders. At the risk of stating the obvious, it would have been pointless to give orders to one roadblock team to shoot her if everyone else had orders to find and rescue her. What nonsense!

The Americans who lend aid and comfort to the people floating these conspiracy theories should not be tolerated when they next claim to "support the troops."

Unfortunately, when it comes to accusing Americans of any sort of nefarious and malicious intent, common sense is just tossed to the breeze.
- posted by Agam @ 3:41 PM 0 comments

 
TROJAN HORSES FROM BEIJING'S VIRUS JOCKEYS
China-based cyber-patriots have once again attempted to create mischief with the Tibetan Government's computer systems and email communications, in an attempt to sabotage the dissemination of His Holiness' March 10 message for 2005. This is not the first time for this type of juvenile-minded activity directed against the free Tibetans, and I'm sure it won't be the last. I've watched this type of people carrying out their patriotic duty in other ways, brave defenders of the motherland -- in their own mind -- engaging in what they imagine to be cyber-warfare against the ungrateful ex-serfs and their "splittist"-in-chief. Pathetic.

Following this short news release from the Office of Tibet, New York, I will reproduce the full text of the Dalai Lama's statement. Let it be reproduced a thousand times -- ten thousand times -- by all who support the Tibetans' freedom movement, and let the patriotic chauvinists know that their actions will only increase the propagation of what they endeavour to suppress.

TROJAN HORSE GALLOPS FROM BEIJING, DISGUISED AS DALAI LAMA STATEMENT
Office of Tibet, New York

NEW YORK, March 7 - As the Tibetan people wait for His Holiness the Dalai Lama's national address of 10 March, hackers in Beijing are working overtime to sabotage the cyber world of Tibet movement.

Offices of the Tibetan exile administration have recently started receiving emails disguised as originating from Sonam N. Dagpo, "Additional Secretary" (sic) of the Department of Information and International Relations (DIIR) in Dharamsala, and purportedly carrying the text of His Holiness the Dalai Lama's 10 March statement as an attached file.

Promptly denying authorship of the insidious emails, Dagpo, Secretary (no longer additional secretary), warned us that the attachment was actually a virus.

Dagpo warned us also not to open any attachment purportedly coming from the official email addresses of other DIIR staffers, such as Tenzin Lekshey and Masood Butt.

Once opened, the attachment is designed to plant a Trojan Horse on the unsuspecting recipient's computer, making its content accessible to the attackers.

The source of the eavesdropping devise was traced by Washington, D.C.-based International Campaign for Tibet to China Railway Telecommunications Center in Xicheng District, Beijing.

This makes it the third round of cyber attacks coming from Beijing and targetting the Tibet movement.

The last attack came in the Fall of 2003 to coincide with the Fourth International Tibet Support Groups Conference in Prague, when an Internet company in Beijing sent out a custom-designed eavesdropper disguised as a message from the conference organizer, Tibetan exile administration offices and major support groups round the world.

Chinese hackers are known to have planted digital spies also on the computer systems of other governments and movements deemed to be hostile.

Victims include Falung Gong, and the governments of South Korea, Taiwan and the United States.

As late as July 2004, nearly 300 South Korean government computers were reportedly infected by "viruses capable of stealing passwords and other sensitive information".

Financial Times reported that the "National Assembly and an atomic energy research institute are among 10 agencies penetrated by the hackers, who were traced to China by the Korean intelligence service."

-- * --

The Statement of His Holiness the Dalai Lama on the 46th Anniversary of the Tibetan National Uprising Day

On the occasion of the 46th anniversary of the Tibetan People's Uprising, I convey my warm greetings to my fellow Tibetans in Tibet and in exile and to our friends around the world.

During these more than four decades great changes have taken place in Tibet. There has been a great deal of economic progress along with development in infrastructure. The Golmud-Lhasa railway link that is being built is a case in point. However, during the same period much has been written by independent journalists and travelers to Tibet about the real situation in Tibet and not what they have been shown. Most of them portray a very different picture than what the Chinese government claims, clearly criticizing China about the lack of human rights, religious freedom and self-rule in Tibet. What has actually happened and is still happening is that since the establishment of the Tibet Autonomous Region the real authority has been solely held by Chinese leaders. As for the Tibetan people, they have been facing suspicions and growing restrictions. The lack of true ethnic equality and harmony based on trust, and the absence of genuine stability in Tibet clearly shows that things are not well in Tibet and that basically there is a problem.

Prominent and respected Tibetan leaders in Tibet have spoken out on this from time to time and even suffered because of their courageous acts. In the early 1960s, the late Panchen Lama outlined the sufferings and aspirations of the Tibetan people in his petition to the Chinese leaders. Baba Phuntsok Wangyal, one of the foremost Tibetan communist leaders, in his recent biography published in English dwells at length on the need to meet the interests of the Tibetan people. In fact, it is clear that most senior Tibetan officials in Tibet deep in their hearts are extremely dissatisfied.

