Malaysian Hater Supports John Kerry

Former Malaysian Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad yesterday said the world might be safer if US President George W Bush loses to John Kerry in November’s US elections.

Dr Mahathir said the Democratic challenger seemed more willing to heed the views of other countries. He said the March 11 train bombings in Spain showed that Mr Bush’s determination to invade Iraq a year ago despite intense global opposition has aggravated international terrorism and heightened hostility toward Washington and its allies.

Dr Mahathir urged Bush before the war to tackle the root causes of terrorism, which he believes lie in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and Muslim anger over what is perceived as Washington’s pro-Israeli stance. Dr Mahathir said the Madrid bombings, which killed 201 people, illustrated how terrorists wanted to “hit back in some way” against the United States and its allies.

“The war in Iraq has worsened the terrorism problem,” he said.

“I think Kerry would be much more willing to listen to the voices of people and of the rest of the world,” Dr Mahathir said.

Spanish Socialist Backs Kerry

Prime Minister-elect Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero on Wednesday described the U.S. occupation of Iraq as "a fiasco" and suggested American voters should follow the example set by Spain and change their leadership by supporting Sen. John F. Kerry of Massachusetts for president in November.

"I said during the campaign I hoped Spain and the Spaniards would be ahead of the Americans for once," Zapatero said in an interview on Onda Cero radio. "First we win here, we change this government, and then the Americans will do it, if things continue as they are in Kerry's favor.

Zapatero, whose Socialist Party swept the governing Popular Party out of office in elections Sunday, just three days after terrorist attacks killed 201 people in Madrid, also rejected President Bush's request that he reconsider his plans to withdraw Spain's troops from Iraq unless the United Nations is given control of the country. "I'll listen to Mr. Bush. But my position is very clear and firm," Zapatero said. . Read the Full Story

French Going Wild For Senator Kerry

It could be the flawless French he learned while at boarding school in Switzerland. Or that he summered in his youth at a picturesque village on the rocky shores of Brittany. Or his pledge to take America’s allies more seriously and pursue an inclusive foreign policy.

Or maybe it’s the simple fact that he’s not President Bush. Whatever the reason, the French are going wild for John Kerry. His face graces the covers of magazines and newspapers on Paris newsstands. Read the Full Story

North Korea Votes for Kerry?

Pyongyang is giving deferential treatment to John Kerry, the presumptive U.S. presidential candidate from the Democratic Party, out of expectation that he would be more moderate on North Korean issues and could resume the stalled bilateral dialogue between the North and the United States, the Financial Times reported Thursday.

According to the prestigious British newspaper, North Korean state-run media organizations reported in detail recent speeches by the Massachusetts senator, who is critical of President George W. Bush. The apparent enthusiasm for Kerry, the report said, may reflect North Korean hopes that Kerry's victory might lead to a softening in U.S. policy toward the North's nuclear program as well as a "better the devil you don¡¯t know" mentality among North Korean apparatchiks.

"However, the North Korean media is a constituency Mr. Kerry could do without and a signal of support from North Korea will delight Republicans eager to pain Mr. Kerry as soft on national security," the report said. Gordon Flake, an American expert in North Korean affairs, also cautioned North Korea against expecting too much from Kerry. "It would be harder for a Democratic president to do a deal because there would be a lot of pressure on him not to be a soft touch," he was quoted as saying.

In the mean time, France's Le Monde reported Tuesday in an article titled "North Korea casts a vote for John Kerry" that just like Washington relies on time for regime change in North Korea, Pyongyang might similarly be hoping for a change in the White House in November.