The World

Posted 3/26/06

Is It a Threat or a Cry for Attention?

With Washington's crisis managers pretty much preoccupied with Iraq and Iran, it might seem wise for axis-of-evil headliner Kim Jong Il of North Korea to just keep a low profile while continuing to turn out nuclear bomb material. But North Korea's official news agency stirred the pot with a statement that the hermit kingdom (1) has built nuclear weapons and (2) has the ability to use them. "Pre-emptive strike is not the monopoly of the United States," said a Foreign Ministry spokes-man. While U.S. intelligence officials figure the North does have a small number of nukes, they doubt its ability to mount them on long-range missiles able to hit the U.S. mainland.

What sounded like a threat, though, may be North Korea's belligerent way of seeking attention for the stalled six-nation nuclear negotiations--hung up since November in a dispute over U.S. sanctions imposed for Pyongyang's alleged currency counterfeiting and money laundering. Washington is "paying no attention" to the talks, the spokesman said, adding that it would be "wise" for President Bush to pursue nuclear cooperation with North Korea as he just has with India. Reality check: no way.

If Terrorism Doesn't Work, Try Politics

Over some four decades, the violent Basque separatist group known by its acronym ETA has killed more than 800 people and brought terrorism to Spanish cities in its campaign for an independent homeland on the border of Spain and France. Last week, in a video broadcast on Spanish television, three masked ETA members announced a "permanent cease-fire" and plans to pursue ETA's goals through the "democratic process." Last year, the Spanish parliament authorized government talks with ETA if it renounced violence and laid down its arms. Spanish authorities are hopeful but wary about ETA's declared conversion. Born under the dictatorship of Generalissimo Francisco Franco, ETA continued its campaign of bombings and assassinations even after Spain became democratic in 1977. Recently, ETA has been hit by stepped-up law enforcement efforts. But maybe the biggest blow has been the post-9/11 public mood, particularly after the deadly March 11, 2004, Madrid train bombing that was initially, but wrongly, attributed to ETA.

Call Them the Colombian Mob

It's just a one-count indictment, but it's a doozy. A U.S. federal grand jury charged 50 leaders of the largest guerrilla group in Colombia with sending more than $25 billion worth of cocaine to the United States and other countries. This is a new twist in the long-running fight against the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), a U.S.-designated terrorist group that uses drug money in its war against the Colombian government. The indictment can be read as a sign of solidarity with Colombian President Alvaro Uribe, Washington's closest ally in South America, who has stepped up the fight with Marxist rebels and is leading in the polls ahead of a May election.

The practical effects, though, are limited. The Justice Department is seeking the extradition of three FARC figures now in Colombian custody, but the others are most likely in their fortified jungle hideouts beyond the reach of Colombian law enforcement. The indictment says the FARC drug network supplies 60 percent of the cocaine on U.S. streets.

A Belarus Winter, Not a Minsk Spring

For four frigid nights, young protesters camped out in a peaceful demonstration against the rigged re-election of Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko, who claimed 83 percent of the vote. Everyone knew it wouldn't last since Lukashenko--known as Europe's last dictator--has made clear he won't sit still for a sequel to Ukraine's 2004 Orange Revolution. Sure enough, police early Friday moved into Minsk's October Square and trucked off for detention some 300 protesters; that they did it largely without using their truncheons may have reflected uncharacteristic concern about international reaction. Within hours, the White House called for the protesters' release and joined European nations in imposing travel and financial sanctions against Lukashenko and other top officials.

"There Is but One God and..."

While working for a Christian aid group in Pakistan in the 1990s, Abdul Rahman gave up Islam for Christianity. For that, considered an act of apostasy, Afghanistan-born Rahman was put on trial--with a possible death sentence under his country's post-Taliban Constitution. Rahman, 41, was denounced by family members in a custody dispute over his two children after he returned home from living in Germany. With his case drawing alarm from American Christian and conservative groups--and blunt criticism from President Bush and other western leaders--Afghan President Hamid Karzai scrambled to find a way to get Rahman sprung. But there is a cost: Karzai risks reinforcing his image at home as Washington's puppet.

With Associated Press