This year the Chinese government will mark the 40th anniversary of the establishment of the Tibet Autonomous Region. There will be much fanfare and many commemorative events to celebrate the occasion but these will be meaningless when they do not reflect the ground realities. For example, the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution were celebrated with great pomp as real achievements at the time they took place.

China has made tremendous economic progress during the past more than two decades. China today is not what it was twenty or thirty years ago. Much has changed in China. As a result she has become a major player in the world and China rightly deserves this position. It is a big nation with a huge population and a rich and ancient civilization. However, China's image is tarnished by her human rights records, undemocratic actions, the lack of the rule of law and the unequal implementation of autonomy rights regarding minorities, including the Tibetans. All these are a cause for more suspicion and distrust from the outside world. Internally, they are an obstacle to unity and stability that are of utmost importance to the leaders of the People's Republic of China. In my view, it is important that as China becomes a powerful and respectable nation she should be able to adopt a reasonable policy with confidence.

The world in general, of which China is a part, is changing for the better. In recent times there is definitely a greater awareness and appreciation for peace, non-violence, democracy, justice and environmental protection. The recent unprecedented response from governments and individuals across the world to the tsunami disaster victims reaffirms that the world is truly interdependent and the importance of universal responsibility.

My involvement in the affairs of Tibet is not for the purpose of claiming certain personal rights or political position for myself nor attempting to stake claims for the Tibetan administration in exile. In 1992 in a formal announcement I stated clearly that when we return to Tibet with a certain degree of freedom I will not hold any office in the Tibetan government or any other political position and that the present Tibetan administration in exile will be dissolved. Moreover, the Tibetans working in Tibet should carry on the main responsibility of administering Tibet.

I once again want to reassure the Chinese authorities that as long as I am responsible for the affairs of Tibet we remain fully committed to the Middle Way Approach of not seeking independence for Tibet and are willing to remain within the People's Republic of China. I am convinced that in the long run such an approach is of benefit to the Tibetan people for their material progress. It is encouraging that there is support from various parts of the world for this approach as being reasonable, realistic and of mutual benefit to the Chinese and Tibetans. I am particularly encouraged by the recognition and support that has come from certain quarters of the intellectual circle from within China.

I am happy with our renewed contacts with the Chinese leadership and that the third round of meetings last September shows that gradually our interactions are improving. Now that our elected political leadership is shouldering more responsibility in Tibetan affairs, I have advised them to look into the issues raised by the Chinese side during our third round of talks and to take steps to address or clarify them as needed. We remain hopeful that eventually we will be able to develop the necessary trust and resolve this long-standing issue to our mutual benefit.

Finally, I would like to take this opportunity to express the Tibetan people's gratitude and appreciation to the people and Government of India for their steadfast sympathy and support. I very much feel a part of this nation not only because of the centuries-old religious and cultural ties that India and Tibet enjoyed but also because I and most of the Tibetans in exile lived in India for the past 45 years.

I offer my prayers to the brave men and women of Tibet who gave their lives for the cause of Tibetan freedom.

The Dalai Lama
March 10, 2005

-- * --
- posted by Agam @ 4:05 PM 0 comments

 
TIBETAN NATIONAL UPRISING DAY
The tenth day of March, today, is the 46th anniversary of the Tibetan People's National Uprising, which occurred on this day in 1959. At that time, the Chinese occupation was in its tenth year. The Dalai Lama, who had been a boy of 16 at the time of the invasion and violent "liberation", had stayed with his people in an attempt to make the new relationship with the occupying power less onerous for them. Most of his advisors and members of the Tibetan Cabinet (Kashag) had recommended for him to seek freedom in India before the Chinese troops arrived in Lhasa, and in this way to keep the Tibetan national identity alive, as well as to seek international support for the independence which his predecessor had declared in clear and unequivocal manner 40 years earlier.

But he stayed with his people, and had hopes that things could work out somehow, that Chinese communism was a humanitarian philosophy, that the Communist Party had only kind intentions to help Tibet, and then they would leave. His Holiness wrote last year, in his annual March 10th message to Tibetans around the world (of course it's extremely difficult for those inside Tibet to receive this message):

This year marks 50 years since my visit to mainland China in 1954 to meet with the then Chinese leaders, especially Mao Tse-tung. I remember very well that I embarked on the journey with deep concerns about the future of Tibet. I was assured by all the leaders I met that the Chinese presence in Tibet was to work for the welfare of the Tibetans and "to help develop" Tibet. While in China I also learned about internationalism and socialism which deeply impressed me. So I returned to Tibet with optimism and confidence that a peaceful and mutually beneficial coexistence could be worked out. Unfortunately, soon after my return China was embroiled in political unrest unleashed by radical political campaigns. These developments impacted the Chinese policy on Tibet resulting in more repression and rigidity leading finally to the Tibetan People's Uprising in March 1959.

