Asia Times Online
News and business analysis from Asia



ASIA HAND : The case for invading Myanmar (May 9)
If ever there was an opportunity for the United States to take out an "outpost of tyranny", as Washington likes to call Myanmar, it is now. The tardy response of the junta in allowing in foreign aid for its cyclone-devastated population provides a strong moral case for a United Nations-approved, US-led humanitarian intervention. Such a move would also allow President George W Bush to burnish his legacy, which to date will be judged harshly due to his pre-emptive military policies waged exclusively in the name of fighting terror. - Shawn W Crispin (May 9, '08)


'All we can do is drink whisky' (May 9)
Myanmar's people have again been forced to weather a catastrophe on their own, banding together with little help from the government. Food and water supplies are growing scarce, disease looms and power is expected to be out for months. The whisky, too, will soon run out. - Zao Noam (May 9, '08)


CHAN AKYA : Cyclone cowards fear ultimate market (May 9)
Curbs by cyclone-hit Myanmar on overseas help for its devastated population is merely an extreme example of a government cowering in fear of information. At a more prosaic level, Asian authorities concerned with improving their citizens' well-being should let markets with their abundance of information act in their favor. They should start with currencies, and then laugh all the way to the bank. (May 9, '08)


An oil-addicted ex-superpower (May 9)
The United States' brief reign as the world's sole superpower is over, its status crumbling as surely as the unlamented Berlin Wall. Last month's NATO summit is merely recent evidence of the decline. America's utter addiction to oil, which once powered its climb to might, is its undoing, and an aid to Russia's resumption of power. - Michael T Klare (May 9, '08)


US tightens its grip on Pakistan (May 9)
It is no coincidence that US Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte chose the National Endowment for Democracy to deliver a key-note speech on Pakistan. For years, the US government-funded NED has specialized as a handmaiden of US policies by funding and supporting foreign politicians. Now it is Pakistan's turn to get the full treatment, for as Negroponte says, US national security is inextricably linked to the success, security and stability of that country. - M K Bhadrakumar (May 9, '08)


Iran woos Farsi-speaking nations (May 9)
Tehran has stepped up its initiative to forge closer links with the two other Farsi-speaking nations in the region, Afghanistan and Tajikistan. Not only will the move kick-start slow trade ties, it signals a greater degree of Iran's integration into a region deemed important by the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, to which Tehran is pressing its claims to join. - Kaveh L Afrasiabi (May 9, '08)


War funding and war rhetoric (May 9)
A breakdown of the US$70 billion President George W Bush requested from the US Congress for war funding makes interesting reading, from $3 billion for "classified activities" to $3 billion for the technology to battle explosive devices. At the same time, the familiar Bush administration charges of Iran sending arms into Iraq have been revived. Coincidence? - Sami Moubayed (May 9, '08)


SEX IN DEPTH : The young ones (May 9)
In Japan, where the age of sexual consent can be as low as 13, the practice of an older man hiring a teenage schoolgirl for a "date" is about as firmly established as Mt Fuji. The time-honored custom of enjo kosai has for years caused screams of outrage about innocence gone bad, but efforts to regulate the practice are proving difficult. - William Sparrow (May 9, '08)


MARKET RAP : Shadows lighten over Asia (May 9)
The receding fears of immediate downturn in the US has lightened a shadow over Asian markets. More national issues such as inflation or the attraction of regional stocks to Chinese investors found room to assert themselves. Confidence, however, remains in short supply. R M Cutler runs his eye over the ups and downs in the week's markets.


BOOK REVIEW : A new voice to Paine's cry of rebellion - Bad Money by Kevin Phillips (May 9)
Four decades ago, author Phillips showed how a coalition of the new Sunbelt and the old white South would come to create a long-term Republican majority. Two decades is long-term enough for him, and he now declares rebellion against the entire American establishment controlling a near bankrupt country devoid of serious financial debate and civic engagement. - Joe Costello