BBC Monitoring Quotes From Australian Press 10-11 Jul 05

The following is a selection of quotes from editorials and commentaries published in 10-11 July editions of Australian newspapers available to BBC Monitoring:

War on terror

Melbourne’s The Age: www.theage.com.au “The war on terror has certainly lost its focus, and many Muslims are left wondering whether the war is against them and their religion or against a few misguided malcontents.

When Blair declared last year that the future of relations between the West and the Muslim world would be decided in Iraq, he in effect echoed Usamah Bin-Ladin’s wishes. It appears that both sides have resorted to extremism, each reinforcing the position of the other.

Unless Washington and its allies rethink their war on terror strategy to address the root causes of international terrorism, the future looks very grim. A sound political strategy is badly needed to deal with those causes of terrorism that defy military solutions and to rebuild bridges of understanding and trust with Muslims as the best way to delegitimize the position of Al-Qa’idah and its associated groups.” (Prof Amin Saikal, director of the Centre for Arab and Islamic Studies at the Australian National University) (11)

2. “The damage a suicide bomber wreaks is devastating and it is difficult to look beyond one’s initial response, which is to recoil in horror at the deed itself. But the phenomenon of suicide bombing is now so established that we in the West are being called upon to examine it because it is only by doing this that we may come to understand it, and so learn how to defeat it.

The call for understanding is not a call for moral relativism – attacks on the innocent must always be resisted and condemned. But it does require a willingness to be open, to question, and to not give in to the forces of fear and hatred.

Terrorist attacks undermine the cherished freedoms that define our way of life. We must not allow those freedoms to be chipped away: by the terrorists or by ourselves.” (Editorial) (10)

G8 and terror

Sydney’s The Australian: www.theaustralian.news.com “While it certainly came as an awful shock, the latest terrorist outrage in London should have come as no surprise. The bombs were almost certainly timed to coincide with the G8 summit in Scotland. And just as the terrorists have focused their efforts over the past two years on undoing the good work of the West in seeding democracy in Afghanistan, Iraq and across the Middle East, so the G8 summit was, manifestly, about good work: the work of alleviating poverty in Africa, addressing climate change in a responsible and co-ordinated manner, and promoting peace between Israel and the Palestinians. Wherever liberal nations gather to promote progress, peace and democracy, the Islamists will be trying to sneak in through the back door to substitute their own agenda – of oppression, ignorance and hatred – via the inarticulate argument of bombs and suicide.

Once again they have failed, and the G8 communique released on Friday shows how badly. One of the Islamists’ fears is that, instead of the destruction of Israel and the death of millions of Jews, there will be a negotiated peace between Israel and the Palestinians. The G8 announcement of a 3bn US-dollar aid deal for the Palestinian Authority, designed to ensure an orderly transition as Israel withdraws from Gaza and the West Bank, is a win for moderation and negotiation.” (Editorial) (11)

Aid to Africa

Melbourne’s The Age: www.theage.com.au “After the Howard government was elected in 1996 Australia’s aid level dropped to its lowest ever. In this year’s budget, it was increased from about 0.26 per cent of GNI to about 0.28 per cent. Most of our aid is directed to the Asia-Pacific region, which makes sense as it is in our interest to ensure nearby countries do not become areas of extreme poverty and instability. The government has just announced an extra 42m dollars for East Timor, which will increase the amount given since 1999 to 400m dollars. This is as it should be. However, the worst poverty is concentrated in Africa, which is why the G8 meeting has concentrated on it. And here our level of aid can rightly be described as pitiful. Last year sub-Saharan Africa got just 72.6m dollars from Australia.

Even the US (which although it gives huge amounts in dollar terms gives less as a proportion of GNI than Australia) has announced a doubling of aid to Africa. Mr Downer says it is no use ‘throwing money’ at countries and that aid must be linked to good governance and accountability. He has no argument there. But the main problem with Australian aid is that it is simply not enough. Even with this year’s increase, the level is less than half the UN target. And while other world leaders have been announcing big increases in aid and setting timetables to reach the target (some already exceed it), it is disappointing that our government has made no substantial increase and has refused to set any timetable for reaching the target. We can do better.” (Editorial) (11)

Sources: As listed