The biggest bully in the west

This article by Harold Pinter, first appeared in the Guardian in December 1996

Republished Friday 26 December 2008 to mark his passing away on Wednesday 24 December 2008

Harold Pinter - English playwright, screenwriter - google image

"The general thrust these days is: "Oh come on, it's all in the past, nobody's interested any more, it didn't work, that's all, everyone knows what the Americans are like, but stop being naive, this is the world, there's nothing to be done about it and anyway, fuck it, who cares?" Sure, as they say, sure. But let me put it this way – the dead are still looking at us, steadily, waiting for us to acknowledge our part in their murder."

Map showing 115,273 targets of U.S. secret bombing of Cambodia between 1965-1973 - credit: google

Harold Pinter

Can it be true? Are the other "major powers" in the world finally moving towards a position where their contempt for the assertion of US power is actually being embodied in action? For the fourth year running the United Nations has voted for the motion condemning the US embargo of Cuba, this time by 137 votes (including Great Britain!) to three.

The countries against the motion were the US, Israel and Uzbekistan.

The European Union is taking the US to the World Trade Organisation panel, arguing that the Helms/Burton bill is illegal. Fourteen out of 15 members of the security council (including Great Britain!) voted against the US veto of Boutros Boutros-Ghali. The US was on its own.

How can any country stand out against such a consensus? How can any country, in the light of such blanket condemnation of its policies and actions, not pause to take a little thought, not subject itself to even the mildest and most tentative critical scrutiny? The answer is quite simple. If you believe you still call all the shots you just don't give a shit. You say, without beating about the bush: Yes, sure, I am biased and arrogant and in many respects ignorant, but so what? I possess the economic and military might to back me up to the hilt and I don't care who knows it. And when I say that I also occupy the moral high ground you'd better believe it.

The US is without doubt the greatest show on the road. Brutal, indifferent, scornful and ruthless it may be, but it's also very smart. As a salesman it's out on its own. And its most saleable commodity is self-love. It's a winner. The US has actually educated itself to be in love with itself. Listen to President Clinton – and before him, Bush and before him, Reagan and before him all the others – say on television the words: "The American People" as in the sentence, "I say to the American People it is time to pray and to defend the rights of the American People and I ask the American People to trust their President in the action he is about to take on behalf of the American People." A nation weeps.

Kingdom crops up in WikiLeak again

Monday, 06 December 2010
Sebastian Strangio
The Phnom Penh Post

Click here to read this leak on Wikileaks

Cambodia has appeared in a second United States diplomatic cable released by the website WikiLeaks, which alludes to a government crackdown against a local branch of a Kuwait-based Islamic charity that has been linked to terrorist groups.

The cable, labelled “secret” and dated December 2009, was sent by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to US embassies across the Middle East.

It outlines Washington’s policy of trying to restrict illicit finance activities of known terrorist organisations.

In a series of talking points relating to Kuwait, the Revival of Islamic Heritage Society is singled out as a specific concern of the US government.

“We designated the organisation in the United States as a specially designated terrorist entity based on information that RIHS funds have supported terrorist groups in various regions of the world,” the cable states.

It added that the US government was “not alone in its concern”, saying that six governments including Cambodia had taken “enforcement action” against RIHS branches in their countries.

In February, The Post reported that RIHS was listed in a 2008 US treasury department statement claiming it had delivered “financial and material support” to al-Qaeda and al-Qaeda affiliates such as Jemaah Islamiyah, as well as providing “financial support for acts of terrorism”.

The statement noted that an RIHS employee had provided logistical support to Indonesian Riduan Isamuddin – better known as Hambali – a key JI operative who hid in Phnom Penh during 2002 and early 2003.

Ahmad Yahya, a Cham government adviser, denied the authorities had cracked down specifically on any organisation, saying the only firm action was directed against the Saudi-funded Um Al-Qura madrasa, or Islamic school, north of Phnom Penh.

The madrasa was raided and closed down by police in 2003.

Ahmad Yahya said the US Embassy had provided substantial support for outreach to Islamic communities following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

“We have very good links with the embassy here and with the US government,” he said.

The cable is just one of more than 250,000 leaked American foreign policy documents WikiLeaks has pledged to release in the coming months. A total of 931 documents had been released as of yesterday.

