Parking on the sidewalk with impunity, as the driver of this car with Central American Parliament plates likes to do, may be a minor annoyance to some and is technically a violation of our motor vehicle laws. However, were that the extent of the privileges that Panama's political class appropriated for themselves the great majority of Panamanians would think it a much better deal than we now receive.

Such is not the case. Panamanians are really sick of all the crooked games, but since the sleaze is so widespread there is no easy target for public anger.

The other day a coalition of groups called for a protest to be held in front of the Legislative Assembly, but then called it off when the public response to the call was underwhelming. Mireya's faction, relying on treachery and betrayal within the PRD caucus, got all the legislature's plums back in its basket after two years of a PRD-former Christian Democrat coalition, but on the day when the crowds were supposed to have come out to protest, the vultures circling above the Palacio Justo Arosemena outnumbered the people in front of the legislature.

There has also been a well-orchestrated, well-publicized scandal and purge within the Judicial Technical Police (PTJ). There actually are real abuses, and some of those responsible have lost their jobs and a few are even facing criminal charges. However, the media show is designed to demonstrate that what Panama REALLY needs is to put Attorney General José Antonio Sossa in charge of the PTJ. I don't think that my thinking about this is far from the Panamanian mainstream when I come to two conclusions about what I see: first, that despite too many exceptions, the great majority of Panama's cops are honorable men and women; and second, that when hardcore corruption's the game, the name of the person who can be trusted to deal with it is NOT José Antonio Sossa.

Read all about the power shift in the assembly and the PTJ purge in the News section.

The TV news this past week was downright depressing, with the footage of the World Trade Center collapsing running just about nonstop for several days. The events of this past September 11 were a major historical event, especially for the United States but for Panama as well. I think that the Bomberos spoke well for Panama, with their September 11 torchlight parade to the US Embassy to honor their fallen colleagues in the New York Fire Department. Understand that Panama's English-speaking community is largely of West Indian descent, and has close family and cultural ties with New York, particularly the Crown Heights district. There are a number of Panamanian-Americans in the NYFD.

However, I think that dwelling on the same footage does not serve the public very well. The US has been at war since this past September 11, and there are some serious decisions that need to be made about it. Repeating the same stuff over and over again means that other aspects that ought to be considered get ignored. For example, the fight against Al Qaida has had US forces in action in the Philippines, but most Americans are unaware of the 20th century war that US forces fought against Muslim forces in the Southern Philippines, even though more than 300,000 people died in that conflict. For another example, we have heard all manner of allegations about an Axis of Evil that somehow links Osama bin Laden, the weird communist monarchy in North Korea, the secular Arab tyranny in Iraq and the Shiite Islamic Republic of Iran. We also heard, under oath, from the US State Department about a link between the Colombian FARC and Al Qaida, but with little mainstream news coverage it has now been admitted that this claim was false. Of course, Osama bin Laden is a hardcore anti-communist who fought for years against the Soviet Union, a strident critic of all secular regimes in the Muslim world, and a Sunni bigot who hates Shiites and has the blood of Iranian diplomats on his hands. And thus I take the Bush administration's characterizations with a grain of salt, and have yet to be convinced that a war with Iraq is a wise move, especially with Osama bin Laden still at large and issuing attack orders.

In this issue's Opinion section, Willy Gutman takes another look at what appears to be an impending war with Iraq and Amnesty International weighs in on the anniversary of last year's attacks. This issue's Editorial considers whether Panama is doing what it should to prevent further terrorist attacks.

Our Opinion columns also get into the changeover in the legislature, the pathology of our political parties, human rights in Colombia and regional economic planning in the Caribbean.

We have a larger than usual Business section this time, with the text of the proposed US-Panamanian tax information sharing deal, the tale of how a notorious offshore hustler exercises control over a diplomatic mission in Panama, and coverage of a very successful if not completely reassuring American Chamber of Commerce tourism forum.

And then there's our own business. Our data download logs show that the increase in our readership that started in July and accelerated in August is still picking up steam in September. The odds are that we will have more than 15,000 readers this month. And yet, our economic crisis continues and thus we need to put out another of our equivalent of a public TV station's request for public support.

We are down to one functioning obsolete computer at the office and are producing this online paper on borrowed equipment and programs. It has been more than a year since anyone at The Panama News has received a regular paycheck. Little expenses like film developing are a hardship, let alone the major items like eliminating our debt to Panama's Social Security Fund. We'd like to make our annual food issue --- for which I'm working on such stories as what the archaeological record says that ancient Panamanians ate as well as collecting good recipies --- our next special print edition. The money, however, isn't in hand to be sure that we can carry out this plan.

So if you like The Panama News, help us keep it going. You may want to buy an ad, or one of the books we sell. That helps. So do the contributions that we are occasionally obliged to solicit, in order that we may keep this project alive. Send your generous donations to The Panama News to:

Those of you who have helped us out in the past know who you are and so do we, and you are appreciated so much that it hurts to ask you to help us again. Those of you who will be lending assistance for the first time should rest assured that your donation, big or small, will be gratefully appreciated and well used.

Sincerely

Eric Jackson
the editor

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