europe.cnn.com By Christy Oglesby CNN Friday, January 31, 2003 Posted: 2322 GMT

[Editors Note: The analysis and views presented in this project are based on interviews with experts at the Council on Foreign Relations, a nonpartisan national membership organization, think tank and publisher, with headquarters in New York, offices in Washington, D.C., and programs nationwide.]

(CNN) -- Iraq and North Korea have dominated the world's attention in recent months, yet in countries and regions around the globe, strife smolders with sporadic notice.

Civil war. Mutilations. Threat of nuclear deployment. Human trafficking. Starving babies. Those are some of the seeds and harvest of conflicts in Africa, Asia, Europe and South America.

Neglecting these conflicts is dangerous, said Arthur Helton, director for peace and conflict studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, a national think tank and publisher with headquarters in New York and offices in Washington.

"States that are weak and cannot police their own territories, that are involved in wars among their people, those are places that dedicated terrorists can inhabit," Helton said in an interview. Experts noted that is what happened in Afghanistan under the Taliban, where al Qaeda terrorists were able plan and train for attacks in the years before September 11, 2001.

U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan made a similar point recently when he told journalists that crises throughout the globe demand attention despite the current spotlight on Iraq and North Korea.

Though the U.N. Security Council is charged with focusing on Iraq at this time, Annan noted, "The international community should be focusing on some of the other agendas, other issues."

Experts at the Council on Foreign Relations provided CNN.com with outlines of some of the world's regional conflicts they consider particularly critical and offered recommendations for possible solutions.

The countries and regions in conflict identified for this project are: Angola, the Balkans, Burundi, Colombia, Indonesia, Kashmir, the Philippines, Uzbekistan, Venezuela and Zimbabwe.

These are areas wrestling with instability, rebels or hostilities that could jeopardize other continents or the world, the experts said.

"It is not possible to live in a world of gated communities," Helton said. "It is just not a sustainable future to think that North America and Western Europe can prosper while Africa continues to spiral downward."

Each of these regions is a former colony or has evolved from the breakup of another entity. Yugoslavia's 1991 demise following the collapse of the Iron Curtain, for example, created six Balkan countries. Britain once controlled Zimbabwe and Kashmir. Uzbekistan emerged from the collapse of the Soviet Union. Others are former colonies.

In some cases, the disintegration of the progenitor or the colonial past is so remote that it has no bearing on current conflict. But in others, the link between past problems and present troubles is obvious.

A civil war in Angola erupted with the African nation's independence from Portugal in 1975. Since then, the Council on Foreign Relations says as many as 1.5 million people may have died in the power struggle between two factions.

An Indonesian student shouts during a demonstration protesting fuel and electricity price hikes.

In Indonesia, experts said, lingering memories of the nation's legacy as a colony of the Netherlands has left a reluctance to accept help from outsiders.

"Countries that might want to provide humanitarian assistance or link development with conflict prevention strategies are seen as suspect," said David L. Phillips, a senior fellow and deputy director of the Center for Preventive Action at the Council on Foreign Relations.

The Soviet legacies in Uzbekistan include depleted water resources as a result of aggressive farming techniques, partially cleaned toxic dumps and soil contaminated with fertilizers that have shown up in breast milk in areas with high incidences of birth defects, said Rajan Menon, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations.

Because the government is authoritarian, said Menon, " when social and economic tensions exist, there's no place ... to vent them, and therefore they take radical turns."

"One is that there has been an underground Islamist movement called the IMU, the Islamist Movement of Uzbekistan, which clearly had links with the Taliban regime in Central Asia."

Millions of Zimbabweans face starvation, a U.S.-based food monitoring organization reported recently. Agriculture officials blame the impending food shortage on drought and the government's controversial seizure of farmland owned by members of the nation's white minority for redistribution to landless blacks in an attempt to right a colonial wrong.