US Embassy spokesman Mark Wenig yesterday declined to comment on the cable and the nature of US cooperation in curbing the spread of Islamic militancy in Cambodia.

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange arrested in U.K.

Wikileaks founder Julian Assange speaks during a news conference at the Geneva press club, in Geneva, Switzerland. (By Martial Trezzini, AP)

LONDON (AP) — WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange surrendered to London police on Tuesday as part of a Swedish sex-crimes investigation, the latest blow to an organization that faces legal, financial and technological challenges after releasing hundreds of secret U.S. diplomatic cables.

Assange was due at Westminster Magistrate's Court later Tuesday.

WikiLeaks' disclosure of key sites that the U.S. has deemed critical to national security marks an increasingly dangerous step by the online organization, whose actions are at the center of a broad criminal investigation, U.S. officials and some security analysts said Monday.

The list of power suppliers, dams, chemical manufacturers, transportation systems and communication grids spans the globe from Africa to Mexico and is part of a cache of classified State Department documents released by WikiLeaks.

"It is a map for terrorists, plain and simple," said Tom Kean, a co-chairman of the 9/11 Commission.

Although many of the sensitive sites — which include key suppliers of vaccines and other medicines — are well-known, Kean said the fact that they are listed as important to the U.S. gives enemies valuable intelligence. "It's one thing for a group to sit around and make a list of things that might be important to the U.S.," he said. "It's another thing to have the list that was developed by the U.S. government."

Randall Larsen, former executive director of the congressional Commission on the Prevention of Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferation and Terrorism, said the list's publication would make WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange an enemy of the world: "Every nation in the world is soon going to realize what an enemy this guy is. He just published the target list."

Assange, wanted by Swedish authorities in connection with a rape investigation, was negotiating with British authorities Monday about the Swedish arrest warrant, the Associated Press reported.

Among sites in the State Department document: the "world's largest integrated chemical complex" in Germany and a Canadian power supplier that is an "irreplaceable source of power to portions of the northeast U.S."

The list of sensitive foreign sites was compiled as part of the U.S. government's National Infrastructure Protection Plan, the State Department cable says. The plan also required the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to develop a list of U.S. sites, though those are not among the documents released.

The foreign list represents sites and installations that, "if destroyed, disrupted or exploited, would likely have an immediate and deleterious effect on the United States," according to the State Department document.

Stewart Baker, a former DHS policy chief in the George W. Bush administration, said terrorists would do some damage if they hit most sites on the list, but the U.S. likely would recover quickly. "So they blow up a gas pipeline and the price of gas goes up a little and other mechanisms for getting gas to market are brought to bear," he said. "A profound effect on the United States strikes me as remote." Attacks on the sites listed would produce "very little in the way of horror or death, so I'm not convinced this is somehow revealing the crown jewels or somehow making the United States less safe," Baker said.

U.S. officials denounced the disclosures and did not dispute authenticity of the document.

"The national security of the United States has been put at risk," Attorney General Eric Holder said. "The American people, themselves, have been put at risk by these actions that I believe are arrogant, misguided and ultimately not helpful in any way."

Holder said the criminal investigation into the breach of classified information has intensified. The attorney general said he intervened in the inquiry last week by authorizing "a number" of actions to advance the investigation. He declined to elaborate other than to indicate that the inquiry ranged more broadly than a narrow espionage investigation.

Homeland Secretary Janet Napolitano said the disclosure could jeopardize individuals and organizations. "I cannot tell you how strongly I condemn this action," she said.

US ambassador talks WikiLeaks with govt

Monday, 06 December 2010
James O'Toole
The Phnom Penh Post

UNITED States Ambassador Carol Rodley met with Minister of Information Khieu Kanharith on Friday to discuss the massive leak of American diplomatic cables, including hundreds from the US embassy in Phnom Penh, to the website WikiLeaks.

Khieu Kanharith said in an email yesterday that the ambassador had pledged to cooperate closely with the government in the event that sensitive information is disclosed by WikiLeaks.

“The US Government won’t confirm nor deny the authenticity of any documents released by WikiLeaks but the US ambassador is ready to have a private meeting with any member of the [government] if there are any documents relating to Cambodia deemed to create confusion,” Khieu Kanharith said.

“For my part, I consider the opinion expressed by any American diplomat is not the official American administration’s stance.”