At that time, the people of Lhasa were convinced that a plot was afoot by the Chinese military commander to kidnap the Dalai Lama. He was insisting that the Tibetan head of state should visit his military base to enjoy a Chinese musical concert, but he was even more insistent that Kundun shall bring none of the regular attendants which would normally accompany him. He must come to the base, and he must come alone. Word of this reached the population who promptly filled Lhasa's streets and thronged around the Norbulinka Palace. They didn't believe the Chinese military leaders' assurances of innocent intent, and were determined that His Holiness should not attend the performance.

The stand-off became increasingly tense and seemed sure to descend into violence between the almost completely unarmed Lhasans, and the well equipped Chinese troops. Dalai Lama believed the only way to avert this would be to secretly leave the city and head for the southern part of the country until the situation calmed. When the people learned that he was safe, they would stop their confrontation against the occupation forces. He and a small number of companions left the palace in common dress, and made their way south on horseback. By the time the Chinese had realised the Tibetan spiritual and temporal leader was gone, the little party had a healthy head start.

The PLA commanders were furious, and they launched a bombardment on the Norbulinka which killed virtually everyone within, most of whom were monks. When the shelling stopped, witnesses described the soldiers turning over each and every monk's body, looking in vain for the Dalai Lama. A Chinese general later put the figure of 87,000 killed during the crushing of the Lhasa uprising. The Dalai Lama's group was shepherded through to the southern border by Khampa tribesmen, and on the journey they had received word of the slaughter which had taken place in the Holy City. They did succeed to keep just ahead of Chinese troops intent on preventing their escape, and crossed to the safety of India.

The Dalai Lama re-established his government in exile, where he was free to impliment the democratic reforms which were impossible under Chinese overlordship. Now the Tibetan government is led by a directly elected Prime Minister, who chooses his cabinet members from an elected parliament. The Dalai Lama has migrated his own role to something of a moral advisor to the government, with no direct role in politics -- actually much like the role of HM the King has here in relation to the Thai government. And forty-six years later, he is still derided by China's communist leadership as an evil separatist, while he still insists that everything can work out between the two peoples, with just a little more trust and goodwill. Again, from his message last year on Tibetan National Uprising Day:

The Tibetan issue represents both a challenge and an opportunity for a maturing China to act as an emerging global player with vision and values of openness, freedom, justice and truth. A constructive and flexible approach to the issue of Tibet will go a long way in creating a political climate of trust, confidence and openness, both domestically and internationally. A peaceful resolution of the Tibetan issue will have wide-ranging positive impacts on China's transition and transformation onto a modern, open and free society. There is now a window of opportunity for the Chinese leadership to act with courage and farsightedness in resolving the Tibetan issue once and for all.

There are however, some Chinese intellectuals who do recognise the Tibetan leader for who he actually is, rather than the two-dimensional caricature painted by the party ideologues. Wang Lixiong is one such writer who has written frequently about Tibet issues, and has himself been persecuted in the past for his writings. In an article entitled "The Dalai Lama is the Key to the Tibet Issue," he writes:

China must seize the present opportunity and start the process of finding a solution to the Tibetan issue while the 14th Dalai Lama is alive and in good health. An early initiative is necessary to achieve permanent stability with one single effort. Bidding for time is neither in the interest of the Dalai Lama, nor of China. In fact, it is China that will come out far worse. China should not regard the Dalai Lama as an obstacle to resolving the issue of Tibet, but as the key to a lasting solution. However, if the issue is not resolved well, the key that can open the big door can also lock it.

This is a truth that I wish the Chinese leaders would finally get. Rather than simply waiting for the Dalai Lama to die, believing that once that happens their troubles will be over, they need to get serious about resolving the issue while they still have such an accomodative and generous partner to deal with -- the only one with the influence to bring his people along with such compromise -- or they will lose the chance forever.

VARIED REACTIONS TO BA'ASYIR SENTENCE
Last week's sentencing of the radical Wahhabist preacher drew widely different responses, from dismay at the "excessive length" of 30 months by his supporters and others, to dismay at its "excessive shortness" by Australian and US officials and others. I have picked up no further indications that prosecutors are considering any appeal for a stronger sentence (they had asked for 8 years), but the defence team have been appealing for parliament's intervention to act in some way to overturn the verdict. I'm not sure what the mechanism would be for that, but they will launch a legal appeal in any case. Basically any inconvenience at all to this cleric's comfort, is seen by his followers as something to be fought tooth and nail.

Wretchard of Belmont Club looks at reactions from Australia and Philippines, and the broader conflict of ideas that underlies the struggle with violent Islamism. Note that this is not a struggle with Islam, which is a religion, but with Islamism, which is basically a totalitarian political ideology wrapped in a mantle of fake piety. Wretchard quotes a veteran Filipino journalist covering the case, who describes government prosecutors as "nervous Nellies" during the trial, who lost control of their prosecution witnesses (most of whom copped out from their pre-trial statements), and produced only one witness to link Ba'asyir to his Jema'ah Islamiyah groups in the Philippines. Nasir Abbas testified that Ba'asyir "had personally put him (Abbas) in charge of 'terrorist activities in part of the Philippines'."