"There is a generation now to whom colonial rule is a distant memory," he said " ... Rulers are going to have to deal with the expectation of the public quite independently of the historical legacy.

It is not conceivable that one country can wither without affecting others, policy experts said. Technology, high-speed travel and interdependent economies make it impossible for even the most remote place to function as an island, they said.

In Colombia, the lack of a strong legal system, drug trafficking, energy problems, kidnappings and bombings can create economic shock waves that ripple in places such as Brazil, Ecuador and Peru, said Julia Sweig, senior fellow and deputy director of the Council on Foreign Relations' Latin America Program.

Political problems in Venezuela have raised international concerns because of that South American nation's role as one of the world's leading oil suppliers. The tensions, for example, have prompted the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries to increase production to mitigate a shortfall in supply.

Since tensions broke out in the African nation of Burundi in 1993, more than 200,000 people have been killed, Helton said, and hundreds of thousands more have been displaced. "Burundi could evolve into a genocide without too much imagining," he said.

The concern for the Balkans is that the economy could slip further into criminalized activity where there already is growing poverty and trafficking in people. The Philippines represents a potential harbor for terrorists given the presence of Abu Sayyaf, a radical Islamic group.

The conflict over Kashmir has raised the specter of nuclear conflict. Pakistan and India -- two nuclear powers -- both claim the region, an area with ambiguous ownership ever since the partition of British holdings in South Asia during the last century.

"The Indian government has been pretty clear on no first use [of nuclear weapons]," said Radha Kumar, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. "However, I don't understand where their confidence comes from that Pakistan will never use them. ... Most of the U.S. intelligence was that Pakistan had gone a long way down the road to deployment."

Yes, the world is a messy place. But the instruments are there to deal with these problems.

Most regions in conflict suffer from long absences of international attention until overwhelming bloodshed or combat renews interest, Helton said, adding that the cycle of atrocity, shock, atrocity should be a wake-up call to seek lasting solutions.

"The effort to sort of disregard those events has a short-term advantage, but over the long term, it is terribly destabilizing," he said. "To the extent that we have a world in surprise after surprise indicates there's something lacking in our general world order."

In his comments at the United Nations in January, U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan expressed optimism and said these conflicts across the globe represent opportunities for the international community to work toward peace.

"Nations working together can make a difference. Nations upholding the rule of law can advance the cause of a fairer world," he said. "Yes, the world is a messy place. But the instruments are there to deal with these problems."