WikiLeaks claims to have more than 250,000 American foreign policy documents in its possession, including 777 diplomatic cables from the US embassy in Phnom Penh. The website has pledged to release the documents gradually over the next few months, and only a few hundred have been made public so far.

In a cable released last week, former Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew is quoted discussing the close ties between the Kingdom and China.

“Within hours, everything that is discussed in ASEAN meetings is known in Beijing, given China’s close ties with Laos, Cambodia and Burma,” the cable states, quoting Lee.

The Singaporean embassy in Phnom Penh declined to comment on the cable but condemned the WikiLeaks disclosures.

“The selective release of documents, especially when taken out of context, will only serve to sow confusion and fail to provide a complete picture of the important issues that were being discussed amongst leaders in the strictest of confidentiality,” the embassy said in an emailed statement.

[US] Fed workers told: Stay away from those leaked cables

Directive notes the content 'remains classified'; Columbia U. also warns future diplomats

2/4/2010
msnbc.com

NEW YORK — With tens of thousands of U.S. diplomatic cables still to be disclosed by WikiLeaks, the Obama administration has warned federal government employees, and even some future diplomats, that they must refrain from downloading or even linking to any.

"Classified information, whether or not already posted on public websites or disclosed to the media, remains classified, and must be treated as such by federal employees and contractors," the Office of Management and Budget said in a notice sent out Friday.

The New York Times, which first reported the directive, was told by a White House official that it does not advise agencies to block WikiLeaks or other websites on government computer systems. Nor does it bar federal employees from reading news stories about the leaks.

But, if they "accidentally" downloaded any leaked cables, the New York Times reported, they are being told to notify their "information security offices."

As for future diplomats, Columbia University students considering diplomacy careers are being warned to avoid linking to or posting online comments about the leaked cables.

A spokesman for the Ivy League school confirmed Saturday that the Office of Career Services sent an e-mail to students at the School of International and Public Affairs.

The Nov. 30 e-mail says an alumnus at the State Department had contacted the office, saying the diplomatic cables released by WikiLeaks were "still considered classified."

The e-mail said online discourse about the documents "would call into question your ability to deal with confidential information."

Most federal government jobs require a background check.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

US embassy to work with Cambodia in Wikileaks case

03 Dec 2010
By Leang Delux
Radio France Internationale
Translated from Khmer by M'riel M'riel
Click here to read the article in Khmer

Carol Rodley, the US ambassador to Cambodia, met with Khieu Kanharith, the government spokesman and minister of Information, to discuss the guarantee that the relationship between the US and Cambodia will not be disrupted by the bitter Wikileaks affair. Wikileaks published several tens of thousands pages of diplomatic cables, most of which are US secret documents regarding foreign affairs involving politics, US government actions in the Afghanistan war, and discussions held between US leaders with its friendly governments.

Tens of thousands of pages of military secrets from the US Defense Department, diplomatic secrets showing the communication between US diplomats and the US State Department popped up on the Wikileaks website during the past week. Secret documents on the Afghanistan war are also part of the Wikileaks publication.

In the past few days, a number of local newspapers reported that the revelation of secret US documents by Wikileaks will also include a number of reports issued by the US embassy in Cambodia. Following this revelation, a meeting was set up between Carol Rodley and Khieu Kanharith in the morning of 03 December 2010. Discussions between the two high-ranking officials focused on the guarantee of the maintenance of good relationship between the US and Cambodia in front of the Wikileaks’ threat to reveal secret documents.

Khieu Kanharith told RFI that the US government considers the revelation of its secret documents as a crime and the US is preparing a legal court case for this affair. According to Khieu Kanharith, Carol Rodley told him that the US is always prepared to work with [Cambodian] government officials in the event Wikileaks publish secret documents involving Cambodia. Khieu Kanharith said that he welcomes the US’ preparation in view of the Wikileaks revelations that could strain the relationship between Washington and Phnom Penh.

Learn to relate to draw lessons

They assert that the week's events provide "a powerful lesson" for Obama: "The U.S. government's policy of supporting security at the expense of democracy has come back to bite the United States. For the past several years, the United States has been noticeably quiet while the Bakijev regime has held rigged elections, trampled on human rights, and resorted to violence to silence the opposition and independent media."

April 14, 2010
By A. Gaffar Peang-Meth
Pacific Daily News (Guam)

Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Homes Jr. said, "The main part of intellectual education is not the acquisition of facts but learning how to make facts alive."