But in the end, there wasn't enough evidence for those five judges to find the soft-spoken old hate preacher guilty of involvement with terrorism. I'd love to hear an explanation of how someone can be found guilty of being party to a conspiracy which leads directly to a bombing which kills over 200 innocents, and still be found "not guilty of terrorism" (unless Ward Churchill-ish definitions are used for those who got blown to pieces). It's a darn good thing that Hambali was captured here in Thailand rather than Indonesia, or he'd likely be out on the streets already. Ba'asyir might be removed from the battleground for a year or so (with time off for time already served, good behavior and so on), and the ideologue's battleground is the one that fuels all the others -- the field of boarding schools from which he can attract more young adherents. As Wretchard reminds, "While an idea's potency remains it will find adherents."

The casual outside observer would conclude, from the apparent fact that the Western ideal can find no public defenders, that it is not worth upholding. Radical Islam, on the other hand, must self-evidently be an idea of great worth, as so many are publicly willing to die for it. And to a limited degree they would be right, for something must be terribly wrong with the West to cause such self-hatred.

This is the origin, as it looks from here, for much of the external validation for the perceived "great worth" and potency of the Islamist's cause. It comes from within the self-hating sections of Western societies themselves.

MEUTIA AND BUDIYANTO
I haven't had much time for writing lately, but I certainly followed the mercifully short ordeal last month, of the MetroTV journalist Meutia Hafid and her cameraman Budiyanto. The pair had been travelling from Amman, Jordan to return to Baghdad to cover the Ashura festivities there and in Najaf (if one can call such a bloody event a "festivity"). They were taken hostage by one of the insurgent groups in Ramadi on February 15, but it took several days of no communications before the MetroTV folks in Jakarta realised something was wrong. And it wasn't long after the worst fears were being openly accepted as a real possibility, that the hostage-takers' videotape was broadcast around the world via APTN. Meutia and Budiyanto were standing in a desolate, rocky setting, holding up their passports and surrounded by hooded and masked gunmen.

Meutia and Budiyanto had earlier been among Metro's first on the scene in Aceh, as well as having previously reported from Iraq. I had noticed Meutia's report about a week earlier from Amman, on the expatriates who voted there for the Iraqi election. Pretty even-handed reporting (better than BBC at least), and only one real groaner -- when Meutia described security measures for the sealed ballot boxes as being for the purpose of avoiding any tricks or cheating by "America and her allies." Well, par for the course with Indonesian media these days, you have to expect a certain amount of that.

The company chairman, Surya Paloh was practically on the next plane to Jordan. He strikes me as a real father figure type for the people who work for him. Viewers were also allowed in to see and feel the strong emotions in the newsroom. The President recorded a message to the hostage takers, to be broadcast via al Jazeera, and in short order was followed by other Muslim figures in the country. Rather curious that Gus Dur and Amien Rais (maybe others, but I noticed these at least) addressed the kidnappers in Arabic -- while Abu Bakar Ba'asyir was allowed to contribute his appeal, but spoke to them in Indonesian. I would have expected him of all people to use the holy language.... The Arabs sure don't understand Indonesian!

Meanwhile in the public squares, popular outrage grew quickly. From journalist associations to student groups and just ordinary people, demonstrations were seen in many cities. Among the banners to "Free Meutia and Budiyanto" and the like, one caught my eye in particular. It proclaimed that (rough translation) "Kidnapping is not a Muslim value". Yes, thank you, I've been saying that for months. Nice to see some Indonesian Muslims picking up on it too, but it took Indonesian hostages to get them there. I felt there was something of a disconnect going on for a lot of people, having these "insurgents" who have been portrayed in a far too heroic light by the media generally, suddenly on the apparent verge of slaughtering "our Meutia and Budiyanto".

The journalists' ordeal was over on the seventh day, when they crossed the Jordanian border on February 21. They had known that they would be released after President Yudhoyono's video was broadcast, and they said in later interviews that after about the third day of captivity they were already fairly confident that they would not be harmed. This past weekend, Metro broadcast a reconstruction of the week-long ordeal, with Meutia and Budiyanto playing themselves in the recreated scenes as well as recounting their experiences. I only saw the second part of this, but it was very well done.

