http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2005/02/15/condi_dont_forget_nepal_and_togo/

Condi, don't forget Nepal and Togo
By Derrick Z. Jackson, Globe Columnist | February 15, 2005

THE ITINERARY of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was quite lovely. England. France. Germany. Italy. Belgium. Luxembourg. Poland. Turkey. Israel. West Bank.

Most human beings want to ease into their first few days on the job, and she obviously is no exception. In her inaugural foray abroad, she gave a lot of speeches about freedom and democracy in places that are free, democratic, and in the upper half of the world's wealthiest nations. No heavy lifting.

Even her visit to Israel and Ramallah came at a moment of hope between the Israeli government and Palestinians. She got in and out of Paris without any nasty confrontations to remind her how the French opposed the invasion of Iraq. You just got the feeling that the stars were aligned for her to save her energy for places that really need her to fight for democracy.

Thus, we await word on what the good secretary is going to do about Nepal and Togo.

Rice is representing a president who recently bragged, 'I firmly planted the flag of liberty' in Iraq and Afghanistan. So it should be a matter of only a few seconds before Rice threatens to haul Nepal and Togo before the United Nations, right? Then again, there is no need to bother with formalities.

Since the presence of weapons of mass destruction are no longer an American prerequisite to invade countries to plant our flag, let's gear up the National Guard right now.

Even as Rice prepared to jet overseas, King Gyanendra of Nepal sacked the government, shut down all communications, closed the international airport, called a state of emergency, suspended freedom of speech, assembly, and privacy, banned criticism of him for six months, sealed the borders, arrested political leaders and activists, and what else? Let's see. Oh, yes, he claimed it was all in the name of democracy!

In Togo last weekend, the military propped up Faure Gnassingbe as president after his father, Gnassingbe Eyadema, died of a heart attack. Eyadema was the world's second-longest-standing leader after Fidel Castro of Cuba. Eyadema was a leader of a 1963 coup and took sole power of the nation in 1967. His repressive reign was marked by things such as murderous and corrupt reelection campaigns, police killings of pro-democracy activists, and his nation being cited as a 'case study' in child trafficking by Human Rights Watch.

The son appears to be no different. Gnassingbe's presidency was rubber-stamped by a cowering parliament. He sealed the borders and closed the airports. Three days later, Gnassingbe made a speech where he offered amnesty to opponents and said he would hold 'free and transparent general elections as soon as possible.' No one seems impressed. The 53-nation African Union condemned the takeover and is talking about sanctions. Togo was suspended by France's league of French-speaking nations.

All the United States has had to say about this is, 'The United States has long encouraged Togo to move toward a full and participatory democracy.' That was from State Department spokesman Edgar Vazquez. On Nepal, deputy spokesman Adam Ereli said, 'These are actions which deeply trouble us. It is a serious step back from democracy.' Ereli did not volunteer the small matter of how the United States has given $22 million in military aid to Nepal on the notion the government would use the money to fight Maoists.

So far, neither Togo nor Nepal have made their way into Rice's speeches, even though she said last week about Iran that 'its behavior toward its own population is something to be loathed.' The United States has to do more than issue deadpan outrage and travel warnings. It has to start talking sanctions and other forms of diplomatic pressure.

The chaos in Togo or Nepal may not seem to be of immediate interest to us, unless you have a Himalayan trek planned any time soon. They are easy to forget about, being among the world's poorer nations. It might help to remember that two major terrorist actions against Americans, the 1998 bombings of the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, happened in poor nations.

In Paris, Rice said, 'States where corruption and chaos and cruelty reign invariably pose threats to their neighbors, threats to their regions, and potential threats to the entire international community.' The bombings in Africa are a reminder that terrorism is not just about nukes in Iran or North Korea or the Middle East. It is also about poverty and desperate people who can be led down a fateful road where, with a bomb strapped to their chest, they become a threat to their neighbors, regions, and the world. Rice's trip was so lovely it was almost a vacation. We will know she is really on the job when coups in Togo are considered as loathsome as human rights in Tehran.

Derrick Z. Jackson's e-mail address is jackson@globe.com

? Copyright 2005 Globe Newspaper Company.