We can store a lot of data in our brain and yet the data alone do not equal "knowledge." Unless we relate what we know to other things, other people or other events to create interconnection, information is just data.

In comparative studies, we learn about others and their ways in order to better understand our own. Most will agree that this is a pathway to building a better world.

When the world's nations joined together in 1948 in a general assembly on the heels of World War II to proclaim the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, they noted, "disregard and contempt for human rights have resulted in barbarous acts which have outraged the conscience of mankind," and affirmed "it is essential, if man is not to be compelled to have recourse, as a last resort, to rebellion against tyranny and oppression, that human rights should be protected by the rule of law."

Many have read this preamble, but may fail to relate it to the human drive to be free and empowered with certain civil rights, and to be willing to "rebel" to achieve those.

Spanish-born American philosopher George Santayana wrote: "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."

Last Wednesday evening, a day of bloody clashes left 68 people dead and more than 400 wounded in Bishkek, the capital of the Kyrgyz Republic in Central Asia. President Kurmanbek Bakijev, a U.S. ally, fled Bishkek as former foreign minister Roza Otunbayeva, head of the coalition of opposition groups, declared on state television: "Power is now in the hands of the people's government. ... You can call this revolution. You can call this a people's revolt. Either way, it is our way of saying that we want justice and democracy."

Otunbayeva received a congratulatory telephone call the following day from Russia's Vladimir Putin, who never wanted the U.S. Manas Air Base, crucial to the U.S. war in Afghanistan, on Kyrgyz soil.

Kyrgyzstan, which is slightly smaller than South Dakota with some 5.5 million people, won independence from the former Soviet Union a day before the latter collapsed in 1991.

Kyrgyzstan's "falsified" March 2005 parliamentary elections unleashed the Tulip Revolution that removed President Askar Akayev from power in April 2005 as protesters stormed government buildings. The new government, under Bakijev, was formed by opposition leaders, but with leaders allegedly linked to organized crime, rights and justice were far from reach.

Alexey Semyonov, of the Andrei Sakharov Foundation that promotes civil society and democratic development in the former Soviet Union, and Professor Baktybek Abdrisaev, former Kyrgyz ambassador to the U.S. and Canada, said, "It is significant that of the former Soviet Republics, Kyrgyzstan is the only nation that has forced regime change."

They wrote in the April 9 Washington Post: "The people are clearly willing to fight for their rights."

They assert that the week's events provide "a powerful lesson" for Obama: "The U.S. government's policy of supporting security at the expense of democracy has come back to bite the United States. For the past several years, the United States has been noticeably quiet while the Bakijev regime has held rigged elections, trampled on human rights, and resorted to violence to silence the opposition and independent media."

The U.S. should help "the opposition deal with the considerable economic and political challenges facing Kyrgyzstan," they said.

"Governments change, but problems often remain," they wrote. "The new Kyrgyz leadership has a chance to address the country's pressing problems, and the United States could improve its Kyrgyz policy in the process."

Events like last week's riots in Kyrgyzstan are similar to events elsewhere, such as Myanmar and Cambodia -- hence, we can relate similar events and situations, learn lessons and unlearn old ones.

On April 7, in Hanoi, where Association of Southeast Asian Nations leaders gathered for their annual summit, 105 parliamentarians from Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Singapore petitioned ASEAN to "immediately enact strict and targeted economic sanctions" against Myanmar. They want to "immediately" suspend Myanmar from ASEAN, with Myanmar's "permanent expulsion earnestly considered," for violating the ASEAN Charter's principles and promulgating election laws that excluded the only real opposition leader, Aun San Suu Kyi, from participating.

On March 29, the Suu Kyi-led National League for Democracy announced its boycott of the May 10 elections.

In its report "Vote to Nowhere," Human Rights Watch sees the Burmese elections as "being carried out in an environment of severe restrictions on access to information, repressive media restrictions, an almost total ban on freedom of expression, assembly, and association, and the continuing widespread detention of political activists."

Foreign Policy Magazine's "Happy Birthday to Burma's Military: It's been a hell of an awful 65 years," posits that "A free and fair election would most likely give (Myanmar's military) its marching orders: out of power."

We should know, learn to relate and draw lessons from similar but unrelated events occurring all around us.

