Nine World Press Institute journalists discuss war, U.S. foreign policy and press freedom

Teresa Bausili of Argentina, Bertrand Tchoumi of Cameroon, Jinmei Lu of China, Kaius Niemi of Finland, Lars von Torne of Germany, Shujaat Bukhair of India, Oliver Kiss of Romania, Nevin Sungur of Turkey and Patience Rusere of Zimbabwe are spending their summer traveling around the United States, and the group spent the better part of last week in Ely. They had plenty of time for fun — rope climbing at Voyageur Outward Bound and singing a cappella — but their week culminated Wednesday with a roundtable discussion and public forum sponsored by the Echo.

They were welcomed by Ely's mayor Frank Salerno and learned more about this area from Ely's economic developer Bill Henning and St. Louis County Commissioner Mike Forsman.

The journalists answered questions from the audience which focused mainly on U.S foreign policy, foreign perceptions of the United States and press freedoms and biases. In many instances, the journalists were in agreement, with a couple of notable exceptions.

How do the people of your nations feel about the war in Iraq and U.S. foreign policy?

Sungur, Turkish TV reporter: "The U.S. and Turkey have always been allies. When the Iraq situation started, the U.S. wanted to send troops into northern Iraq from Turkey, and use the air bases. At the last minute, the Turkish parliament decided against it. The Turkish people didn't want the war to take place. Afghanistan was felt it had to happen, but people felt this was not a fair war, not any evidence. War was not a honest solution."

Niemi, Finnish newspaper reporter: "Europe thinks the U.S. is very monolithic, and tends to think that there is only one viewpoint, that of the policymakers. It's been refreshing to speak with people here with such a variety of different views.

"I was in Baghdad, and the Iraqis had very different views as well — some were for it to get rid of Saddam, some were afraid of it, some felt that things would be okay if only the U.N. sanctions were lifted. The views were all around."

Oliver Kiss, Romanian newspaper reporter and editor: "I know what it means to come from a dictatorship. Growing up, I had rationed food, half a loaf of bread a day — I didn't have my first banana until I was 14. We kept hoping the Americans would come and help us.

"I talked to some Greenpeace protestors about the war and asked them, have you always been free? You don't know what it's like to live under a dictatorship. I do.

"I said to them, maybe it is about oil. Maybe it's 99 percent about oil, but even if it is, at least these people will be freed from a dictatorship."

Lars Von Torne, German newspaper reporter and editor: "Germany has a very different position than that of the U.S. After WWII, Germans decided that war is not a means of politics that should ever be used again.

"Two tenets of German foreign policy are no war and the U.S. is our most important ally. Only recently have those two not been compatible, and German people decided it was more important to stick with the policy of no war than the U.S. being our ally no matter what they do. We've lived next to the Soviet empire, and thanks to a balance of power, we never needed military means."

Tchoumi, Cameroonian reporter: "The administration supported Bush. There was not really any debate in parliament, but there were many people in the streets against the war, especially Muslim people. Some felt the U.S. should have gotten the support of the U.N."

Frank Salerno, Ely mayor: "There might be something for the entire world to learn if we could all sit down and talk like this."

Does your country have a free press? Do you see any spin or bias in the American media?

Rusere, Zimbabwe business editor: "There is not press freedom in my country. You can criticize the government, and you aren't always arrested, but you could be.

"I think the American press is free, but I have problems with the way it has dealt with issues like Iraqi war. Patriotism has overridden objectivity.

"Sometimes I view the press as crazy with the celebrities. There should be something private about people's lives. The press shouldn't be in people's bedrooms, under their beds, and between their sheets even."

Jinmei Lu, Chinese TV reporter and anchor: "I am often asked about government censorship. All of our media are state-owned, but there is some new investment in private enterprise. We are testing the limits of our independence and freedom.

"We have more and more stories covering corruption, so it's improving. I think journalists everywhere are fighting for freedom. Even here, you can be pressured by culture and patriotism."

Shujaat Bukhari, Indian newspaper reporter: "Press in India is free. There is no government control and lots of private stations and news channels. There is some self-censorship — we have seen attacks on media people.

"One thing I don't understand is how U.S. news is very confined to the U.S. itself, not much content of international news. It's always been mind-boggling when I hear that people don't want to know. I think the U.S. is responsible to highlight issues of importance to people around the world."

Is it the job of the United States to police the world?

Kiss: "I think the U.S. has a responsibility to the rest of the world. When bad things happen, the world relies on the U.S. to fix it. Who else is going to do it?"

Anne Swenson, Ely Echo: "I was in Vienna during the Hungarian revolution in the '50s, and it was a terrifying time. I remember being very angry that America didn't come."

Niemi: "There is a responsibility for the U.S. to act in certain situations, even without U.N. backing, such as Kosovo or Bosnia, because of the trauma. This was not the case with the war in Iraq. There was no genocide, no weapons of mass destruction, and we're still waiting to see the point.

"The crises are different. There has to be a way to measure on where to act, on how to act, or there's a risk that the U.S. will get too big and sure of itself, and then it won't ask."

Rusere: "The reason the U.N. is defunct is because it has allowed one particular country to do whatever it wants."

Forsman, St. Louis County Commissioner: "If your belly is full, there are a hundred problems to solve, but if your belly is empty, there's only one problem. We're a nation with our bellies full.

"We've used a lot of our wealth and future wealth to go into countries, like Iraq, and our children will pay. We're mortgaging our children. It's the working people who pay, and there's going to be a point where we run out and our bellies aren't full anymore. If we continue to use our wealth to be police people, we won't be able to do it, and then filling our belly will be the most important."

Sungur: "It's not just the financial part. The children will deal with a psychological part of hatred of the U.S. all over the world. Most polls are negative about Americans."

(Asked of Kiss) — There was a great deal of pressure on President Truman to go after the Soviet Union, but he started a policy of containment that lasted 40 years, and it worked. What would have happened to your country had he gone the other way? How would it and the world be different?

Kiss: "Many people in Romania did hope that America would come, though a Communist dictatorship is different from Iraq."

Niemi: "There is a big difference between invading Iraq and sending troops to Ruwanda, where there was genocide. We shouldn't mix these two things. "

Will the war on terror ever be solved?

Sungur: "Since 9/11, there's a larger gap between the Christian and Muslim world. As the so-called war on terrorism goes on, it will be harder to solve the problem.

"My country has suffered terrorism for years, but some of the terrorists believe they are freedom fighters. The line is thin.

"Because the U.S. doesn't have a defined enemy now, that makes it more difficult. I'm not very optimistic, but I hope I'm wrong."

How should the U.S. handle the situation with North Korea?

Lu: "China has been involved in the situation for a long time, because North Korea is so close and anything that happens will affect my country. The Chinese government does not want to see another nuclear power.

"This issue may be more critical than the Iraq war. North Korea could drop a nuclear bomb on the states.

"China prefers diplomatic measures to war. The Chinese government would put forth help if North Korea asked for it, but they will keep working with the U.S. to contain."

What are your concerns about the world's children?

Bausili, Argentinian newspaper reporter: "Nutrition for children in Argentina. It has been a problem for years, but it's never been noticed until now. We have a responsibility to help with so many things - the environment, conflicts, poverty, and AIDS."

Bukhari: "There are an increasing number of orphans in the conflict regions with no one to look after them."

©Ely Echo 2003