Asia Times Online - News media with an Asian perspective

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<p><font class="subhead"><strong class="head">Front Page</strong></font></p> </td> <td width="36%"> <table id="Table12" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" width="100%" border="0"> <tr> <td valign="center" align="middle" height="51"> <div align="right"><font class="time"><strong> <script language="javascript"> function showDate(){ var monthArray=["Jan", "Feb", "Mar", "Apr", "May", "Jun", "Jul", "Aug", "Sep", "Oct", "Nov", "Dec"] var days=["Sunday", "Monday", "Tuesday", "Wednesday", "Thursday", "Friday", "Saturday"] var d=new Date(); var month=d.getMonth() var day=d.getDate() var year=d.getYear() document.write(monthArray[month]) document.write(" ") document.write(day) document.write(", ") if(d.getYear()<2000){document.write(year+1900)} if(d.getYear()>2000){document.write(year)} } </script> <script language="javascript">showDate()</script> </strong></font> </div> </td> </tr> </table> </td> </tr> </table> <table id="Table8" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" width="100%" border="0"> <tbody> <tr> <td> <table id="Table3" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" width="509" align="left" border="0"> <tbody> <tr> <td class="body" valign="top" width="300"> <table id="Table4" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" width="287" border="0" style="WIDTH: 287px"> <tbody> <tr> <td width="286"> <p> </p> <p><font color="#ff0000"><a href="/web/20030803152511/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/EH02Ae05.html"><strong><font size="2">Philippines: Academic roots of rebellion</font></strong></a><br><font color="#000000"><font size="2">Before leading last Sunday's mini-rebellion in Manila, Navy Lieutenant Antonio Trillanes did his homework - literally. As a graduate student at the prestigious University of the Philippines in 2001-02, he produced two studies into how corruption is sinking the Philippine Navy. - <strong>A Lin Neumann</strong></font></font><br><br><strong><font size="2">THE ROVING EYE<br></font></strong><a href="/web/20030803152511/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/EH02Ae01.html"><strong><font size="2">This is the way the killing fields end</font></strong></a><br><font color="#000000" size="2">Illegal bombing by the United States, followed by the Khmer Rouge regime and the deaths of millions of Cambodians - it all ended with the decrepit alleged grave of Pol Pot in the middle of nowhere, and a baby democracy run by a former Khmer Rouge official. But wait, the Cambodian story is not over yet: there's a plan for a major new golf course, once the landmines are cleared. - <strong>Pepe Escobar<br></strong></font><br><a href="/web/20030803152511/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/EH02Ak02.html "><strong><font size="2">The fear behind Saudi Arabia's outrage</font></strong></a><br><font size="2"><font color="#000000">Is Saudi Arabia being set up for regime change by the US? The Saudis apparently think so after President George W Bush's refusal to disclose the evidence behind allegations that their government has links to al-Qaeda. - <b>Hooman Peimani<br></b></font></font><br><a href="/web/20030803152511/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/EH02Ak01.html"><strong><font size="2"> Why the US should let the UN take over<br></font></strong></a><font size="2"><font color="#000000">Turning the administration of Iraq over to the United Nations would be more likely to bring peace and stability to the country; moreover, such a move would be in the best interests of Americans. So argues Stephen Zunes of Foreign Policy in Focus.</font> <br><br><a href="/web/20030803152511/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Front_Page/EH02Aa01.html"><strong>Australia joins US strategic revolution</strong></a><br><font color="#000000">When the United States unveiled its new national security strategy last year, its emphasis on preemptive strikes and preventive war attracted howls of outrage. But as long as the United Nations remains unwilling or unable to manage international crises, that duty must fall to major powers such as the US and, as in the current case of the Solomon Islands, Australia. - <b>Stephen Blank</b></font><br><br><a href="/web/20030803152511/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Japan/EH02Dh01.html "><strong>Japan makes a hesitant move toward Iraq</strong></a><br><font color="#000000">After much debate, Japan's parliament has passed a law that enables the prime minister to dispatch Ground Self-Defense Forces to Iraq to assist the US-led coalition forces there - marking a new era of military activity outside of the United Nations peacekeeping operations framework. But the legislation, like the process that brought it about, is too vague for some.<br></font></font><font size="2"><br><strong>BOOK REVIEW</strong><font color="#000000"> <br></font><a href="/web/20030803152511/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/EH02Ae02.html "><strong><font size="2">An antidote to the bad Bangkok novel</font></strong></a><font color="#000000" size="2"> <br><i><b>Bangkok 8,</b></i> by <b>John Burdett </b><br>Bangkok and bad novels: the two just seem to go together. But a recent book, <b>Lin Neumann</b> contends, finally does justice to the city where anything goes.