A. Gaffar Peang-Meth, Ph.D., is retired from the University of Guam, where he taught political science for 13 years. Write him at peangmeth@yahoo.com.

In Obama Strategy, Cambodians See the Past

By Chun Sakada, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
03 December 2009

The new military strategy unveiled by US President Barack Obama on Tuesday will not be enough to defeat the Taliban and al Qaeda without winning the hearts of the Afghan and Pakistani people, Cambodian officials said Thursday.

Obama announced Tuesday he would inject 30,000 more troops into a counterinsurgency strategy in the region, but he also gave a deadline of June 2011 to bring US forces home.

“It is very difficult to win against al Qaeda and the Taliban, but the United States military and NATO alliance must defeat the international terrorists, for peace and economic growth in the world,” said ruling Cambodian People’s Party lawmaker Cheam Yiep.

“This strategy is the United States’ ambition, to eliminate al Qaeda and the Taliban,” he said. “But the strategy cannot succeed…if the new strategy has no policy for social affairs to improve the living standards and economics of the Afghan people.”

The US should establish a strategy to compromise and fulfill the needs of the Afghan people to lessen the influence of the Islamists, he said.

In Cambodia, the effects of a failed counterinsurgency strategy are deeply felt. Khmer Rouge guerrillas overtook the entire country in less than 10 years, starting as a small peasant revolution in the countryside and ultimately defeating the US-backed forces of Lon Nol.

The Khmer Rouge victory, in April 1975, was followed by the implementation of “Year Zero,” where everyday Cambodians were marched out of the cities and into agricultural collectives, where eventually as many as 2 million people perished.

“If Obama does not have a new strategy for Afghanistan, the Kabul government will collapse, and there will be bloodshed more serious than the Khmer Rouge regime,” said Thun Saray, president of the rights group Adhoc.

Phay Siphan, a government spokesman and a Cambodian-American whose nephew is serving in Afghanistan, said the US should be careful in its war there, considering its experiences in the Vietnam War.

The fate of the US in Afghanistan could end as badly, he said.

Sacrava's Political Cartoon: US Foreign Policy

Cartoon by Sacrava (on the web at http://sacrava.blogspot.com)

Continuity and Change: U.S. Asia Policy

Ralph A. Cossa

Ralph A. Cossa is president of the Pacific Forum CSIS.

Note: Obama's foreign policy on Southeast Asia as his starting point from Indonesia is very interesting. This is because Indonesia is the idealistic Islamic country or because Indonesia has his personal relationship: life and family? But his primary alert and stunning around the world is that “to those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history”

Posted at: http://cambodianbrightfuture.blogspot.com/

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s recent trip to Asia underscored elements of continuity and change in the Obama administration’s Asia policy. Generally speaking, her visits in Northeast Asia – to Japan, Korea, and China – represented continuity; her trip to Indonesia signaled change.

Her first stop was, as it should have been, Tokyo, where she underscored the continuing role of the U.S.-Japan alliance relationship as the “foundation” of U.S. Asia policy and the “cornerstone of security in East Asia,” as it was during the Bush administration (and during her husband’s and administrations before that). She clearly endorsed and locked in the “military transformation” plans of her predecessor by signing an agreement with her Japanese counterpart to relocate some 8,000 U.S. Marines from Okinawa to Guam by 2014 (with substantial Japanese financial support), while stressing that America’s defense commitment to Japan remained as strong and unwavering as ever.

Secretary Clinton also met with the families of “abductees” – Japanese citizens known or suspected to have been kidnapped by North Korea, mostly during the 1980s – promising, as the Bush administration had before her, that their loved ones would not be forgotten, while being equally careful not to tie North Korea denuclearization too closely to progress on the abductee issue. Many Japanese feel that President Bush personally “betrayed” them on this issue when Washington removed Pyongyang from the State Sponsors of Terrorism list. Mrs. Clinton wisely avoided getting tied down on this issue. At the end of the day, no U.S. administration will sacrifice the opportunity for real progress on Korean Peninsula denuclearization and the Japanese realize this. The problem with the delisting decision was the anticipated real progress – North Korea’s promise to accept a verification protocol to validate its declared nuclear holdings – never materialized.

