I’ve been closely following the steeply radical event unfolding in Iran (unfolding right before our eyes) and as the days go by, the entire chaotic situation feels and looks like a monster finally rearing its head. And it might just turn out to be a good monster that’s coming out.

The fallout in Iran’s recently held presidential election has just become so seriously grave and explosive that today, news account of Tehran contains dead bodies on the streets and fiery burning all over the city.

The widespread protestations of the election results---where re-electionist and declared winner Mahmoud Ahmadinejad won a nearly a landslide victory against political reformist Mir Hossein Musavi per official record---has gotten so reiterated that one could not help surmise that the motivations behind this public and often violent avowal of the Iranian people are deeply rooted and resolute, cloaked for years and years under a veil of forged orderliness and stability under Ahmajinehad, governing an administration that is so highly critical of the west and even unhindered loath of Israel.

Maybe, many Iranians are already tired of this antagonistic policies against the West and realized that this would be counter-productive for a country bursting with wealth and richness, mostly coming from their petroleum deposits, which among the biggest in the world.

It’s affirming to note that in the first place, Iran has gone to such extend as to practice democracy as elections are actually held there and the people has had enough voice in choosing their own leaders. But it seems that the people of Iran yearns more than the freedom of suffrage, maybe they need a government who does not battle almost every western country in the world, maybe they need a government that is more moderate and reasonable, much much more reasonable than Pres. Ahmajinehad who relishes and bask in every disparaging word he spew against the west and Israel, jeopardizing in every way efforts towards a more lasting peace in Palestine and the eventual creation of the Palestinian state.

Strong words often do not help the cause of peace.

There goes Myanmar once again, hugging the headlines not with any conceivable achievement nor gain, but for yet another unfortunate incident, with the re-arrest of Burmese freedom fighter Aung San Suu Kyi, two months before her house arrest was about to end, as promised by the military junta over there.

We do not condone intervention. But sometimes, enough’s enough. Some boundaries have been crossed.

This most recent talk about Myanmar involves a swimming incident where an American Vietnam War veteran who swam across the Inya Lake to reach her house where she was placed under house detention, for almost 19 years now. And it was about to end, just two months away, now she's being fully detained in a prison cell. I was asking about why would Ms. Suu Kyi allow some old grungy American person to jeopardize her eventual freedom? And why would the military government there thinks she would do such a foolhardy thing?

I think ASEAN should step in now and do something palpable and patent about Myanmar. Despite that political intervention into each member’s internal affairs is highly restricted as a matter of hard policy, yet I think such application of a policy long established had become so stoic and inflexible, allowing for an irrational political stance such as the ASEAN nonchalance over Myanmar, where even when the military there were already killing their own people, such as the orange-clad Buddhist monks during the so-called “Orange Revolution” last year.

And ASEAN keeps mum, deciding that it doesn’t want to antagonize and isolate Gen. Than Swe’s often bizarre administration. My bad, such foolishness and inanity, I don’t know what it is there for if it could not lift any finger against the notorious junta in Yangon. The European Union had just toughened its sanction against Myanmar and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had just strongly demanded the release of Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi. And what does ASEAN do, it says it does not want to isolate Myanmar.

Seemingly, the decision could be principled enough since a raucous Myanmar, especially with a patently murderous military junta reigning over there, could affect the overall peace and security situation in the Southeast Asia region, not good for political image outside while ASEAN is angling for EU-style economic integration in a decade or two.

But at least, ASEAN got to do something. ASEAN does not need Myanmar if it continues at this path of repression. When you anything about Myanmar, you’d thought you are transported back to a past and backward generation, where people work in slave camps without fees and eating porridge all the time and where human lives do not seem to have value at all.

EU had to make Poland and Turkey begged on their knees just to be included in the one-market system. But in this side of the world, it’s the other way around, ASEAN had to turn a blind eye so as just to keep Myanmar on its ranks. Now that’s entirely unheard of.

ASEAN should issue some final ultimatum to Myanmar, despotism has no room in ASEAN.

