In these two stories, note the difference in the way the US Ambassador's remarks are characterized.
Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim country, strongly criticized U.S. policy toward Iraq on Monday, charging that Washington's "unilateralist" approach was "an utter failure" that threatens the cause of global peace.
Speaking at a regional security conference in Jakarta, the Indonesian capital, Foreign Minister Noer Hassan Wirajuda issued his sharpest criticism so far of U.S. policy on Iraq. He warned of a Balkanization of Iraq along ethnic and sectarian lines and the prospect of "a new and terrible round of internecine violence."
Such developments would threaten the entire Middle East at a time when Muslims are already feeling "a keen sense of grievance," he said.
Indonesia opposed the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, which was highly unpopular among the country's vast moderate Muslim majority. But with Southeast Asia widely regarded as the second front in the Bush administration's war on terrorism, Indonesian support for that effort is pivotal.
Wirajuda said that by invading Iraq without allowing U.N. weapons inspectors to complete their work, the United States may have damaged international nonproliferation efforts. "That would make the war in Iraq a debacle to the cause of global security and peace," he said, according to a copy of his speech.
The U.S. ambassador to Indonesia, Ralph L. Boyce, who attended the conference, called Wirajuda's remarks "thoughtful and provocative." But he added: "It is a little too early to declare the Iraq situation a failure. We are only a few months into this historic effort."
from
washingtonpost.com
And now
In unusually blunt remarks, U.S. Ambassador Ralph Boyce said on Tuesday that Indonesia's strong criticism of Washington's Iraq policies should be kept to the proper channels and not aired in public.
Reacting to criticism on Monday from Indonesian Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda, Boyce said he regretted and was disappointed by the harsh words from Jakarta.
Wirajuda told an Asia-Pacific security conference that the U.S. occupation of Iraq had not met objectives and was becoming a debacle.
''I was not alone in being surprised and disappointed and maybe even a bit baffled by his use of that forum to present such a strong message,'' Boyce told an American business group.
''I really do regret the deviation from what I think has been a successful policy in recent years between our two governments to try to keep our disagreements more in private channels.''
The comments were ''contradictory to what they know to be U.S. objectives in Iraq,'' Boyce said.
Washington is keen to keep Indonesia -- the world's fourth most populous nation and the Muslim world's most populous one -- as an ally in its war on terror.
It has had some success in getting Jakarta on board in regional efforts, but both the intervention in Afghanistan and the invasion of Iraq brought widespread Indonesian criticism.
Government comments became relatively muted after Baghdad fell, but on Monday Wirajuda had attacked U.S. policies at length and said if trends in Iraq continue ''that would make the war in Iraq a debacle to the cause of security and peace.''
Boyce said he found it ironic that while criticising U.S. policy, Wirajuda also called for democracy in Iraq and for making it a country at peace with its neighbours and a force for security.
''Laudable objectives, none of which we would be debating today had we followed Mr. Wirajuda's preferred multilateral approach which for 12 years and 17 UN Security Council resolutions failed to change the situation.''
from
famulus.msnbc.com
I found the last two paragraphs of the second article to be particularly interesting. Typical of the simplistic mindset of this Admin. He just couldn't hear what the Indonesian Foreign Minister was trying to say. If you want "democracy in Iraq" and a country that is "at peace with its neighbours and a force for security", you are going about it in the wrong way. But all the US Ambassador (and this Admin) understands is our way or you're a terrorist.
JMO
lurqer |