One incident came out for the first time (to my knowledge) in this reconstruction. The final go-ahead for their release was given by the council of big shots (the kidnapping gang seemed to be following the orders of a number of Sunni clerics, who came to visit the hostages a few times in their cave) on Sunday, the 20th. But it was already approaching Maghrib (dusk prayer time), so while Meutia and Budi were anxious to actually be released asap, the kidnappers convinced them it was safer to wait until morning. So, early evening, and they both had crawled into their sleeping bags to wait for morning -- when one of the kidnappers came in seemingly annoyed that they were going to bed at like 7pm or so! Told them to get up, and food was brought in -- by all accounts they were quite well treated. So the last night together with their captors was livened up with a little food and comraderie, and then livened up a little more when a lookout came rushing in saying they have to move immediately.

There was apparently an infantry patrol in the neighbourhood (Iraqi or American wasn't clear), and it would be at their location within five minutes. By Budiyanto's description, from that point on it was extreme panic. They got their already-packed bags and his camera equipment out of the cave to where a car was waiting, piled in with the kidnappers, and took off at high speed. Budiyanto said the captors were extremely afraid, and in full blown panic -- practically losing control of the car a few times on a bad road and not using any lights for fear of being seen. From that point to the Jordan border they were passed on through several teams, who would transport them to a certain point and meet up with the next team. It was during this journey that they saw, for the first time, the second video of them which marked their "release" and which back in Indonesia, their families had already seen. "But," Meutia said, "although the video said we were free, and everyone at home must have already thought we were freed, and we were in this little cafe where everyone was intently watching us being freed on the tv, we actually still were not free."

But watching the scenes of their homecoming was just fantastic; from the reunion with Pak Surya Paloh in Jordan, the reception with the President on arrival in Jakarta, the embrace of their families -- and especially Budiyanto's beautiful little daughter who just wouldn't let him go, to the big emotional scenes back at MetroTV studios. The welcome home party was broadcast live, very nice indeed. Not a dry eye in the place, nor at my place either!

KONFRONTASI BARU?
This week, Indonesians have something else to protest though. Besides the fuel price increases, which have generated demos for about three weeks already. (Could it be a diversion? Nah, impossible... I think) Neighbouring Malaysia, showing impeccable timing and sensitivity to Indonesians' national pride, has auctioned off a block of Indonesia's maritime territory for a gas and/or oil exploration contract and sent in a few of their war ships for good measure. This is happening in an area called Ambalat, just off East Kalimantan. I think there is an Ambalat Island (I can't find it on my maps), but this is near the area where two contested islands were awarded recently to Malaysia by some sort of international court decision. It's at the boundary between the Malaysian state of Sabah, and the province of East Kalimantan (parts of the island formerly known as Borneo).

So things are getting pretty hot over this issue, and yesterday for the first time I heard the term used which I've been watching for -- konfrontasi (confrontation). This is the term used to denote the conflict which Sukarno instigated in the early 1960's against Malaysia, and which was also mainly conducted in Kalimantan. In other words, Konfrontasi actually already means "the conflict with Malaysia".

Almost immediately upon the news of this Malaysian incursion, command posts started sprouting up in cities across Indonesia, and throngs of men anxious to sign up for a citizen's force to defend the country. More angry demos, anti-Malaysia banners and burning of flags. Labourers, students, becak (cycle rickshaw) drivers passionately likened themselves to bambu runcing -- the symbol of the independence fighters of sixty years ago. Bambu runcing ("bamboo rune-ching") is the lowest tech weapon, and the most plentiful -- a sharpened bamboo spear. So while the F-16's and several war ships are responding to the area, diplomats on both sides are stressing a peaceful resolution, the bamboo volunteers are lining up at command posts under the banner, "Front Ganyang Malaysia".

I'm not really completely sure about ganyang, but I suspect it's a small dialect difference with my dictionary entry ganyah. I seem to recall ganyang being used during the anti-Suharto demonstrations as well. If I'm right, and it is the same as ganyah in my 20 year old kamus, it means to scrub or scour; to thrash or wallop. Well, that fits with the general sentiment as far as I could tell, these last few days. Oh, and the reason I tease Malaysia for her impeccable timing, is that Indonesians have been watching other fellow countrymen lately being rounded up by Malaysian volunteers, grovelling on the ground before Malaysian officers wielding rattan canes, as part of an illegal worker roundup. Yes everyone knew it was coming, and yes there was a grace period for them to leave voluntarily, but perhaps they might have waited a while before provoking a showdown over disputed territory.

HUNGERING FOR FAILURES AND QUAGMIRES: PART XIV
An interesting transcript showed up a few days ago in Best of the Web on Opinion Journal. Jon Stewart was interviewing Nancy Soderberg, a former member of the Clinton administration. The Opinion Journal blogger, James Taranto, decided it was worth the effort to tap out a TIVO-assisted transcript, for it contained a few truly jaw-dropping moments.

