BRITAIN

BRITAIN
The Daily Telegraph, London, June 28: The deaths yesterday of two British soldiers in Helmand province are a grim reminder that Afghanistan is now more dangerous than at any time since the American-led invasion of 2001. A revival of the Taliban insurgency has led to the killing of more than 1,100 people since January, with most of the casualties being inflicted in the south. That is the heartland of the Taliban, who, with their al-Qa'eda allies, find refuge in the neighboring provinces and tribal areas of Pakistan. As NATO prepares to take over from America command of all coalition forces in Afghanistan, it is imperative that more pressure be put on President Pervez Musharraf to seal his northern border.
Lack of political legitimacy
Gen. Musharraf has stuck his neck out in confronting the Islamist threat within his country. But he is weakened by a lack of political legitimacy that stems from the indefinite prolongation of military rule.
Such double-dealing would put impossible restraints on Nato forces, which are struggling to reach their desired strength of about 16,000. No one would pretend that Gen Musharraf is not risking his life by tightening the screws on the Islamists. But the West has been indulgent towards his retention of military command and has helped stabilise the economy with aid. His part of the bargain is to deprive the Taliban and its allies of a safe haven in Pakistan. In that respect, much more needs to be done.
EGYPT
Al-Ahram, Cairo, June 28: One would imagine that Bush's visit to Baghdad was a good opportunity for the U.S. president to declare his country's exit strategy from Iraq. Bush could have announced a gradual withdrawal; the circumstances were right. In Iraq, the killing of Zarqawi and the formation of a new Iraqi government meant the US could establish a timetable for withdrawal without losing face. ... But he didn't.
Internationally, the U.S. has ample reason to pull out of Iraq. Iran is defying U.S.-Israeli policy in the region, Afghanistan is flaring up again, and fundamentalists are running wild in Somalia and the Horn of Africa. ... And yet, Bush doesn't seem interested in taking a clear position on the matter of exiting Iraq.
Domestically, Bush is being told to pull out of Iraq. Congressmen in particular have become vocal in their opposition to the war in Iraq and their criticism of U.S. Middle East policy. Yet, the U.S. president remains ambiguous. Why? ... Perhaps the vagueness of current US policy on Iraq is intentional. The US doesn't mind reducing its troops in Iraq. U.S. officials are not against that. What they are against is a promise of full withdrawal because it was never the intention to leave Iraq entirely.
Foreign bases
Remember how Iraq and Egypt used to be in the 1930s? They were independent in name, but not in fact, due to the presence of foreign bases on their soil. Iraq had the Habbaniyah base, and Egypt had British troops in the Suez Canal. The existence of foreign troops is essential. It makes a country answerable to foreign powers. ... The U.S. wants to reduce its troops in Iraq, but it doesn't want an independent Iraq to be the reason. And unless the costs of staying become unbearable, the US will remain in Iraq to make sure it isn't.
ISRAEL
Haaretz, Tel Aviv, June 25: When the cabinet votes this morning on extending the amendment to the Citizenship Law, it will behoove it to recall the story of Lutfi Mashour, the editor and publisher of the Nazareth weekly Al-Sinara, who died Thursday. The man who was eulogized warmly by President Moshe Katsav was married to a Palestinian woman from Bethlehem, Wida, who managed the family's business together with him. The amendment, which prohibits family reunification between Israeli Arabs and their Palestinian spouses, would have prevented the Mashours from living in Israel had they married today.
Before July 2003 there were two routes to becoming a naturalized Israeli citizen: The Law of Return, which permits Jews to become citizens automatically, and the Law of Citizenship and Entry, by which non-Jews -- mainly those who marry Israelis -- can obtain citizenship in a multi-stage process.
Broad powers
Before it was changed, the Citizenship Law gave the interior minister broad powers to deny citizenship for a variety of reasons. In 2003 these powers were stripped, and Palestinians were completely prohibited from entering Israel under the rubric of family reunification, even in cases of a legal marriage to an Israeli Arab and even when they had already established a family. The High Court of Justice has criticized this temporary directive, which has been extended every six months, for being retroactive and completely inflexible even in a small number of humanitarian cases, but it has not abrogated the amendment due to its temporary nature.
Today the cabinet is being asked to extend the amendment yet again. Extending the amendment is unnecessary, however, and there is no reason for members of the cabinet to vote for it automatically. If the amendment is not re-extended, the pre-amendment situation will be restored, at least for a limited period, and the interior minister will be able to judge the cases of the 1,600 families who have been waiting for three years on an individual basis.
This could be seen as a gesture in memory of Lutfi Mashour, who expressed his regret about the amendment just a month ago.
PHILIPPINES
The Manila Times, Manila, June 29: North Korea reared its head again, this time not to brag that it has a nuclear bomb but to announce that it will test-fire a powerful ballistic missile that can reach Japan and as far as the United States.
Its plan to launch its long-range missile -- the Taepodong-2 -- alarms and angers the U.S. and its two regional allies, Japan and South Korea.
U.S. President George W. Bush called on Japan, South Korea, China and Russia, which are involved in keeping a nuclear-free Korean peninsula, to send to North Korea a "focused message" that to launch its missile is a "provocative" act.
North Korea has long been a problem of the U.S. and its allies in Asia in their efforts to ensure peace and stability in the region.
Real intentions
The U.S. and its allies are bewildered by North Koreas real intentions. Pyongyang's previous threat to risk a nuclear war was generally seen as a blackmail ploy to force the U.S. to agree to a nonaggression treaty with it and to wrangle American economic aid.
North Korea cannot be trusted with a nuclear bomb. Capable of producing nuclear weapons, it is a threat to the security not only of Asia, including the Philippines, but of the whole world.