While in Tokyo, and again from Seoul, Secretary Clinton also sent a strong message that the Obama administration was as committed as its predecessor to “the complete and verifiable denuclearization of North Korea,” even while assuring Pyongyang that “if North Korea abides by the obligations it has already entered into and verifiably and completely eliminates its nuclear program, then there will be a reciprocal response.” Underscoring the continuity of policy and approach was the presence in her entourage of the Bush administration’s chief Six-Party Talks negotiator, Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill (a career diplomat whose “reward” for four years of frustrating negotiations with Pyongyang appears to be a pending appointment as the next U.S. ambassador to Iraq).

During her trip, Secretary Clinton made several references to the Obama administration’s commitment to “a system of open and fair trade,” but she carefully sidestepped a public discussion of the beleaguered Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement (KORUS FTA) while in Seoul. During her confirmation hearings she had expressed opposition to the KORUS FTA but the administration has since hinted that it had not ruled out “creative solutions short of renegotiation.” While no one will accuse the Obama administration (or the Democratic-controlled Congress) of being advocates of free trade on a par with the prior administration, Secretary Clinton’s backing away from her earlier insistence on renegotiation shows that, officially at least, this policy has not (yet) changed – even suggesting such an option would have dealt a severe blow to an already domestically weakened ROK President Lee Myung-bak and would have turned a positive trip immediately sour.

Most importantly, Secretary Clinton strongly signaled that when it came to the two Koreas, the South still comes first, warning that Pyongyang is “not going to get a different relationship with the United States while insulting and refusing dialogue with the Republic of Korea.” While this should not come as a surprise, it was reassuring nonetheless given ROK concerns that the Obama administration, which had run on a platform of talking with one’s enemies, might be too forthcoming with North Korea at the South’s expense. Her admonitions to Pyongyang to end its “provocative language” and to avoid “unhelpful” actions such as the threatened missile (or satellite) launch are likely to fall on deaf ears, however.

Secretary Clinton also clearly signaled that the Obama administration – like all of its predecessors since Richard Nixon – was committed to a policy of engagement with China, arguing that “the United States and China can benefit from and contribute to each other’s successes.” She followed the time-honored principle of stressing the positive aspects of the relationship during her visit – the need for a cooperative effort in dealing with the global financial crisis, climate change, and our mutual goal of Korean Peninsula denuclearization – while pointing out differences prior to her visit; during her pre-trip speech to the Asia Society in New York, for example, she expressed President Obama’s and her own commitment to creating a world where (among other things) “Tibetans and all Chinese people can enjoy religious freedom without fear of prosecution.” Protests from single issue groups notwithstanding, there is no indication that the Obama administration is going to pay any less attention to human rights than did any of its predecessors; it may just take a more subtle (and thus, in the long run, potentially more effective) approach.

This is not to suggest that it was business completely as usual with Northeast Asia. Secretary Clinton stressed that this administration would spend more time listening and responding to the concerns of its allies and partners (not to mention opposition politicians like Democratic Party of Japan leader Ozawa Ichiro) and would not neglect the region despite preoccupation with serious challenges elsewhere (a frequent accusation against the Bush administration). She also stressed at each stop, but especially in China, the need to cooperate to address the serious transnational challenges posed by climate change. But basic policy – alliances come first and engagement (vice containment) of China – reflected continuity with previous administrations.

Her visit to Indonesia, on the other hand, signaled change; just going to Southeast Asia on her first trip was signal enough – normally Secretaries of State show up in Southeast Asia for the annual ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) ministerial, if at all (her predecessor missed two out of four ARF meetings). According to Secretary Clinton, including Indonesia in her first trip demonstrated that Washington was “paying attention” to Southeast Asia, that “our interests are not just focused on China,” and that “the United States must have strong relationships and a strong and productive presence here in Southeast Asia.” She committed to attending the next ARF ministerial (in Bangkok in July) and, more importantly, announced that she was launching the formal interagency process to pursue U.S. accession to ASEAN’s Treaty of Amity and Cooperation, an action resisted by all previous (Democratic and Republican) administrations since it went into force in 1976.