</font><br> <br> <img hspace="0" src="/web/20030803152511im_/http://www.atimes.com/atimes//images/bestofbe4[2].gif" border="0"><br> <br></font> <a href="/web/20030803152511/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/EH01Df03.html"><strong><font size="2">Pakistan and the US: The odd couple</font> </strong></a><br> <font color="#000000" size="2">The contrast between the two nations could hardly be starker. Nevertheless, the US has regretted its former policy of benign neglect toward Pakistan and the two countries are now attempting to forge some kind of rapprochement. The gulf between them, however, may be too deep to cross. - </font><font size="2"> <strong><font color="#000000">Ehsan Ahrari <font color="#999999"><font color="#999999" size="1">(Jul 31, '03)</font> </font> <br> </font></strong> <br></font> <a href="/web/20030803152511/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/EH01Ak02.html "><strong><font size="2">US barters arms for soldiers for Iraq</font> </strong></a><br><font size="2"> <font color="#000000">The United States is trying to "buy" foreign troops - offering weapons and increased military aid to countries - to bolster the fledgling multinational force in Baghdad and relieve the pressure on the US military in the war-ravaged country. <strong><font color="#999999" size="1"> (Jul 31, '03)</font></strong> <br> </font> <br></font> <a href="/web/20030803152511/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/EH01Ak01.html"><strong><font size="2">Swing voters, politicians: 'Dubya duped us'</font> </strong></a><br> <font color="#000000" size="2">Independent voters and members of Congress continue to question President George W Bush's war in Iraq, with senators - including Republicans - attacking the administration for misleading the public, classifying portions of the report on intelligence failures leading up to the September 11 attacks and not disclosing its estimates of the cost of occupying Iraq. - </font><font color="#000000"><font size="2"><strong>Jim Lobe <font color="#999999" size="1"> (Jul 31, '03)</font> <br> </strong> <br></font> <a href="/web/20030803152511/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/EH01Df02.html"><strong><font size="2">One hand claps in India-China dispute<br></font> </strong></a><font color="#000000" size="2">Even as Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee was on his "path-breaking" visit to China last month, Indian intelligence personnel ran afoul of Chinese security forces inside territory claimed by both countries. While it is true that such incidents are common and serious clashes no longer occur, the decades-old border dispute remains an emotional issue for Indians, and the Chinese are doing little to help matters. - </font><font color="#000000" size="2"><strong>Sultan Shahin <font color="#999999" size="1">(Jul 31, '03)</font> <br> </strong></font></font> </font> <br> <a href="/web/20030803152511/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/EG31Ak03.html"><strong><font size="2">Sons' killings change little in Iraq</font></strong></a><br> <font size="2">The deaths of Saddam Hussein's sons have failed to quell the violence against US troops in Iraq. Not a single guerrilla fighter has been captured. The Iraqi fighters appear to have organized well before Iraq's "liberation", and they enjoy considerable support from locals. All these factors suggest that the US is facing a challenge that will not go away easily. - <strong>B Raman </strong><font color="#999999" size="1">(Jul 30, '03)</font> </font> </p> </td> </tr> </tbody></table> </td> <td valign="top" width="210"> <table id="Table5" height="592" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" width="214" border="0"> <tbody> <tr> <td><font color="#000000" size="2"></font> <table id="Table6" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" width="210" border="0" height="607"> <tbody> <tr> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top"> <table id="Table7" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" width="100%" border="0"> <tbody> <tr> <td> <p> <img height="5" src="/web/20030803152511im_/http://www.atimes.com/images/f_images/1pix.gif" width="5"></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td></td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20030803152511/http://www.northkoreaseminars.com/" target="_blank"><img hspace="0" src="/web/20030803152511im_/http://www.atimes.com/atimes//images/ks-in-text.gif" border="0"></a><br> <img height="5" src="/web/20030803152511im_/http://www.atimes.com/images/f_images/1pix.gif" width="5"><br> <table class="" id="Table15" style="WIDTH: 210px; HEIGHT: 114px" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="3" width="210" border="3"> <tr> <td class="" valign="top" bordercolor="fuchsia" align="left" height="0"><font size="2"></font><font size="2"><strong><font color="#ff00ff"><a href="javascript:openWindow('/atimes/others/cartoon.html','list','resizable=yes,scrollbars,width=640,height=400');"><img hspace="3" src="/web/20030803152511im_/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/images/coates-08-01-2003-view.gif" align="left" vspace="3" border="0"></a>WEEKEND  CARTOON</font></strong></font><strong><font color="#ff00ff"> </font></strong> <font size="2">by<br> </font><font size="2"><strong><font color="magenta">Gavin Coates<br> </font>  <br> </strong>Visit </font><a href="/web/20030803152511/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/others/cartoons.html"><font color="#0000ff" size="2"> Gavin's page</font></a><font size="2"> for more.  <br> </font> </td> </tr> </table> <img height="5" src="/web/20030803152511im_/http://www.atimes.com/images/f_images/1pix.gif" width="5"></p> </td> </tr> </tbody></table> <table id="Table9" bordercolor="#ff9900" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" width="211" border="1" height="487" style="WIDTH: 211px; HEIGHT: 487px"> <tbody> <tr> <td valign="top" align="middle" width="206" bgcolor="#fdf0c6"> <div align="center"><font size="2"></font></div> <table id="Table10" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" width="201" align="center" border="0" height="471" style="WIDTH: 201px; HEIGHT: 471px"> <tbody> <tr> <td valign="top" align="middle"><font color="#000000"><img height="5" src="/web/20030803152511im_/http://www.atimes.com/images/f_images/1pix.gif" width="1"><img height="1" src="/web/20030803152511im_/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/images/1pix.gif" width="1"><br> <img alt="" src="/web/20030803152511im_/http://www.atimes.com/images/f_images/asia_businessN.gif"></font> <p></p> <p align="left"> <font color="#000000"><a href="/web/20030803152511/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/China/EH02Ad01.html"><strong><font size="2">Southeast Asia and China:<br>Threats and opportunities</font></strong></a><font size="2"> <br>Southeast Asian nations are no longer worried about China exporting communism to the region. Today, the worries are about China's enormous economic clout. But as the seventh World Chinese Entrepreneurs Convention took place in Malaysia this week, it was clear that the nervousness was accompanied by realization that China is a huge market to be tapped. - <b>Eddie Leung</b></font><br><br><a href="/web/20030803152511/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/EH02Df01.html"><strong><font size="2">Worries over climbing rupee</font></strong></a><br><font size="2">The steady appreciation of India's rupee over the dollar and foreign exchange reserves hovering above the US$80 billion mark has exporters in a tizzy - particularly software firms, who now earn $10 billion worth of foreign exchange annually.</font><br> <br> <a href="javascript:openWindow('https://web.archive.org/web/20030803152511/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/request.asp','list','resizable=no,width=495,height=585');"> <font><font size="2"><strong>Market Indices</strong> </font></font></a><strong><font size="2">  <br> </font></strong><a href="/web/20030803152511/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/others/stock_market_report.html"><font><font size="2"><strong> Stock Market Report</strong> </font></font></a> <br> <br> <a href="/web/20030803152511/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Business_in_Brief.html"><strong><font size="2">Business in Brief</font></strong></a><br> <table class="" id="Table13" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" width="100%" border="0"> <tr> <td class="" valign="top" align="left" height="0"><img height="14" src="/web/20030803152511im_/http://www.atimes.com/images/f_images/arrow.gif" width="14"></td> <td class="" valign="top" align="left" height="0"><a href="/web/20030803152511/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Business_in_Brief.html#H1"><font size="2">Economics</font></a></td> <td class="" valign="top" align="left" height="0"><img height="14" src="/web/20030803152511im_/http://www.atimes.com/images/f_images/arrow.gif" width="14"></td> <td class="" valign="top" align="left" height="0"><a href="/web/20030803152511/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Business_in_Brief.html#H5"><font size="2">Infrastructure</font></a></td> </tr> <tr> <td class="" valign="top" align="left" height="0"><img height="14" src="/web/20030803152511im_/http://www.atimes.com/images/f_images/arrow.gif" width="14"></td> <td class="" valign="top" align="left" height="0"><a href="/web/20030803152511/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Business_in_Brief.html#H2"><font size="2">Banking</font></a></td> <td class="" valign="top" align="left" height="0"><img height="14" src="/web/20030803152511im_/http://www.atimes.com/images/f_images/arrow.gif" width="14"></td> <td class="" valign="top" align="left" height="0"><a href="/web/20030803152511/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Business_in_Brief.html#H6"><font size="2">Energy</font></a></td> </tr> <tr> <td class="" valign="top" align="left" height="0"><img height="14" src="/web/20030803152511im_/http://www.atimes.com/images/f_images/arrow.gif" width="14"></td> <td class="" valign="top" align="left" height="0"><a href="/web/20030803152511/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Business_in_Brief.html#H3"><font size="2">IT</font> </a> </td> <td class="" valign="top" align="left" height="0"><img