www.dailytimes.com.pk By Eduardo Galeano

Sigmund Freud had learned it from Jean-Martin Charcot: ideas can be implanted by hypnosis in the human mind. More than a century has gone by since then, and the technology of manipulation has made great strides. This is a colossal machine, the size of the planet, that orders us to repeat the messages it puts inside our heads. It’s a word-abusing machine. The President of Venezuela, Hugo Chavez, had been elected, and re-elected, by an overwhelming majority, in a much more transparent election than the one that put George W Bush in power in the United States. The machine propelled the coup that tried to overthrow Chavez - not because of his style, or his tendency toward logorrhea, but because of the reforms he proposed and the heresies he committed. Chavez touched the untouchables. And the untouchables, the owners of the media and almost everything elsewhere outraged. With complete freedom they denounced the crushing of freedom. Inside and outside his own country, the machine turned Chavez into a “tyrant,” a “delirious autocrat” and an “enemy of democracy.” Against him was the “citizenry”. Behind him were the “mobs,” which did not meet in rooms but in “lairs”. The media-engineered coup was able to generate only a virtual power, and it didn’t last. The media campaign was decisive in the avalanche that lead to the coup, programmed from abroad against this ferocious ‘dictatorship’ that did not have a single political prisoner. Then the Presidency was occupied by a businessman for whom nobody voted, and whose first democratic measure was to dissolve the Parliament. The stock market went up the following day, but a popular uprising returned Chavez to his legitimate post. As Venezuelan writer Luis Britto Garcia put it, the media-engineered coup was able to generate only a virtual power, and it didn’t last. Venezuelan television bastion of information freedom—did not get wind of the upsetting news.. And in the meantime, the slaughter of Palestinians continues. The world’s manufacturers of public opinion call it a “hunting down of terrorists.” “Palestinian” is a synonym of “terrorist”, but this word is never used to refer to the Israeli army. The territories seized by continuous military invasions are called “disputed territories.” And Palestinians - who are Semitic - turn out to be “anti-Semitic.” For more than a century they have been condemned to atone for the sins of European anti-Semitism, and to pay with their land and their blood for a Holocaust they did not perpetrate. There is a Gutlessness Competition at the Human Rights Commission of the United Nations, which always aims South, never North. The commission specializes in charging against Cuba, and this year Uruguay had the honour to lead the pack. Nobody said: “I do it so that they buy what I sell, or: “I do it so they lend me what I need, or: “I do it so they loosen the rope that’s tightening around my neck. The art of good governing allows its practitioners not to think what they say, but it forbids them from saying what they think. And the media took advantage of the occasion to confirm, once again, that the blockaded island is one of the baddies. In the dictionary of the machine, the bribes that politicians receive are called “contributions,” and their betrayals are called “pragmatism.” The word “security” refers not to notions of safety and protection, but to investments; and it is in the stock exchange that these “securities” undergo all kinds of crises. Where we see “the international community demands,” we should read: the financial dictatorship imposes. “International community” is also the pseudonym that shelters the great powers in their military campaigns of extermination, also called “pacifying missions.” The “pacified” are the dead. The third war against Iraq is already in the works. As in the two previous ones, the bombers will be called “allied forces” while the bombed will be “fanatic mobs.” And the attackers will leave behind a trail of civilian corpses, which will be called “collateral damages”. In order to explain this next war, President Bush does not say: “Big oil and big weapons need it badly, and my government is a pipeline and an arsenal. “Nor does he explain his multibillion project for the militarisation of space with words like: “We are going to annex the sky the way we annexed Texas.” No, the explanation is that the free world that must defend itself against the threat of terrorism, both here on Earth and beyond. Even though terrorism has demonstrated it prefers kitchen knives to missiles, and despite the fact that the United States is opposed to the International Criminal Court that has been recently established to punish crimes against humanity. In general, the words uttered by power are not meant to express its actions, but to disguise them. More than a century ago, at the glorious battle of Omdurman, in Sudan, where Winston Churchill was both reporter and soldier, 48 Britons sacrificed their lives. In addition, 27,000 (savages) died. The British were pushing their colonial expansion by fire and the sword, and they justified it by saying: “We are civilizing Africa through commerce.” They were not saying: “We are commercialising Africa through civilization.” And nobody was asking Africans their opinion on the matter. But we are fortunate enough to live in the information age, and the giants of mass communications love objectivity. They even allow for the point of view of the enemy to be expressed as well. During the Vietnam War, for example, the point of view of the enemy was 3% of the coverage given by ABC, CBS and NBC. The Pentagon acknowledges that propaganda is part of the military budget, and the White House has hired Charlotte Beers, a publicity expert who had pushed certain brands of rice and dog food in the local markets. She is now in charge of pushing the crusade against terrorism into the world market. “We’re selling a product,” quipped Colin Powell. Brazilian writer Millor Fernandes confirms that “in order not to see reality, the ostrich sinks its head in the television set.” The machine dictates orders, the machine stones you. On September 11, the loudspeakers of the second twin tower in New York were also giving stunning orders, when the tower started to creak. As people ran down the stairs, the loudspeakers were ordering everyone to return to their workstations. Those who survived, disobeyed. —Iraq Daily

Eduardo Galeano, a Uruguayan journalist, is the author of “Upside Down: A Primer for the Looking-Glass World,” “Memory of Fire” and “The Open Veins of Latin America,” and one of most popular writers around the GNN bunker.

www.guardian.co.uk Friday January 31, 2003 9:30 PM

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Bush dropped Guatemala from the list of allies in counternarcotics efforts Friday, concluding it had ``failed demonstrably'' during 2002 to meet international drug control standards.

