JORDAN

JORDAN
Jordan Times, Amman, Dec. 16: Barely hours had passed after the submission of Iraq's declaration on its weapons program, and Washington was already passing judgment about its contents.
The U.S. is now saying that it has finished deciphering the 12,000-page declaration and has come to the conclusion that there are serious omissions that amount to material breaches of U.N. Security Council Resolution 1441.
As the Americans seem to have been able to read the Iraqi declaration swifter than the other members of the Security Council, they should, at least out of courtesy, allow the others more time to scrutinize the Iraqi file before rushing into conclusions that may embarrass the members of the council or appear too eager to outguess them.
Statesmanship
This is the time for statesmanship and coolheaded responses to the Iraqi submission. The Bush administration would do well to avoid the impression that it has already made up its mind about going to war against Iraq.
The credibility and image of the only superpower on earth is at stake here. Appearing trigger happy against Iraq and indifferent to the plight of the Palestinian people is not the kind of image that the U.S. might want to project.
BRITAIN
Daily Telegraph, London, Dec. 17: Most parents will agree that a video-recording of their children's performance in the school Nativity play is a lovely thing to possess. But this is a pleasure that Edinburgh City Council is seeking to deny to the parents of children at the 156 schools under its control. Headteachers have been advised that they must obtain written permission from the parents of every child performing in a Nativity play before any photographs or videos may be taken. In many cases, these new guidelines will have the effect of an outright ban.
One has to rub one's eyes to believe the council's explanation of this extraordinary policy. It has been introduced because photographs and videos of school plays are said to have been found in the possession of pedophiles. Any sensible person would surely ask: "Even if that is true, so what?"
Harry Potter
It is not as if these Nativity plays are performed in the nude. If a pedophile is likely to derive sexual pleasure from the sight of a child playing a shepherd or one of the Three Kings, then he is equally likely to be excited by the Harry Potter films or by Blue Peter on the television. Are these to be banned in Edinburgh, too?
All this would be funny if it were not so sad. Parents in the Scottish capital are being deprived of something to treasure because of an outbreak of insanity at the City Hall. The councilors of Edinburgh should seek psychiatric help.
JAPAN
Asahi Shimbun, Tokyo, Dec. 15: The European Union is currently facing two crucial East-West problems. The first is the need to advance smooth acceptance of countries in the Eastern bloc during the Cold War. The second is whether or not Turkey, a genuine crossroads between East and West, will be allowed into the EU fold.
It is quite possible that opening EU membership to Turkey which straddles the border between East and West could trigger an endless stream of requests from other EU hopefuls to get in. Then again, clear-cut improvements in Turkish democracy and human rights would leave little grounds for rejection under the current EU pact.
Expansion of borders
So far, the integration of Europe has been advanced without any clear indication of just how far the borders of the EU will be allowed to expand.
In confronting the issue of whether to admit Turkey, debate on this issue can be expected to broaden.
The countries of Europe are populated by large numbers of Muslims, and many residents are of Turkish descent.
FRANCE
Le Figaro, Paris, Dec. 18: France has already been a battlefield of two world wars. It couldn't escape Islamic terrorism that, operating everywhere, has taken on a global dimension since the thunderbolt of Sept. 11. As in 1914 and 1939, our country is a central actor on the international stage. And therefore a target.
In the eyes of Osama bin Laden, France still carries the sin of having, like Great Britain, oppressed Muslims -- in Algeria then in the Middle East.
Breeding ground
Our country is also a breeding ground. The presence of six million Muslims allows al-Qaida to recruit plenty of militants, who, living in the very heart of enemy territory, are difficult to catch before they act.
Communism, which claimed to be converting the world with Marx and the Red Army just as Osama bin Laden wants to have it submit to the law of the Qur'an, finished by collapsing. But when facing an Islamic enemy without a flag or boarders, victory will demand even more patience and determination.
France may be finding itself engaged in a hundred years' war.
SWEDEN
Dagens Nyheter, Stockholm, Dec. 17: Who will be the candidate to oppose the popular President George Bush on the Democratic side in the next election nobody knows, of course. But what many think they know is that the Democrats, after former U.S. Vice President Al Gore's decision not to run, will have a much easier ride.
Florida flap
Now there is no longer the risk that the election campaign will focus on history, on old mistakes and old fights, on vote counting in Florida and even on Bill Clinton.
Now, that way, the party can solely look forward.
SINGAPORE
Straits Times, Dec. 18: The war on terrorism has two fronts -- the military front and the ideological front. It is possible to win on the first -- arguably, the U.S. is already doing so, in Afghanistan and elsewhere -- and yet lose the second, where victory depends on winning hearts and minds.
A recent Pew survey of global opinion shows that the U.S. is not doing so well on this front, especially in Muslim countries. In Indonesia, for instance, a hitherto moderate Muslim society, the poll found that 25 per cent of those surveyed thought that suicide bombings directed at innocent civilians was an acceptable method of 'defending Islam.'
Sympathy for terrorists
Twenty-five per cent of a population in excess of 200 million is 50 million, more than twice the population of Australia. This does not mean that there are 50 million Indonesians anxious to take up the cudgels against infidels, but it does suggest a well of sympathy for terrorism far deeper than many have acknowledged.
The smart way to win this ideological war is to strengthen moderate forces in Islamic countries, including their governments, and enable them to join battle with extremism on behalf of a progressive Islam. Premature talk of pre-emption -- which in any event is a doctrine that needs careful sifting before it is adopted -- weakens, not strengthens, these moderate forces.