Asian editorial excerpts

Asian Political News, April 7, 2003

TOKYO, March 31 Kyodo

Selected editorial excerpts from the Asia-Pacific press:

IRAQ ADDS TO ITS LIST OF HEINOUS CRIMES (Bangkok Post, Bangkok)

The law of unintended consequences is raising a terrible possibility in Iraq. The dying but defiant government has reached into its seemingly limitless bag of violent tricks and come out with suicide bombers... One of the most dangerous possibilities of our day is that the Iraq war may make suicide bombers appear legitimate to many unthinking people.

There should be nothing but condemnation of the Iraqi program of suicide bombers. The very notion is both dangerous to society and unhonorable...

There is no comparison between the soldier who loses his life when up against an enemy... The suicide bomber is indoctrinated and trained specifically to kill himself with the sole aim of causing others to die...

The Iraqi regime of Saddam Hussein is on its last legs but the truth is that it is the first government in history to approve, raise and glorify suicide bombing.

Until now, only marginal and widely detested groups -- Hamas, Hizbollah, the most extreme Palestinian zealots, the Tamil Tigers -- have tried to extol suicide as an honorable tactic. Iraq has sat in decent society in the United Nations, lived among civilized regimes and claimed to speak for civil citizens. Now it applauds the act of self destruction by young men it brainwashes. Yet, it is fitting that members of a government which has gassed its citizens, tortured its patriots and forced a million refugees to flee in fear during peacetime would be first to encourage their young people to die for them. But it is barbarously frightening.

It is impossible to respect the vicious old men who raise and recruit suicide bombers. The Iraqi government seems to be determined to go out with a huge display of depravity. One could even understand if it attempts to use terrible weapons. But one must never accept the chilling idea that a government should train its citizens to kill themselves in the mere hope that they can kill a few of the enemy.

If suicide bombing is acceptable, no society can ever live peacefully. If one accepts a government -- even the Iraqi government -- has the right to train and order suicide bombers, then any group has the same moral right. Unthinking supporters of Saddam's Iraq may argue that suicide bombers are only being used on the battlefield. The danger is that by making suicide bombers legitimate, Iraq is helping to ensure they will be used everywhere.

(March 31)

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CAN THE U.S. IMAGE EVER BE RESURRECTED? (The Nation, Bangkok)

The fallout of the U.S.-led war in Iraq against American products and businesses has been subject to more than just speculation of late. While the greatest impact has naturally been in countries in the Middle East, Southeast Asian countries have also awakened to a backlash against American economic interests...

In this part of the world, moderation in all forms is a virtue. It is a trait recognized throughout the world and has brought many benefits, not least transnational businesses. It is what makes globalization possible.

Acceptance of American consumer products, fast-food chains, films, music and TV programs goes beyond simple consumerism, but this cultural dominance is now under threat.

It is not clear whether the current anti-Americanism is going to be short-lived or go on for the long haul, but the US as a country is being perceived -- perhaps wrongly -- as a bully because of the hawkish-dominated White House...

Here, U.S. President George W. Bush can do a lot better to protect the American image globally. But in this last few months -- leading up to the Iraqi war -- he has consistently preached a policy that does not characterize a peace-loving nation.

The American president may have forgotten that his administration did try to shore up the US global image by hiring an experienced advertising executive to handle this public-relations mission after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. Now this mission is largely forgotten.

Some may say that the last straw was the U.S. rejection of the role of the United Nations in dealing with Iraq.

But that was far from the end of the story. Washington now wants to minimize the role of the U.N. in the administrative reconstruction of a post-Saddam regime, despite the reported urging to the contrary of British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

It is as if the White House wants to plunge the American global image to the bottom of the barrel, thereby hurting U.S. companies and brands along the way -- a boon to competitors marketing local brands. The day of a dominant culture may truly be on the way out and this U.S.-led war against Iraq may be a watershed of this change in civilization...

Yet aside from effects on business, no one -- not its friends, not its own citizens -- wants America to be seen as a hawkish or unreasonable nation. President Bush may have the urge at this point to exercise leadership, which is not a difficult task to do on TV; the more difficult mission is to reflect the real values of American society, now overshadowed by unilateralism.