TODAYonline

More Fun From PACOM

I'll bet Admiral Fargo is glad to be retiring:

Tensions in the Sulawesi Sea rose a notch yesterday when three Indonesian warships moved into the waters to bolster Jakarta's claim to the potentially-oil-rich area over which they are in dispute with Malaysia.

Meanwhile, across Indonesia, students and workers protested against diesel fuel price hikes in massive street rallies, describing the move to raise prices a mark of government arrogance. Their anger rose further when plans for transport fare increases were announced in Jakarta.

All too soon, it seemed, the goodwill generated by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's recent visit to Malaysia, where Malaysian Prime Minster Abdullah Badawi warmly feted him, was fast evaporating.

Well, what's three little warships? Or four, or...

The warships were now patrolling the disputed area off the coast of Malaysia's Sabah state and the Indonesia's East Kalimantan province, Navy spokesman First Admiral Abdul Maliki Yusuf told AFP.

A fourth ship was on its way, Adm Yusuf said, adding that the navy was also considering sending a submarine to the area.

Two Nomad maritime aircraft to conduct reconnaissance for possible incursions into Indonesian territory, including airspace violations by foreign aircraft, had also been deployed, Lt Col Guntur Wahyudi, a spokesman for Indonesia's Eastern Fleet told dpa.

Then there's a little excursion into some reporting on oil prices, which news you probably saw on today's Drudge. The one marked OPEC: Prices Could Hit $80. That's the kind of thing that will inconvenience a lot of Americans, but it can drive poorer states to the brink of resource war.