See the whole thing at the above link to get it all in context, because I'm only going to quote the juicy bits which illustrate what I've mentioned numerous times in the past year -- the irrational desire by some Americans of certain persuasions to see their country fail miserably, just because they hate Bush. I've given examples of "journalists" like this, and others of course (notably the French public at large, 70% of whom polled at one time to favour Saddam Hussein kicking America's ass). But keep in mind, this is a person who is actually supposed to be on America's side, and worked for the US government (State Dept. as I recall). The conversation with Stewart revolves around all the places in the Muslim world which have lately been witnessing popular democratic aspirations, and some other governments of Muslim countries now inching toward reforms and broadening existing ones (Afghanistan, Palestine, Libya, Egypt, Saudi, Iraq, Lebanon, UAE, Bahrain, etc).

After Stewart itemises a number of these surprising developments, Soderberg mentions the real possibility of a historic deal between Palestinians and Israel, and says, "These guys [Bushies] could really pull off a whole -- series of Nobel Peace Prizes here, which -- it may well work. I think that, um, it's -- It's scary for Democrats, I have to say." Stewart laments that history might actually regard Bush as a great man, he might even have high schools named after him -- to which Soderberg replies, "Well, there's still Iran and North Korea, don't forget. There's hope for the rest of us." Stewart remarks that he's never seen results like this in that region (it reads like he is playing up the 'Oh God, Bush is succeeding, this is terrible!' routine, burying his head in hands etc. for the laughs), to which Soderberg comes back with, "There's always hope that this might not work." However she finishes up with a slightly less gloomy, "I think it's moving in the right direction. I'll have to give them credit for that. We'll see."

SELF-CORRECTING NEW YORK TIMES
The Times recently demonstrated how on top of current events and issues they are -- not to mention culturally sensitive and generally clued-in. Correction:

The caption on Feb. 14 for a picture by Reuters with the continuation of an article about the Iraqi elections misstated the reason Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, a Shiite cleric, was weeping. He was participating in a mourning ritual as part of Ashura, a holy Shiite festival--not reacting to results showing that his political alliance had won a slim majority of seats. A second caption for a Reuters photo misstated the reason a Shiite was shown flagellating himself in a Baghdad procession. He was taking part in the same mourning ritual, not celebrating the election outcome.

Notice the correction appeared 10 days after the original report. I'm glad they got that cleared up. But tell me, who watches Iraq and didn't know about Ashura? Never mind, if there's blood and crying, it's got to be America's fault, one way or the other!

ARAB RESPONSE TO TSUNAMI
Another wai to Steven Vincent and his highly excellent writing and analysis at In the Red Zone. In case you're wondering, this refers to his time spent in Iraq "outside the Green Zone" (and is also the title of his highly regarded book). Somebody wrote recently, and I wholeheartedly agree, that if you are in any way interested in what's going on in Iraq, you need to read ITRZ, and that no matter which echo chamber you reside in or which side of the issues you fall on, you will be surprised at what you will find there.

This little nugget was one of his recent Quotes Of The Day:

The emotional reaction to the disaster is what was lacking. The Arabs' ability to empathize with humanity at large is less than their ability to sympathize with each other. Our concept of humanity is still weak compared to our ethnic feelings as Arabs and Muslims, despite the fact that most of the victims were Indonesian Muslims. The truth is, Southeast Asians are not perceived as Muslims in the Arab world.

-- Gamal Abdel Gawad, analyst at the Cairo-based Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies, speaking of the Arab world's weak response to tsunami victims

(Rania al-Malky, Egypt Today)

Take some time to visit Steven's page, and find out some surprising things about life in the Red Zone.

FORMER TIMES REPORTER, ON REPORTERS AND HOTEL JOURNALISM
This from Norm Geras' fine blog, where he quotes Bartle Bull (who has reported on Iraq for the New York Times) from an article in Prospect magazine. It's apparently only available to subscribers, so he quoted a lot, and I shall quote an equal amount. Counting on failure?

There is a fine defiance here. In one incident I did not see but that has been widely reported, a Baghdad policeman spotted a suicide bomber outside a polling station and dragged him away from the crowd before the bomber detonated his belt, killing them both. The queues rose tenfold as the story of the policeman's martyrdom spread.

Iraq is not about America any more. This has been increasingly true every day since last June, and the failure - or refusal - to recognise this has underpinned much of the misleading coverage of Iraq. In the evenings leading up to the election, I sat on carpets on the floors of a variety of shabby houses in the Baghdad slums. But the daily BBC message I watched with my various Iraqi hosts never budged. The refrain was Iraq's "atmosphere of intimidation and violence," and the message was that the elections could never work. What about the "atmosphere of resolve and anticipation" that I felt around me? Or the "atmosphere of patience and restraint" among those whom the terrorists were trying to provoke?

I try to avoid the hotels and the green zone and the Fort Apache press compounds when I am here. Sometimes it seems as though I am on a different planet from my colleagues in big media, and at those moments I worry briefly that I am getting the story wrong. The people at NBC news are not even allowed to go to the restaurant in their hotel. They report from the roof. When I went to the BBC's Baghdad bunker for some interviews after the election, the reporters I had been watching on television asked me, "So what's it like out there in the real world?" They meant the Iraqi street.