height="14" src="/web/20030803152511im_/http://www.atimes.com/images/f_images/arrow.gif" width="14"></td> <td class="" valign="top" align="left" height="0"><a href="/web/20030803152511/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Business_in_Brief.html#H7"><font size="2">Autos</font></a></td> </tr> <tr> <td class="" valign="top" align="left" height="0"><img height="14" src="/web/20030803152511im_/http://www.atimes.com/images/f_images/arrow.gif" width="14"></td> <td class="" valign="top" align="left" height="0"><a href="/web/20030803152511/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Business_in_Brief.html#H4"><font size="2">Telecoms</font></a></td> <td class="" valign="top" align="left" height="0"><img height="14" src="/web/20030803152511im_/http://www.atimes.com/images/f_images/arrow.gif" width="14"></td> <td class="" valign="top" align="left" height="0"><a href="/web/20030803152511/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Business_in_Brief.html#H8"><font size="2">Aviation</font></a></td> </tr> </table> <font face="Times New Roman" color="darkorange"><font face="Arial" color="#000000" size="2"> <a href="/web/20030803152511/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/others/Company_in_brief.html"><strong>Company Briefs</strong></a> </font></font> </p> </font> </td> </tr> </table> </td> </tr> </table> </td> </tr> </table></td></tr></tbody></table> <font color="#000000" size="2"> <hr> (Advertorial)<br> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20030803152511/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/front_page/EB21Aa01.html"><strong><font color="#cc0099"> <strong>WSI Internet's Asian franchise expansion soars</strong> </font></strong> </a> <br> <font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"> <span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 8.5pt">WSI Internet continues its rapid Asian franchise expansion - amidst record levels of Internet use in Asia-Pacific.</span></font></font> <hr> </font><font color="#000000" size="2"> <p> </font><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20030803152511/http://www.heartland.limesonline.com/" target="_blank"><strong><img hspace="24" src="/web/20030803152511im_/http://www.atimes.com/atimes//images/heartland-logo-link.gif" border="0"></strong></a><br> <br> <table class="" id="table1" style="WIDTH: 212px; HEIGHT: 325px" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="3" width="212" border="3"> <tr> <td class="" valign="top" bordercolor="darkorange" align="left" bgcolor="gainsboro" height="0"> <p align="left"><font color="red" size="2"><strong>SPEAKING FREELY<br> </strong></font><font color="#000000"><font size="2"><strong>A column for guest writers to have a say. <br> <br> </strong><font color="#000000"><a href="/web/20030803152511/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Korea/EH01Dg03.html"><strong>The Panmunjom circus</strong></a> <br> When the Korean War armistice was signed on July 27, 1953, it included a recommendation that a formal peace treaty be struck within three months. Half a century later, although most of the 21 nations that fought to defend South Korea now have diplomatic relations with the North, no such treaty exists. <strong>Tom Tobback</strong> observed the armistice anniversary ceremonies in Panmunjom last weekend and offers his insights.</font></font></font></p> </td> </tr> </table> <img height="5" src="/web/20030803152511im_/http://www.atimes.com/images/f_images/1pix.gif" width="5"><br> <table class="" id="table1" style="WIDTH: 212px; HEIGHT: 171px" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="3" width="183" border="3"> <tr> <td class="" valign="top" bordercolor="darkorange" align="left" bgcolor="gainsboro" height="0"> <p align="left"><strong><font color="darkorange" size="3"><font color="red" size="2">FROM OUR MAILBOX</font><br> </font></strong><font color="#000000"><font size="2"> <br> Regarding the article <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20030803152511/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/EH01Df03.html " target="_blank">Pakistan and the US: The odd couple</a> [Aug 1] by Ehsan Ahrari: The belief that the US (or any other colonial power) wants to encourage/ support/induce democracy in Pakistan (or any other country) is rubbish. <br><b>A D Jayal</b><br> India <br> </font></font></font></font></font> <br></font></font><font color="#999999" size="1"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000" size="2"> Go to</font> <a href="/web/20030803152511/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Letters.html"><font size="2">Letters to the Editor</font></a></font></font></p> </td> </tr> </table> <font size="2"><img height="5" src="/web/20030803152511im_/http://www.atimes.com/images/f_images/1pix.gif" width="5"> </font></p></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr> <tr> <td><font size="2"> </font><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20030803152511/http://www.milligazette.com/" target="_blank"></a></td> </tr></tbody></table></strong></font></p></td> <td width="36%"> <table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"> <tr> <td height="51" 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