Repeatedly during her trip, she pointed out that Indonesia “demonstrated for the entire world to see that Islam, democracy, and modernity can co-exist very successfully,” accomplishing the twin objectives of reaching out to the Islamic world (as President Obama has promised to do) while promoting Indonesia as a model for the Islamic world to follow. This twin message will no doubt be reinforced when President Obama makes his much-anticipated “homecoming” visit to Indonesia later this year (in conjunction with the fall APEC Leaders Meeting in Singapore, if not before). She also acknowledged that imposing sanctions on Burma (a.k.a. Myanmar) “has not influenced the junta,” suggesting that some (unspecified) change in policy would be forthcoming.

All in all, Secretary Clinton’s trip successfully accomplished its main missions: it reassured America’s allies and partners that the U.S. was committed to the region and its alliances, this it wanted a cooperative relationship with China, that it would hold fast on Washington’s denuclearization demands even while reaching out to Pyongyang, and that it would become more proactively engaged in Southeast as well as Northeast Asia. The enthusiastic reception she received at every stop also indicates that American “soft power” may indeed be making a comeback with the advent of the new administration.

Clinton vows robust diplomacy as State Dept chief [-Will there be a "change" or "same old, same old" for Cambodia?]

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton smiles as she works a rope line with U.S. President Barack Obama at the State Department in Washington January 22, 2009. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

By MATTHEW LEE
Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON – Hillary Rodham Clinton took charge of the State Department on Thursday, proclaiming the start of a new era of robust U.S. diplomacy to tackle the world's crises and improve America's standing abroad.

Before a raucous, cheering crowd of about 1,000 people, the nation's 67th secretary of state pledged to boost the morale and resources of the diplomatic corps and promised them a difficult but exciting road ahead.

"I believe with all of my heart that this is a new era for America," she said to loud applause in the main lobby of the department's headquarters, which President Barack Obama visited later in the day to underscore his administration's commitment to diplomacy.

With Obama at her side in the ornate Ben Franklin Room, Clinton introduced former Senate Majority Leader George J. Mitchell, D-Maine, as a special envoy for the Middle East. Former U.N. ambassador Richard Holbrooke was announced as a special adviser on Afghanistan and Pakistan.

The posts are the first of several new special envoys the administration plans to name to deal with particularly vexing problems abroad.

Clinton began her first day on the job at the State Department one day after her Senate confirmation.

"This is going to be a challenging time and it will require 21st century tools and solutions to meet our problems and seize our opportunities," Clinton said at her welcoming. "I'm going to be asking a lot of you. I want you to think outside the proverbial box. I want you to give me the best advice you can."

"I want you to understand there is nothing that I welcome more than a good debate and the kind of dialogue that will make us better," she said. "We cannot be our best if we don't demand that from ourselves and each other."

In her spirited 10-minute pep talk, she spoke of the importance of defense, diplomacy and development — the "three legs to the stool of American foreign policy" — and noted that the State Department is in charge of two of them.

"We are responsible for two of the three legs," said the former New York senator and first lady. "And we will make clear as we go forward that diplomacy and development are essential tools in achieving the long-term objectives of the United States."

Clinton's mandate from Obama is to step up diplomatic efforts and restore the nation's tattered image overseas. She has vowed to make use of "smart power" to deal with international challenges.

"At the heart of smart power are smart people, and you are those people," she told the assembled throng. "And you are the ones that we will count on and turn to for the advice and counsel, the expertise and experience to make good on the promises of this new administration."

Clinton takes over an agency that was often sidelined during George W. Bush's eight-year presidency, particularly in his first term over the decision to go to war in Iraq. Although former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice restored some of the department's influence, diplomats still complained of a lack of access to the top, as well as funding.

In introductory remarks, Steve Kashkett, vice president of the union that represents diplomats, noted that Obama and Clinton had both "decried the neglect that the foreign service and the State Department as a whole have suffered in recent years."

Clinton, meanwhile, sought to reassure frustrated diplomats that they will be heard.

"This is a team, and you are the members of that team," she said. "We are not any longer going to tolerate the kind of divisiveness that has paralyzed and undermined our ability to get things done for America."

She predicted her team would experience "a great adventure. We'll have some ups and some downs. We'll face some obstacles along the way. But be of good cheer and be of strong heart, and do not grow weary as we attempt to do good on behalf of our country and the world. ... And now, ladies and gentlemen, let's get to work."

After her remarks, Clinton made telephone calls to foreign leaders, toured some of the department's key offices and received briefings before hosting Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and national security adviser James Jones. They were to meet in a closed-door session before Obama addresses the diplomatic corps.