Before I became a writer, I dealt in the stock and bond markets. The markets tell you every day whether you are right or wrong. You don't have to have philosophical arguments with your boss or your clients: if you make money you are good, and if you lose money you are bad. Elections are one of the few news occasions that provide editors and reporters with the clarity of numbers to help us to judge whether or not we are doing a decent job. January 30th turned out to be a better day for Iraqis than it was for reporters.

The failure of "hotel journalism" might be forgivable if it were truly about prudence or even laziness. But there has been something wilful about the bad reporting of this story. It is weirdly personal: Iraq must fail. It is in fact the press that failed, on a scale for which I cannot think of a precedent. Will the big media outlets demand the same accountability of themselves that they demand of everyone else? They should, for the success of these elections was not so surprising to those who dug below the surface of Iraq.

One reason it was important that this year's electoral process should start well was that if this first stage were approached with resolve, as it was, Iraq's political outsiders would not want the train to leave the station without them. Iraq's biggest, loudest anti-occupation political movements have indeed reacted encouragingly to the success of 30th January.

[...]

The huge turnout has cemented the new Iraqi state as an accomplished fact, and Muqtada and the radical Sunni political groups have shifted their rhetoric to make demands within the new paradigm. It is a momentous shift. No longer is everything illegitimate.

[...]

A process has been unleashed that now has very little to do with America and with our opinions about US power. The process is in the hands of a people who on 30th January showed that they have what freedom requires: deep reserves of patience, tolerance and courage.

That's just great. BBC journalists -- and I can just imagine Caroline Hawley doing this -- asking what it's like out in the real world. Sometimes even their journalists not ensconced in a Baghdad hotel (or on its roof) have a strange idea of the real world. One of the BBC's studio hosts recently introduced a piece on American music, with something like, "Since the American extreme right had re-installed George Bush into the White House...." Huh? Didn't I hear something about an election and 52% of the voters, or something like that?

ORPHAN'S CORNER
This is where I try to make use of some short quotes and links that have been tucked away in a file, waiting in vain for me to write an article around them. Some people call it a "link dump", but I'd never be so crass.

Victor Davis Hanson's Private Papers :: Merchants of Despair:

A final prediction: By the end of this year, formerly critical liberal pundits, backsliding conservative columnists, once-fiery politicians, Arab "moderates," ex-statesmen and generals emeriti, smug stand-up comedians, recently strident Euros -- perhaps even Hillary herself -- will quietly come to a consensus that what we are witnessing from Afghanistan and the West Bank to Iraq and beyond, with its growing tremors in Lebanon, Libya, Egypt, and the Gulf, is a moral awakening, a radical break with an ugly past that threatens a corrupt, entrenched, and autocratic elite and is just the sort of thing that they were sort of for, sort of all along -- sort of...

[Hanson's italics] There's no writer I find myself agreeing with these days, as much as VDH. Check out any of the essays on his site, and if you have time, don't miss the great Chrenkoff's blog interview with VDH.

Tim Blair sparks another "what if" moment: United Nations "peacekeeping missions" sexual abuse of children may be more widespread than previously thought, "and appears to be a problem in each of the global body's 16 missions around the world."

"We think this will look worse before it begins to look better," Jane Holl Lute, assistant secretary general for peacekeeping operations, told reporters. "We expect that more information will come from every mission on allegations. We are prepared for that."

Tim figures Abu Ghraib might have been even worse if it had been run by the UN. Hmmm, I don't know if it would have been worse or not, but I bet nobody would be accountable until sometime next decade. (Ok, let's see, giving a jar of peanut butter to pay for sex with a starving refugee child, versus humiliating adult male "insurgents" with panties and cameras and scaring them with dogs and Lyndie England... now let me see... thinking, thinking... OK got it! The peanut butter thing is definitely worse!) Anyway, I feel better that the United Nations is prepared for all the coming bad news on this one. Maybe somebody should have prepared the refugees too?

A brilliant solution to beleaguered Harvard president Larry Summers, and his inadvertent offensiveness to science-minded women -- just go with the Ward Churchill strategy:

"Female math and science professors form a technocratic corps at the very heart of America's global financial empire," Mr. Summers said, paraphrasing Mr. Churchill. "These little Eichmanns drive the mighty engine of profit to which the military dimension of U.S. policy has always been enslaved - and they do so both willingly and knowingly."

Unnamed female science professors seemed contrite, yet supportive of Mr. Summers' free speech rights. "After all, we teach the people who go on to make the bombs and to pay for them. We have an intrinsic aptitude to do so."

