From the Trib.
The Indonesian President now appears to be the central figure in Southeast Asia on whom the Bush government will be relying in matters of the anti-terror war in the Southeast Asian region, seemingly replacing President Arroyo who in 2001 until after the preemptive strike against Iraq under then President Saddam Hussein, was billed as the US government's staunchest ally in Asia in the anti-terror war.
Agence France Presse reported that United States President George W. Bush and Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono met Saturday for talks on fighting deadly bird flu and on Jakarta's progress against terrorism.
The two leaders met on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) forum summit in Busan, South Korea, before the US President headed to China and then Mongolia to wrap up a week-long trip to Asia.
Bush and Yudhoyono met after Malaysian Azahari Husin, blamed for planning the 2002 Bali bombings that killed 202 persons, was killed in a shootout with police at his hideaway in East Java on November 9.
“This is not a battle that's over; but just in the past month there's been some really important progress in that region,” said Mike Green, the senior Asia hand on Bush's national security council.
Yudhoyono also told Bush about his efforts to enlist Muslim leaders in a campaign to prevent extremists from recruiting youths in Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim country, Green told reporters.
The two leaders also discussed plans for battling deadly bird flu amid fears of an international pandemic.
“There are a number of things that the Singaporeans and the Indonesians will be doing to strengthen our detection and containment and capacity-building in Indonesia. And they've both asked the United States to join in this endeavor, and we were very happy to do that,” said Green.
Yudhoyono also brought up his plans for reform of the Indonesian military and Indonesia government policies, he said.
Bush “is looking forward to find ways to expand contact and cooperation with Indonesia on all fronts, including military-to-military, and the two presidents talked about how to move forward on that,” said Green.
Yudhoyono “made it clear that with more engagement between the militaries, he would be able to bring up more officers like himself, officers who study in the US and are advocates of change, reform and democracy,” he said.
“And the President (Bush) said that we're going to try to move forward on this based on full consultation with the Congress,” the US official said.
A Malacañang press release said the “accolade” Mrs. Arroyo received from world leaders for the “most cost effective anti-terror campaign that puts the Philippines at the forefront of regional and global security.
But this apparently did not make the news in the Apec summit as no mention was made of it internationally.
The Apec counter terrorism task force chief, former Armed Forces of the Philippines chief of staff Gen. Benjamin Defensor, earlier bragged that “it costs less than $2,000 to get a terrorist in” the Philippines.
What a pathetic press release from Malacanang.
And from the Nov. 19 Wall Street Journal OpEd: Bush's Asia Strategy. In that article, it mentioned Bush having one-on-one meetings with leaders from South Korea, Malaysia and Indonesia, showing those countries that the US valued their friendships.
But no mention of "major non-NATO ally" Philippines though.
From the Tribune Editorial:
While a few years back, Gloria Arroyo could pretend to be the darling of the crowd at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) forum, she now appears inconsequential in the Busan, South Korea, meeting.
Years back, during the Apec summits, having portrayed herself as the anti-terror hardliner in all of Asia, she appeared to be the apple of US President George W. Bush's eye, and for a time, was depended on as a central figure in Asia on the anti-terror war, until of course, the day she caved in to the Iraqi terrorists, cutting herself out of the US-led coalition of the willing that she had quickly supported.
Then, Bush would go out of his way to pat her on the back, but that appears to be all gone now, with her doing everything to even get a photo-ops with Bush.
Now even this appears to be a difficult feat.
If the almost daily protests fail to get through the thick hide of the cheat of a President, then surely the cold treatment Gloria is getting among leaders of other countries will sink in the fact that even they realize she stole the presidency and worse for them at least, she is botching up the economy, as well as the anti-terror drive, not only in the Philippines but in the world.
For how can one who releases global terror suspects already caught and detained in the country's immigration bureau be seen as serious in the anti-terror war?
The age of technology has made the whole world one small community. What is happening in one country is known in an instant at the flick of a channel or the click of a mouse.
Allegations of election cheating against Gloria and the strong evidence that supports these accusations have surely traveled the world and leaders would have likely made an impression on Gloria even before the Apec meeting.
Gloria, most likely with the help of spin doctors, conjured up a picture of being an Asian leader, even assuming the title given by Time magazine, of course with a ubiquitous question mark, of “Iron Lady of Asia?” at the onset of US President George Bush's global war against terror.
That image crumbled and the likely perception now among the leaders at the Apec meeting is that they are dealing with a pretender and a marshmallow in caving in to terrorist demands, and even gives in to requests from Middle Eastern royals and diplomats to free some of their subjects or citizens who are, however, listed as terrorist suspects.
While Apec had hardly achieved anything in terms of opening up trade in the Asia-Pacific region, the yearly gathering, at its best, is an occasion to measure how a country's leader stands among his or her peers.
Gloria, while successful in getting into the limelight of past Apec meeting by simply tugging persistently at the coat tails of Bush, it now seems that Bush had been keeping himself away from Gloria with the thick hide.
The failure to settle allegations that she cheated in the 2004 presidential elections along with the unresolved accusations of corruption against Gloria and members of her family makes Gloria distinct among leaders at the Apec meeting.
While in the past, she stood out by seemingly getting Bush's ears whenever she wished, her distinction now rests on the notoriety of being a leader who is repudiated by most Filipinos in her own country.
She stands out as an example of how power corrupts a nation's leader.
She can also claim credit being the only leader at Apec who did not ever gain a genuine mandate from the people she insists on representing, even if 80 percent of them want her out, and fast.
Gloria, ranged among the world leaders, stands small not because of her height but because of her treachery.
But the Malacañang spin continues, making it appear that she stood tall among the world leaders, patting herself on the back, and saying, “Well done, Gloria Arroyo.” If she were a steak and cooked, it would be what can be termed raw to rare.
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