Word: thailander
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...arrest of the alleged terrorist mastermind Hambali by Thai police [WORLD, Aug. 25] demonstrates that police work in Pakistan, Yemen and now Thailand can result in the capture of terrorist bigwigs. It's hard to avoid the thought that the Bush Administration's preferred policy of war is largely show business. Police investigations are dull, while war is flashy. And politicians are eager to show they're doing something, not just sitting around. PAUL KUNINO LYNCH Katoomba, Australia...
...preferred way to thwart terror is to wage war. Afghanistan and Iraq have been invaded at the cost of uncounted local civilian lives and hundreds of acknowledged American deaths, with the capture of only a few terrorists. But during the same time, police in Pakistan, Yemen and now Thailand have captured terrorist bigwigs. It's hard to avoid the thought that the Bush Administration's policy of war is largely show business. Police investigations are dull, while war is flashy. And politicians are eager to show they're doing something, not just sitting around. Paul Kunino Lynch Katoomba, Australia...
...them felt no sense of "ownership" over them. Programs were imposed on reluctant governments, who often accepted them over enormous public opposition. That meant that as soon as the country was less in need of IMF money, the reforms were abandoned. This is precisely what is happening today in Thailand; as soon as it paid back the last of the money it borrowed during the 1997 crisis, it announced a program to reverse key changes imposed upon it. (For example, a bankruptcy law widely viewed within Thailand as too friendly to creditors was effectively imposed in 1998; today Thailand...
...1990s were severely criticized. They helped Western banks get repaid but left developing countries with bigger debt burdens. Indeed, the bailouts may even have contributed to the problem of debt crises, by inducing bad lending practices. The failure in the last six years of the mega-bailouts - in Thailand, Indonesia, Korea, Russia, Brazil, Argentina - made it apparent that an alternative is needed. Since the '80s, alternatives have been proposed - allowing nations to declare bankruptcy and standstills in the same way that individual debtors who cannot meet their obligations are permitted to have a fresh start, or at least reschedule payments...
...That's good news all round. For sure, China's stupendous economic growth is unsettling. As Washington economist (and former Clinton adviser) Robert Shapiro points out, China's exporters are taking markets away from nations like Mexico, Thailand and Brazil, all of which need to see steady growth to raise their populations' standard of living. But over the coming decade, the U.S. will have a vital interest in maintaining a mature dialogue with China?on what to do about North Korea, the future of Taiwan, global warming and the demand for fossil fuels. The last thing Washington needs...