Pictured at left is the famous Canadian writer and naturalist, Grey Owl. During the 1930's, Grey Owl was the most famous aboriginal Canadian First Nations person, who lived in the traditional Indian way of life at his remote Beaver Lodge. Soon after he died in 1938, the world was shocked to find that he was really an Englishman named Archibald Belaney. Grey Owl wasn't exactly what one would call an honest man, in fact he was certainly something of a scoundrel. But he'd always wanted to be an Indian, and so he simply just made himself into one. He did a lot of good for the promotion of the wilderness conservation ethic in Canada, an almost unheard-of idea in the 1930's. I wonder though, if there's such a thing as "Grey Owl Syndrome".... Many thanks and a big wai to Kate of Small Dead Animals for the Virtual Saskatchewan pages.

In new and shocking Ward "Chief Wannabe" Churchill news, the highly principled pseudo-aboriginal is not only extremely talented at falsifying his research and plagiarizing from real scholars, it seems he's an art forger as well. When confronted by a journalist with the proof that he'd ripped off a real artist by taking his work, turning it backwards (horizontal flip, in modern parlance), and slapped his own name on it..... noble Chief Wannabe took a swing at the poor fellow (who was probably just an unfeeling cog in the technocratic corps though, so never mind). It's all out there, on PirateBallerina, with the Ward Churchill blog picking up more, and Dennis the Peasant having loads of fun with it all. Oh, and y'all know the Chief has been annointed prophet and high priest of the Raelian Aliens, eh?

I also happened across this debunking of one of the Chief's main standbys, for which he is sometimes even cited as an authority: the 500,000 babies murdered by "American sanctions" against Iraq. This is why people really ought to read the Iraqi blogs if they have some interest in that country, this type of disinformation would have a lesser chance of being picked up and passed around. I'm sure it was one of the ItM brothers who long ago blogged the story of how Saddam had forbidden any Iraqi babies to be buried by their families, regardless of cause of death. He stockpiled them in order to have an impressive parade of dead babies when it suited his needs. Do we need to be reminded what a creep this guy was?

Noted in Belmont Club and Roger L. Simon, a fine little essay from the EuroPundits -- a little number by Nelson Ascher which he calls The Berlin Wall's Revenge.

In a similar vein -- and a big wai to one of my new favourite Asian bloggers VietPundit for the tipoff to these -- some very well written essays which describe well how I feel about being "left by the Left" (though I really dislike the Left / Right thing, which is missing at least 2 or 3 more necessary dimensions). If you are one of the 6 readers who's known me for a while, and have been wondering "what in the heck has gotten into Agam, anyway?", then have a little read on being Left Behind, or this essay by New York writer Ron Rosenbaum, and especially this excellent essay by San Francisco writer Cinnamon Stillwell. I can relate, I can relate, and boy can I ever relate.

For yet another take on the nervous nelly nabobs of negativism (yes, I know it was Spiro Agnew...), maybe it's Time for a dose of Dr. No:

Dr. No, you have achieved superstar status in a very competitive field--negativity and pessimism. How have you achieved that, Doctor?

The way I see it, every silver lining contains a new cloud. You just have to look for it...

As they say, read the whole thing.

Here's a bit of dirt on President Bush, which I doubt that any readers will have seen elsewhere. See, the neocons do such a good job at suppressing this sort of information -- it comes out once, in an LA Times commentary, and then no other journalist will touch it. Karl Rove must have them all completely cowed:

I have known President Bush for 40 years -- ever since we attended Yale College together in the 1960s. I'm a Democrat (and I was a Democrat then), but I liked him and I still like him, as a sincere and kind man and a good friend. [. . . ]

But despite what you may have heard or read, George was not just frat-house party boy. One of my most vivid memories is this: A few of us were in the common room one night. It was 1965, I believe -- my junior year, his sophomore. We were making our usual sarcastic commentaries on those who walked by us. A little nasty perhaps, but always with a touch of humor. On this occasion, however, someone we all believed to be gay walked by, although the word we used in those days was "queer." Someone, I'm sorry to say, snidely used that word as he walked by.

George heard it and, most uncharacteristically, snapped: "Shut up." Then he said, in words I can remember almost verbatim: "Why don't you try walking in his shoes for a while and see how it feels before you make a comment like that?"

Remember, this was the 1960s -- pre-Stonewall, before gay rights became a cause many of us (especially male college students) had thought much about. I remember thinking, "This guy is much deeper than I realized."

Now, let's have a shout from anybody who heard about this dirt from Chimpy's college days ... [crickets] ... I thought so. The Wolfowitz and Perle neocon clique have hushed this one up very effectively, they're scared to death it might leak out that McBushitler actually doesn't plan to persecute gay people with his devious Haliburtonist ideology. And they sure don't want anybody to know that Lanny Davis, the prominent Democratic Party strategist from the Clinton admin, actually likes and respects him. That stuff would be poison to the creeping fascist takeover, right? Where's Dan Rather, I bet he could get the story out.... courage, everyone.

Big wai to Highway 99 for that one.
- posted by Agam @ 2:13 PM 0 comments