Guatemala and 22 other countries were graded on their counternarcotics performances last year. It was the first time that Guatemala had received a failing grade, unlike Myanmar and Haiti, which also were singled out for poor performances, as they were a year ago.

Pervasive corruption was a principal reason for Guatemala's poor rating. ``Police stole twice the quantity of drugs they officially seized,'' said Paul Simon, the State Department's top counternarcotics official.

Under law, Bush can impose economic sanctions against countries that do not measure up on counterdrug policy. Bush waived sanctions on national security grounds for both Guatemala and Haiti.

``These two countries will receive assistance, notwithstanding their counternarcotics performance,'' White House press secretary Ari Fleischer said.

Simon said an aid cut for Guatemala would only lead to a further deterioration of drug-fighting institutions. He said aid to Haiti will be continued primarily on humanitarian grounds.

Sanctions were continued against Myanmar, also known as Burma. This was symbolic because that country has not received U.S. foreign aid for years.

Simon said Myanmar took some useful steps but added that large-scale poppy cultivation and opium production continued as did trafficking in methamphetamine.

He said Haiti remains a major transshipment point for drugs, primarily cocaine, moving from South America to the U.S. market. He described Haiti's counterdrug commitment as very weak.

In a memo to Secretary of State Colin Powell, Bush also decried an increase in illegal synthetic drugs entering the United States, especially Ecstasy from Europe. He said the Netherlands is a major clandestine production center for Ecstasy.

The president said Canada has become a primary source of pseudoephedrine and is an increasing source of high-potency marijuana. He expressed hope that Canada will do more to combat the trade, particularly in the regulation of precursor chemicals.

The countries whose 2002 counternarcotics performances were evaluated were Afghanistan, the Bahamas, Bolivia, Brazil, Myanmar, China, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, Haiti, India, Jamaica, Laos, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Thailand, Venezuela and Vietnam.

Rep. Cass Ballenger, R-N.C., chairman of the House International Relations subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere, welcomed Bush's decision on Guatemala.

Ballenger said Bush recognized Guatemala's failure to cooperate fully with U.S. counternarcotics efforts. ``Regrettably, the Guatemalan government deserves to be decertified,'' he said.

In Guatemala City, Foreign Minister Edgar Gutierrez criticized Bush's decision. It could create ``a bad atmosphere for business, investments and the development of the financial and banking system,'' Gutierrez said.

Simon made clear the administration's dissatisfaction with Guatemala in testimony last fall.

``Widespread corruption, high turnover of law enforcement personnel and a lack of resources have plagued counternarcotics efforts in Guatemala during the last three years,'' Simon testified.

He said that since President Alfonso Portillo took office in January 2000, ``there have been four ministers of government, four directors of the national civilian police, and nine different directors of the government's anti-narcotics unit.

``This constant upheaval makes long-range planning for operations and investigations nearly impossible and working relationships very difficult,'' he said.

www.arabnews.com 1 February 2003 Published on 01 February 2003

We live in very troubled times. Too many people with the power to wreak destruction are doing, or are about to do, their worst. Hardly anywhere in the world seems free from conflict or the threat of imminent war.

At least 18 people have been murdered in a blast that destroyed a bus near the Afghan city of Kandahar. Remnants of the Taleban and Al-Qaeda fighters have been blamed. India and Pakistan remain poised on the edge of war. North Korea continues to play its enigmatic game of nuclear brinkmanship which could yet lead to a horrific new conflict. In the Ivory Coast, a French-brokered peace deal with rebels who now control a half of the country appears to have collapsed.