With crackdowns of Khmer Krom and Montagnard, US says it is encouraged by Democracy's progress in VN

05 April 2007
U.S. Encouraged by Democracy’s Progress in Indonesia, Vietnam

New human rights report says China, North Korea continue to be a concern

By Jane Morse
USINFO Staff Writer
US Government

Washington -- Indonesia and Vietnam are among the countries that have made progress in building democracies, but lack of democratic progress in China and North Korea remains a concern, according to the latest report documenting U.S. efforts to foster respect for human rights and promote democracy worldwide.

Supporting Human Rights and Democracy: The U.S. Record 2006 was released on April 5 at the U.S. Department of State. The report states that “Asia is home to both functioning democracies and some of the world’s most oppressive authoritarian dictatorships.”

According to the report, “there have been positive democratic developments in countries such as Indonesia, now the third-largest democracy in the world.”

Regarding Vietnam, the report said that in May 2005, Vietnam and the United States announced the signing of the first binding agreement on religious freedom. “Recent positive steps by the Government of Vietnam led to the February 2006 resumption of the human rights dialogue, which had been suspended since 2002,” the report says.

According to the report, the “near-complete control exercised by the North Korean regime continued to be of deep concern. The appointment of a U.S. special envoy for human rights in North Korea, as called for by the North Korea Human Rights Act of 2004, signals the importance the United States places on promoting democracy and human rights in one of the world’s most oppressive countries.”

The Chinese government, according to the report, “continued to deny citizens basic democratic rights, and law enforcement authorities continued to suppress political, religious, and social groups perceived to be a threat to national stability.”

U.S. initiatives in China, the report says, included “bilateral diplomatic efforts, multilateral action, and support through government and nongovernmental channels for rule of law and civil society programs.”

The report also cites candid human rights discussions held between the United States government and the governments of Laos and Cambodia. The Cambodian government, the report states, released five human rights activists from imprisonment in 2006 and partially decriminalized defamation (although it continues to restrict freedom of speech and of the press).

Progress made in the region in promoting respect for human rights and the rule of law was counterbalanced, however, by the military coup in Thailand on September 19, 2006, and the military coup in Fiji on December 5, 2006, according to the report.

The authoritarian military regime in Burma continued in 2006 to rule without respect for democratic and human rights, according to the report. Nobel laureate and National League for Democracy (NLD) General Secretary Aung San Suu Kyi continued to be held incommunicado and under house arrest; NLD Vice-Chairman U Tin Oo had his house arrest extended by one year. These two individuals were joined by more than 1,100 other people in Burma who are imprisoned for the peaceful expression of their political views. In September 2006, the United States was successful in getting Burma formally placed on the United Nations Security Council's agenda; a U.S.-sponsored resolution on key actions Burma's rulers must take, however, was not passed by the council.

The State Department each year submits the Supporting Human Rights and Democracy report to Congress, as called for by the Foreign Relations Authorization Act of 2003. Its release, by law, follows that of the annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, which for the year 2006, assessed the human rights practices of 196 countries. (See related article.)

“The spectrum of political systems and progress toward democratic change reflect the region’s diversity,” the latest report says. U.S. efforts to foster human rights and democracy are tailored to meet the needs of each country, according to Barry Lowenkron, the assistant secretary of state for democracy, human rights and labor.

During a press conference April 5, Lowenkron said: “There is no one-size-fits-all formula for advancing personal and democratic freedoms across the globe. We focus our efforts on the three core components of a working democracy that must be present if human rights are to be effectively exercised and protected.”

These core components are free and fair elections, transparent and accountable institutions operating under the rule of law, and a robust civil society and independent media.

The new report documents the various tools applied by the United States to support indigenous democratic reform efforts across the globe. (See related article.)

U.S. democracy building programs in the Asia-Pacific region are discussed in the report for Burma, Cambodia, China, Tibet, Hong Kong, Indonesia, North Korea, Laos, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Solomon Islands, Thailand and Vietnam.

Of special concern is the repression of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) around the world. At the April 5 press conference, Paula Dobriansky, U.S. under secretary of state for democracy and global affairs, said that “in spite of international commitments, we are witnessing a crackdown by some governments on NGOs and other civil society actors.

The full text of the 2006 report and the section on East Asia and the Pacific are available on the State Department Web site.

(USINFO is produced by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)