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Bush has
Asia in mind
By Marwaan Macan-Markar
BANGKOK - US President George W Bush's trip to
Asia has helped ease concerns that Washington was
shifting its gaze away from the region in the wake of
its conquest of Iraq, but critics say that under the
circumstances whether the attention is genuine, or even
welcome, is another matter.
The two issues that
appear foremost on Bush's agenda during his rapid ride
through the region - Washington's words of thanks to the
Asian countries that helped in the US-led "war on
terror" and the war in Iraq, and Bush's request for more
troops and money from Asia to bolster America's grip on
Iraq - should add to the air of relief, at least in
Washington.
Halfway into his speedy journey -
six countries in as many days - the US leader has
received assurances that Asian countries are happy to
follow in Washington's footsteps, unlike its European
allies, such as Germany and France.
Already
Japan has set the tone as to where Bush's shopping spree
may be headed. By the end of his 15-hour stop in Tokyo
last week - the first Asian city on his tour - the
Japanese government had promised Bush US$1.5 billion as
an initial package to help rebuild Iraq and assured him
that a contingent of Japanese troops would soon be
heading to Iraq.
According to the Japanese
newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun, Japan's financial commitment
to aid US efforts in Iraq, including loans, "is expected
to amount to $5 billion over a four-year period until
2007".
Japan's contribution, the paper added,
would amount to close to 10 percent of the estimated $55
billion that the World Bank and the United Nations said
would be needed to rebuild war-ravaged Iraq.
Washington barely had time to digest this news
when word emerged from South Korea that it, too, would
be coming to Bush's rescue. Seoul announced over the
weekend that it would not only send troops to bolster
the US military presence in Iraq, but would also commit
$200 million to help Washington rebuild the shattered
country.
"It is expected that South Korea will
send more than 5,000 forces - including combatants,
engineers and medics - to the northern city of Mosul to
replace the US 101st Airborne Division, which plans to
leave the region in February or March," the Korea
Herald, an English-language newspaper, reported on
Monday.
Seoul's support comes even though South
Korea is not on Bush's Asian tour, which got under way
on Friday. After a 16-hour stop in Japan, Bush then went
to the Philippines for an eight-hour visit, before
traveling Thailand for two days and 15 hours, a visit
that included his attendance at the Asia-Pacific
Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit. He will finish his
tour by spending 15 hours in Singapore, going to
Indonesia for three, and then head back to the US after
21 hours in Australia.
Japan and South Korea's
contributions toward Washington's occupation of Iraq
come on top of assistance it is receiving from Southeast
Asia. The Philippines has sent close to 100 soldiers,
police and health workers to Iraq and Thailand has sent
more than 400 troops to the Iraqi holy city of Karbala.
Bush has already hinted at his regard for
Australia, the third country apart from Britain to send
troops to bolster the US-led invasion of Iraq, which it
did in March. The US president told Australian
journalists on the eve of his current tour that he
regarded Australia as Washington's "sheriff" in the
region.
The phrase would have had a familiar
ring to Australian Prime Minister John Howard, who, in
an effort that was seen as trying to kowtow to the US
government, remarked in 2000 that his country would
serve as Washington's "deputy sheriff" in Asia.
Bush's effort to re-engage with this part of
Asia has also resulted in Asian governments' coming to
terms with the amount of muscle the United States will
flex to push its security agenda at every turn.
Over the weekend, for instance, Washington
succeeded in getting its way at a ministers meeting
between the 21 economies that are members of APEC. This
meeting in the Thai capital of Bangkok was a forerunner
to the two-day summit, which featured the leaders of
APEC countries, including Bush, on Monday and Tuesday.
"The United States virtually stole the show at
the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting [on
Saturday], announcing a $5.4 million offer to fight
terrorism," the English-language daily Bangkok Post
reported on Sunday. "But the US only secured qualified
support for its call to ban man-portable missiles, a
result observers attributed to Malaysia, which held to
its view that other forums were more appropriate to deal
with terrorism."
Malaysia's willingness to stand
up to the United States was demonstrated last week after
the US delegation announced at a senior officials'
meeting that it wanted the production, shipment and sale
of shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles banned.
But Kuala Lumpur's quest to separate trade and
terrorism issues during the meeting of APEC economies
appears a mere blip when set against Washington's
determination during Bush's tour of Asia to draw
unequivocal support for its key concern - the "war
against terrorism".
Even China, which was also
unhappy at the stress on security concerns at a meeting
meant for economic issues, failed to get US officials to
think otherwise, said Kavi Chongkittavorn, senior editor
at Bangkok's The Nation newspaper.
The 21 member
economies of APEC are Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile,
China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea,
Malaysia, Mexico, Papua New Guinea, New Zealand, Peru,
the Philippines, Russia, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand,
the United States and Vietnam.
The tenor of the
US position during Bush's tour through this region
continues to draw fire from some commentators.
"George W Bush has come to Asia not to give away
but to solicit money, not to deploy more American troops
but to ask the governments of the region to send their
own soldiers to secure Iraq, a country it destroyed and
occupied," wrote political analyst Randolf David in the
English-language Philippine Daily Inquirer.
"The
president of the most powerful country in the world," he
argued, "has come not so much to display power as to
seek a cover for the crude exercise of its imperial
might."
(Inter Press Service)
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