Updating old blogs, old positions
■"White House to Push for Revised Immigration Plan: Supporters Count on Help From Big Business to Sway Resistant Conservatives," by John D. McKinnon, Wall Street Journal, 15 August 2005, p. A1.■"China May Offer Foreign Control Of a State Bank: Officials Weigh Auctioning of 50% In Guangdong Development," by Peter Wonacott, Andrew Browne and Robin Sidel, Wall Strett Journal, 15 August 2005, p. A14.
■"Koziumi Apologizes for War; Embraces China and South Korea," by Norimitsu Onishi, New York Times, 15 August 2005, p. A4.
■"El Salvador's Hunger Shows at Tuna Plant: Elusive Prosperity Seen in CAFTA," by Krissah Williams, Washington Post, 15 August 2005, p. D1.
■"Indonesia and Rebels In Aceh Sign Accord: Tsunami Spurs Deal Ending 30-Year War," by Alan Sipress, Washington Post, 15 August 2005, p. A8.
■"Talk to Tehran: Efforts to stop or at least delay the Iranian nuclear program are worth undertaking," op-ed by Fareed Zakaria, Washington Post, 15 August 2005, p. A13.
A day for catching up on old predictions/positions:
Reader recently sent me email on PNM, saying he had just finished it and that many light bulbs went off in his head, including a new understanding of why Bush and the White House are doing their level best to be as liberal as possible on immigration from the South (thinking of Jeb's run in '08, perhaps?). Whatever the reason, it's the right thing to do. Like other presidents before him, Bush will make the show of tougher enforcement against illegals while bending over backward to keep that pool's definition as small as possible. Tough lot for border states? You bet, and they should get extra federal help on that score. But it's good news economically for the U.S. as a whole over the long run.
Second bit on China dipping its toes in the water even deeper on foreign ownership of banks there: not just letting minority ownership but getting very close to allowing a major state bank to come under majority ownership by foreign firm. Bank is question is Guangdong Development Bank, and the question then becomes, "How can we call it a 'state-owned bank' if foreigners own 50%?"
Third bit on Koziumi (Esquire's best-dressed politician of 2005) in Japan apologizing to neighboring victim nations to an unprecedented degree on the occasion of his country's marking of the 60th anniversary of its defeat in World War II. When Japan and China were getting all jacked up on this issue a few months back, I was tempted to insert all sorts of additional language on it in the draft manuscript for BFA, but I'm glad I didn't. Yes, the politicians and the military types on both sides aren't nearly aware enough of the profound economic and network ties that already bind the two nations together, but the right, smart leader can do his best to correct that rule-set gap with the right words at the right moment. Koziumi did so yesterday, marking him as Asia's closest thing to a Tony Blair-like leader of real vision.
Fourth bit on big hopes being displayed in Central America regarding the Central American Free Trade Agreement just passed. No real gains yet and in many instances it will take several years to see the impact, but thank God we gave so many people in that region a reason for thinking a future worth creating is within their grasp.
Fifth bit follows up on the Asian tsunamis: that System Perturbation really did lead to a positive security outcome in Indonesia. All that foreign aid streaming in broke down many seemingly unbreakable barriers between the central government and the rebels in Aceh, and now there's real progress in ending that 30-year civil strife. Vertical shock yielding one positive horizontal scenario, and the U.S. military had a real part in making that happen with its humanitarian support and its subsequent efforts to repair military-to-military ties with Indonesia. That's SysAdmin work at its best. How many stories will you read in the mainstream press giving the Pentagon credit on that one? Zero, my friends, zero. But you and I know better.
Sixth bit is nice to see: Fareed Zakaria noting how we better find a way to somehow make nice with Iran over the nuke issue if we want peace in Baghdad. Add in Beirut and Gaza and the West Bank and you have my basic argument from the Feb story I wrote for Esquire. Of course, careful Fareed, who long ago announced his candidacy for the post of National Security Advisor to some future president, would never be so bold to argue my point of simply accepting that Tehran's getting the bomb, but that's fine. Fareed may never be bold as an op-ed columnist but he's always reasonable and balanced, and that alone sets him apart from the pact. I went to grad school with him at Harvard years ago, and he was exactly that way then, groomed as he was from birth for this career trajectory now well within his grasp.