Tsunami relief, Indonesia, how not to answer ABC News

On further review, I just don't get US Secretary of State Colin Powell's comments to George Stephanopoulos of ABC News last week. Stephanopoulos asked if the US had missed an opportunity to mend fences with disaffected Muslims around the world, particularly in Indonesia. Powell adamantly insisted that we had not.

I enjoy watching tough questions put to politicians, but the proper response should have been "this is not about opportunities for the US. The only goal that matters here is helping the people affected by this terrible strategy. Its not a situation we should be trying to leverage to improve our standing in the world."

Then again, I'm not sure how much the Bush Administration understands the importance of Indonesia. Indonesia is an extremely populous nation, with sizable oil reserves and national wealth. However, that wealth is far from equally distributed throughout Indonesian society, there is a history of civil war, and the Muslim population is already sensitized -- rightly or wrongly -- to give US actions close scrutiny. I hope that I'm wrong in "misunderestimating" their vision for Indonesia. Its clearly in our national interest to engage Indonesia positively.

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