This is a response to the article:
http://news.sg.msn.com/topstories/article.aspx?cp-documentid=313935

Reports have surfaced of a Thai passenger jet which crashed on the resort island of Phuket not too long ago, killing 88 people in Thailand's worst aviation disaster in a decade. Though the cause of the crash has yet to be determined, the plane's two flight recorders have been found, and results are expected in a week or so.

Orient Thai, the parent company of the budget carrier, will definitely be reeling from the disaster. The reputation of their company hangs directly on the outcome of the analysis; for now all Orient Thai can do is wait. If they are found to be at fault, government imposed fines and a huge amount of bad press will head their way. Be it poor workmanship or inferior materials, they would have a lot of explaining to do. Orient Thai will be taken to task by the government, for ruining the reputations of not just their airline, but many other Thai airlines as well. Thailand's economy, already stagnant since the military Coup D'etat, would suffer yet another crippling blow.

In fact, the entire budget carrier industry will be implicated, not just those based in Thailand. Budget airlines, still a relatively new industry, lack the confidence and trust of consumers. People still prefer to stick with tried and tested, established airlines with long but accident-free histories. It tends to be the less affluent or those with reduced circumstances who do not seem to mind the risk which budget airlines are so commonly associated with.

All these are, sadly, still no consolation to the grieving families. Though Thai Airways is "sending a family assistance team to Phuket to help deal with relatives," a customary course of action, matters can still get messy, with disagreements over the amount of compensation leading to lawsuits filed against both parties.

It would certainly be best if the crash never happened, but the thing is it has, and many innocent people have died. Orient Thai has to find out exactly what happened and clean up its act. Other budget airlines have to do the same: learn from this aviation disaster, and make the necessary changes. The budget airline industry is still a burgeoning one, and unless such tragedies are averted in the future, it will not take flight.

Sunday, September 16, 2007

This is a response to the article:
http://news.sg.msn.com/topstories/article.aspx?cp-documentid=287585


The United States people want their sons back. Four years into the war and there is still no end in sight. Baby-steps taken towards a democratic government are marred by corrupt and inefficient members who comprise the "transitional government" which does not have the support of its people, and wields no real power. More casualties sustained on both sides.

Unsurprisingly, "most public opinion polls [show] the US public two-to-one opposed to [Bush's] strategy." The people are tired of sending troops to the dangerous foreign land that is Iraq. Each day means more danger for their sons, more gunfire and fighting.

Bush desperately needs a plan which works. Having promised the American people to "pull some 21,500 combat troops from Iraq by mid-2008," he cannot afford futher set-backs in the Iraq War. Democrats, though pacified for the moment, would not accept delays beyond the timeframe as accorded by Bush.

Still, the practicality of such a promise is questionable. Will this deadline be kept? A withdrawal of US troops is certain; they cannot run Iraq for the Iraqis. What holds us in thrall is the matter of time. One in four American soldiers think an immediate and complete withdrawal is needed, which is out of the question. Withdrawing now would tantamount to waving a white flag: the insurgents have won. The US is unable to sustain the frontline of its global war on terror. Encouraged by the insurgent victory in Iraq, the domino theory of the Cold War will be in action.

Many parties fail to see the long-term prospects of this "quick fix" to the War. The credibility of the US as a global power, or indeed as "the world police" would take a severe blow. Which comes at an especially bad time, with China poised to assume position of "world power" at any time.

This course of action only strengthens America's perceived unreliability, something already grounded by the embarrassment of the Vietnam War.

To go one step further, many people fail to see that a withdrawal of troops before Iraq bears the remotest semblance to a democratic state capable of fending itself, translates into the considerable war efforts up to now all amounting to nothing. The US cannot risk an unsteady Iraq on shaky foundations; this war has to successfully transform Iraq for the better, not leave it war-torn and more devastated than when under Saddam.

Sloppy post-invasion work has led to unneccessary casualties and postponement of a withdrawal date. Bush did not give details of this new plan to finally free Iraq and themselves of the burden, but if Bush thinks more soldiers and money is the key, he has evidently failed to learn from the past.

A long, bitter road lies ahead, its length and turns in the hands of one man. But he needs his countrymen's support, needs them to put aside preconceived biases against their leader and consider the impact of the war on the world. He needs the United States of America to stand united.