I saw Pope Benedict XVI holding a conference on CNN and my eyes was plastered to the area where Arabic text was written, just above him, while the Pope was relaying his words to a wide audience silent in attention. I thought there was some visual error on my part, but on second look it was really as it is. Well, in this modern age, it wouldn’t be as surprising to see an immense Christian personality like the Pope being seen around symbols that portrays another religion, like Islam.

In fact, Pope Benedict’s visit to the Holy Land is highlighted for his call for peace and unity among all faith, and among all men.

It is so dramatic that way, and despite that previously Pope John Paul II had done similar visit to Jerusalem, this occasion becomes ultimately historic as well, especially with Pope Benedict’s call for the eventual establishment of a long-delayed Palestinian State.

I say long-delayed because it is almost unimaginable now that Palestine could share one state with the Israel, like it was planned before. This might be disarming and discouraging but that’s just the fact. A state consist of a people with a unique culture and nuances, some kind of thread that binds across the population. Palestinians and Israelis do not share any singular thread that therefore, there could not be any sort of a singular society to be qualified as a population of one juridical entity --- such as a state.

Being that the case, there’s no more reason to deny the formal delineation of a singular Palestinian state. To this end, I second the motion of the Pope’s declaration on this issue.

Perhaps, this might just lead to a more viable peace situation in the area; if not entirely eradicate the vicious conflicts there.

Now, it should be true that this proposal for a Palestinian state would be easier said than done. But the path to peace should pursued with great determination and with a staunch thrust towards it, for any half-hearted attempt would be merely futile considering the various problems that could stonewall it among which are;

• 1. Jerusalem’s status is divided between Palestine and Israel and both entities are claiming it to be fully their own. How do we divide the city? To what side goes to whom?


• 2. Most Palestinians work in Israeli territory and there’s almost zero economic activity and opportunity as of this moment. These Palestinian workers could not just go back home for there are exactly no work there.
• 3. Militant Hamas controls most Gaza Strip and we all know how they are so hard to deal with.
• 4. Israel occupies sizable portion of Palestinian areas and mostly, the Israelis there wouldn’t want to leave the homes they have been allowed to build there.
• 5. Endless rocket attacks against Israel continues to pervade.

I have just enumerated the major headaches that lie ahead the plan to establish the state of Palestine. But these could actually be surmounted if the United Nations and G8 countries like America and Great Britain would earnestly help and desire the plan.

One good solution I have in mind is the establishment of a temporary administration of Palestine by the United Nation, a mandate similar to what it did with East Timor and Lebanon, and a Marshall Plan-like fund would be implemented to help restore civility and development in Palestine, towards a slow and gradual handover over a fixed period of time.

Roxana Saberi, the American-Iranian journalists arrested by the Iranian government on charges of espionage last February was finally released, despite having already been convicted by judicial authorities for an 8 year imprisonment term.

Previous heavy pronouncements of the Iranian government on the Saberi case had given little hope for her eventual release that various media organizations and international organization, such as Amnesty International had launched intense campaign to press for her release.
And her release yesterday came out as a great surprise, even a pleasant one, despite the graveness of the situation.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton comes to the forefront of worldwide media as this would refer to her as a very clever negotiator, now that one of the most ardent adversarial state to America has caved in to pressure.
Many sees this move by Iran --- accused for a long time by US for harboring and developing nuclear weapons, as well as for having patent caustic threat against Israel --- as a path towards more amiable relations with America, while many downplays its significance at all.

In my case, I see this as a softening of Iran’s often harsh stand against the west, especially America. And perhaps this might be connected to the upcoming presidential elections in Tehran come June 12, where the administration of President Mahmoud Ahmajinehad would be challenged by a number of tenable candidates, some can actually give him a run for the money.

But in the bottomline of it all, this is a very significant diplomatic move from Iran, in a very positive way, and I hope this would lead further to the eventual minimization of nuclear tension that has got Iran so involved, like in the eye of the storm.