2003 in review

Just maybe this is a year when we have all had to grow up a little and face reality. In some ways 2002 was still an aftershock from the events of September 2001. 2003 has been a year of uncertainty and of survival. It has been a year where human spirit has had to overcome the terrors or both man and nature. It is a year that has shown us our huge fragility but also our ability to bounce back so quickly.

But 2003 has made us all more watchful, a little more insecure, a little more protective of the things that matter to us, a little more aware of the significance of our actions, and maybe a little more understanding yet less tolerant.

The year started with was in Iraq looking inevitable and so it proved. It ended with the capture of Saddam Hussein. Worryingly Osama bin Laden is clearly still at large, protected and rebuilding al-Qaida.

The year began with the terrifying explosion on re-entry of the Columbia space shuttle. A disaster that has shut down NASA's manned space flights. The year ended with British scientists unable to communicate with the Beagle 2 craft that appears to have crashed on its Mars landing. Either that or there really are little green men who have already dismantled its communications equipment ! The re-assurance is that man's quest to explore and for new knowledge continues unabated.

The spring saw Asia and Canada paralysed by the SARS epidemic. But the medical world was not paralysed. Doctors and nurses gave their lives fighting the unknown. Globalisation almost certainly makes the spread of epidemic a greater risk that ever before. But it also gives us the opportunity to share the research that provides effective and available treatments.

The year ended with Iran's terrifying earthquake which may have killed as many as 50,000 people. This should not happen. There are too many modern lessons form earthquakes in Iran (Gilan 1990) and Japan (Kobe 1995). There is no excuse for modern buildings to collapse in an semi severe earthquake. Yet this is what happened. Iran has the oil resources and the money to look after its people. But there is no humanity here. They refused the help of Israeli rescuers; and I can guarantee that Israel can provide some of the world's most capable rescue teams.  The Guardian in its leader wrote that "this was a tragedy whose scale can only be adequately explained by the failure of the Iranian state to prepare for it". This is not western smugness; it is a simple truism. The earthquake was 6.5 on the Richter scale; with proper building and construction standards, and a care for the people, casualties would be far fewer.

Yet the people will be resilient; they will rebuild lives, homes, families and businesses. I wonder, however, whether it may prove the catalyst to major reform in Iran.  

The people of the US started the year united in support of their government's war on terror. They accepted without question the Bush regime's link of Iraq to al-Qaida. They accepted that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. Those links are unproven. With an election coming in November 2004 people are beginning to voice their doubts. The daily body count from Iraq does little to support the Bush administration's claims of victory. Bush may actually be less of an electoral shoe in than I thought. That has to be a good thing.

As for Tony Blair; well, he was brave enough and decisive enough to do what he felt was right. Whether he had the right information to support his decision is questionable. The Hutton enquiry findings are awaited with interest by all parties in government, the opposition and the UK media. Blair's health meanwhile is the subject of much speculation. It has been a punishing year for him. He is no known as a delegator. It would be a poorer government without him.

The British royal family continue to make headlines that sell newspapers. Even their family pets are wacko.

One hundred years of powered flight was celebrated by British Airways withdrawing Concorde from service and mothballing its fleet in a variety of museums. It an age on endless technological innovation it is remarkable that with the demise of Concorde we seem to have moved backwards and not forwards. The availability of supersonic travel at 747 prices and frequency must be the next great travel revolution. And in some ways maybe we should not want that too soon.

China meanwhile sent a man into space for the first time; no one can remember his name (Yang Liwei). But it is yet another sign of just how far China has come and how great her ambitions are.

One of the more alarming facts about getting older is how familiar the names are of people who departed in the year. People I grew up watching or reading about. People I was influenced by. People who left a gap far bigger than the space they occupied.

We all make a difference and we all leave our legacy.

At least some things never change:

China and Taiwan send verbal barrages to each other over the Taiwan Straits. The current status quo seems to work for everyone; why upset this delicate balancing act?

Africa continues to look like the forgotten continent; sure, George W. went on a flying (literally) visit. But there appears to have been no tangible action since. AIDS continues to ravage nations. And the rest of us are largely glad that we are somewhere else.

Corporates are as greedy as ever. Greed begets greed. Power corrupts. Enron and Worldcom were the tip of he iceberg. Parmalat is the latest example. Conrad Black had to resign from his Hollinger Empire. Even the regulators had their hands in the tills with outrageous payments to Dick Grasso at the New York Stock Exchange.

Too many countries tie their political and business interests together; government of the people, by the people and for the people is a democratic cry that is sounding increasingly vacant. From the USA (ask Mr. Cheney for more details) to Thailand political power can be too easily seen to be supporting businesses interests.

No one trusts the French - plus ca change, plus ca meme chose !

And to finish up:

As so many of these news stories become a blur I was entertained by yahoo.com today (30 December) who ran the following two headlines one after another:

I know there are some rather old flight attendants in the USA but putting mad cow detectors at airports may be going a little too far !