'Liberators' with a 2% popularity rating in Iraq... and other observations

CNN's NewsNight reports: Then there is this bizarre story about Korean-born businessman and religious leader Reverend Sun Myung Moon. He declared himself the Messiah and was presented with a crown. Trust me on this one, it is quite strange given where it all took place. We'll explain tonight.

Outrageous! Who does Sun think he is? George W. Bush?

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The Independent (UK) reports on the damning results of one poll. The Bush administration's last remaining justification for the invasion of Iraq has been demolished by a private poll revealing that only 2 per cent of Iraqis regard the occupying forces as liberators.

2%?!

How badly has the administration screwed up if, after decades of Saddam Hussein, the guys who got rid of him have a 2% popularity rating?

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In a fairly underreported story, A top Muslim official has denounced what he called the extensive backwardness of the Islamic world, notes the the BBC. Abdelwahed Belkeziz - Secretary General of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference told conferencees, "The powerlessness that the Muslim world is experiencing today and the difficulty of finding solutions to our just causes have been the reason behind the rise of extremism," he said. "Fanatics have seen in this an opportunity to commit odious and reprehensible acts... which is why we must fight this extremism resolutely and determinedly at a time when we are working to correct the tainted image of Islam in the world."

Mr Belkeziz told the foreign ministers from the 57-member states that their countries had a poor record on issues ranging from education and health to economic development. "The aggregate gross domestic product of all our member states remains lower than that of one single advanced country such as France or Britain," he said.

It underlines the need of the West to support moderate reformers both in Islamic theocracies and strongman dictatorships, rather than pushing the military option for every problem (as some extremists are now even suggesting for Iran). Given the recent canonization attempts for Ronald Reagan, these reckless folks would do well to remember the example of the Cold War. The Soviet bloc was brought down not by NATO marching into Prague or bombing the heck out of East Berlin. It was won by the peoples of Eastern Europe, with moral and other support from the West, rising up themselves against the oppression.

Because of this approach, I suspect America's popularity rating in Eastern Europe is significantly higher than 2%. Why should you care? Just ask yourself: who was the last suicide bomber that came from Budapest or Warsaw?

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In a surprising but happy development, the UN rejected America's bid to exempt its soldiers from the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court. The campaign was considered ill-timed in the wake of the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal. For the last two years it had secured special status for US troops, arguing they could face malicious prosecutions, even though the Rome Treaty (which brought the ICC into force) has many provisions demanded by the Americans to address precisely this fear. The BBC reporter noted that the court is only meant to be a measure of last resort - and that US troops could only be prosecuted if allegations were made against them in a signatory country, and US courts failed to take action themselves.

UN secretary-general Kofi Annan had spoken out against the US bid for immunity/impunity. "For the past two years, I have spoken quite strongly against the exemption and I think it would be unfortunate for one to press for such an exemption, given the prisoner abuse in Iraq," he said. "Blanket exemption is wrong. It is of dubious judicial value and I don't think it should be encouraged by the council."

Though in comments that might please anti-interventionists, the US deputy ambassador the the UN warned that the US would in future "need to take into account the risk of ICC review when determining contributions to UN authorised or established operations".

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In politics, independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader chose a Green Party running mate. The choice of California social justice activist Peter Miguel Camejo makes it more likely Nader might receive the endorsement of the party (different from its nomination, though don't ask me how) at its convention this weekend. The endorsement would give Nader's campaign access to ballots in an additional 20 states.

In an interview with The American Conservative, Nader explained why he thought conservatives disillusioned with the president should support him.

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Italy's lunatic prime minister Silvio Berlusconi (think Rupert Murdoch but with control of the parliament) is at it again. The man with an effective monopoly over Italian domestic media is now crying fraud on the part of the opposition in recent European elections. Berlusconi's Forza Italia party suffered a showing as disappointing as the national soccer team the party was named after. "They (the left) have an army of professionals who manage to make fools of the amateurs on our side, and put extra vote after vote into their count and fewer into ours," Mr Berlusconi said, noting that his party has "a lot of naive people."

It's common for opposition parties to cry foul in elections. But it's rare that the government, who administers the elections, does so. Berlusconi's sore loser whining is just as pathetic as the babies amongst the country's national soccer team players who blamed their elimination.from the European championship on a phantom conspiracy between Sweden and Denmark rather than on the team's inability to beat either of those sides.

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Reaction to Bill Clinton's comments on his newly released book and a few other more important stories tommorow.