On May 18, 2006, CBS News alerted us to planned protests against President Bush during his then pending visit to Jakarta. Along with the article entitled “Jakarta Awaits Bush Visit, Bush Faces Rising Anti-U.S. Sentiment…,” we saw this photo of “Indonesian Muslim and student groups” rehearsing their protests against Bush.
A politically weakened U.S. President George W. Bush will face anger over the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan when he visits mostly Muslim Indonesia on Monday for talks aimed at broadening ties with a strategic ally in the war on terror…Anti-American sentiment is mounting and Islamic hard-liners and students have held near-daily rallies this month, calling Mr. Bush a terrorist and burning effigies of the U.S. leader…Mr. Bush, meanwhile, with his popularity plummeting at home and abroad, is expected to have on kid gloves when discussing issues like Indonesia’s ongoing battle with Islamic extremism, its failure to find justice in the poisoning death of the country’s top human rights activist, and foot-dragging in fighting bird flu.
That was then. What are CBS News and the MSM telling us now about President Obama’s visit? Answer: Little. You have to read the news from Indonesia for information. Here are three samples:
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) – Thousands of followers of a conservative Islamic group held peaceful demonstrations Sunday in several Indonesian cities against the planned visit of President Barack Obama…The group, an international network which believes Muslims should unite in a single global state governed by Islamic law, urged the Indonesian government to reject the American leader’s trip, scheduled for late March…Men and women wearing black veils held up yellow banners reading “Reject the visit of Obama” as they marched in the streets of the two larger cities. “He doesn’t work for a peaceful world … on the contrary, Obama is the same as George Bush, who has destroyed the Muslim world in Iraq and Afghanistan.”
And:
Banjarmasin, S Kalimantan (ANTARA News) – A number of people in Banjarmasin, South Kalimantan, took to the streets rejecting US President Barack Obama`s upcoming visit to Indonesia. The demonstrators from various colleges went to the South Kalimantan legislative council (DPRD) building on Jalan Lambung Mangkurat Friday. They said Obama was no different from George W. Bush, both are warmongers, no policy of Bush had been changed by the current US president.
And…
Jakarta, (ANTARA News) – The Jakarta Metropolitan Police will not ban the staging of demonstrations at public places during US President Barack Obama`s upcoming visit later in March, a spokesman said. “We will adhere to our established policy: no prohibition on public activity, including demonstrations,” Jakarta Metropolitan Police Headquarters public relations chief Senior Commissioner Boy Rafli Amar said here Friday. However, he said, anybody intending to hold a street rally must give the police prior notice so that police can take precautionary measures “to ensure that the situation remains conducive.”
The Minneapolis Star Tribune did pick up the AP reporting from Indonesia.
JAKARTA, Indonesia – Scores of Islamic students staged protests outside Jakarta’s parliament and in at least three other major Indonesian cities on Friday against President Barack Obama’s upcoming visit to this predominantly Muslim country. The students carried banners branding Obama as an enemy of Islam and an imperialist in downtown Jakarta as well as in the provincial capitals Padang, Yogyakarta and Surabaya. They also threw shoes at large pictures of Obama’s head.
Otherwise, though, the MSM has been silent about how some Indonesians await Obama’s visit with something other than an eagerness to express adulation.
Meanwhile, don’t look for the MSM to track with The Jakarta Globe suggestion that:
Obama, who has eaten dog meat when he lived in Indonesia as a child, should head out for a taste of traditional cuisine.
Nor is CBS News likely to agree with the Globe‘s statement that:
One thing that Obama should not do, however, is to visit the “Little Barry” statue at his old school in Menteng. No offense, but he’s not a national hero in this country. The monument only serves as a bitter reminder to the American president that thus far, his only significance here is that he used to be a resident of the country. Even though he’s the leader of the free world, he still has a lot to prove.
That’s just not part of the MSM’s Obama-Former-Home-Visit template.
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