Ariel Sharon, the greatest enemy of just peace for the Palestinians has just been re-elected, giving him a mandate to resume his oppressive Zionist policies, designed ultimately to drive the last Arab from land which Sharon and his fellow hawks believe should be exclusively Israeli. The general strike in Venezuela may be faltering but the deep social wounds that have been inflicted in the confrontation between President Chavez, champion of the poor, and the country’s affluent elite, will surely leave deep scars. Venezuela, an important member of OPEC, may yet be heading for civil conflict.

Last, but by no means least, closest to home, we face the prospect of a US-led invasion of Iraq, preceded by a long campaign of high-technology slaughter, dealt out via remote control by military technicians far from the front line. Whatever heroics the Iraqis may produce in their defense, the result of the fighting is a foregone conclusion. What are entirely less certain, are the consequences of the ouster of Saddam Hussein — both for Iraq itself and for the region as a whole.

Whatever the Americans may protest, this will be seen as a war about oil and power. It will also be seen as an act of oppression against the Muslim world, exactly parallel to the Zionist crushing of the Palestinians. The Bush White House, however, is too wrapped up in the mental body armor of its immense military power, to see that, just as Zionist might has bred extremism among the Palestinians, so the crushing of Iraq will foster many more implacable foes for America and its policies.

At first glance, it would seem that no one is giving peace a chance. But there are two places from where Bush, Blair and Sharon, the faceless killers of Al-Qaeda and everyone else who has the power to destroy could all learn an important lesson. Both Sri Lanka and Rwanda were once riven by catastrophic ethnic conflicts that left between them well over a million dead. Now each country is at peace but neither pretends that the danger of new conflict has gone away forever. Rather, they know that they have to work hard, not for months, but for years, to resolve peacefully all of the issues which once brought their different communities into such savage conflict.

There is little cause for optimism, unless the world can learn to use the Sri Lankan and Rwandan solution to conflict, rather that brutal means of Sharon, Al-Qaeda and, it seems, very soon, the United States of America.

www.upi.com By Anwar Iqbal From the International Desk Published 1/31/2003 4:06 PM

WASHINGTON, Jan. 31 (UPI) -- Key U.S. allies are on President Bush's list Friday of 23 countries designated as major producers or transit routes of illicit drugs.

Besides China and India, two key allies in the war against terror -- Afghanistan and Pakistan -- are also on the list.

Myanmar, Guatemala and Haiti are the only countries labeled as those that have failed to control drug producing and trafficking. Others on the list have been effective in curbing drug production and trafficking and therefore are exempted from punitive action, the White House said.

Guatemala and Haiti will continue to receive U.S. economic assistance, however, because the administration believes it is in Washington's interest to do so.

The former Burma, however, faces U.S. sanctions as a major drug producer.

"The major drug-transit or illicit drug producing countries on the list are: Afghanistan, the Bahamas, Bolivia, Brazil, Burma, China, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, Haiti, India, Jamaica, Laos, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Thailand, Venezuela and Vietnam.

"The president ... reported to Congress his determinations that Burma, Guatemala, and Haiti failed demonstrably, during the previous 12 months, to adhere to their obligations under international counter-narcotics agreements and to take the measures set forth in U.S. anti-drug law," the White House said.

Bush's report also noted the alarming increase in the quantity of ecstasy, or MDMA, entering the United States, of which a significant amount is manufactured clandestinely in the Netherlands. Bush expressed concern that Canada is a primary source of pseudoephedrine, which is exported to the United States and used in clandestine drug laboratories to make methamphetamines. Canada has also become a growing source of high-potency marijuana.

Bush said the administration will continue to work closely with the governments of the Netherlands and Canada to address these issues.

The White House sends this annual list to Congress, of the major illicit drug producing and drug-transiting countries.

The president must consider each country's performance in areas such as illicit drug cultivation, drug trafficker extradition, and law enforcement efforts to prevent and punish corruption that facilitates drug trafficking or impedes drug crime prosecution.

The president also has to consider efforts to stop the production and export of illegal drugs.