Men in downtown Sofia, Bulgaria read a special edition of Bulgarian newspaper 24 Tchasa on Oct. 8, 2001. The headlines read 'Kabul Burns' and 'Sofia on Alert' (Photo: AFP).

Reaction from the European Press:

From the outset it was expected that the war in Afghanistan would be long and uncertain. Activity over the past couple of months seems to confirm that the apparent rout of Al-Queda forces at the end of 2001 was not as definitive as it may have seemed. A leading editorial in London’s liberal Guardian (April 10) reports that “the war [in Afghanistan] goes on and is intensifying...it is clear that many, if not most [Al-Queda fighters] survived the U.S. onslaught” and are “plotting an insidious return to the fray.”

But events in Afghanistan have been overshadowed by the escalation in Israeli-Palestinian violence. That the situation should erupt as phase two of the war on terrorism focuses on a strike against Iraq has turned the plan “on its head” Marion Mc Keone wrote in Ireland’s liberal Sunday Tribune (April 7). Moderate Arab states insist that a solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict is a precondition to support United States action against Iraq. “Bush decided to focus on getting rid of Sadaam Hussein before attempting to defuse the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The effect of this was to ensure that...toppling Hussein now looks less attainable than ever,” opined McKeone.

Meanwhile, Maurizio Molinari, writing in centrist Italian daily La Stampa (April 5), heaped praise on President George Bush for his speech a day earlier urging Israel to withdraw from the territories and the Palestinians to stop turning out suicide bombers. “Bush took everyone by surprise: the warring parties, his doubting allies, the inflamed Arab street protestors, and his most merciless critics,” wrote Molinari. In a reference to the growing divisions between the EU and the U.S. administration, Molinari opined that EU leaders “must...make their contribution to peace by merging their efforts with those of Washington in a concrete manner, as happened over the war in Afghanistan.”

West of Afghanistan

NATO leaders have pledged their support for the United States during this difficult time, while stipulating that they will not hand the U.S. government a blank check, good for any military action the United States might devise. The same could well be said of the European press.

The U.S.-led campaign in Afghanistan's undeniable successes have come as a complete surprise to everyone. They have also made it easier for the United States' European allies to offer their troops in support of the war.

In Germany, the decision to send troops to Afghanistan did not come easily. The Green Party's initial opposition to the idea led German Chancellor Gerhard Schrö

der to up the ante in the debate by threatening to resign if the Greens did not lend their support. As it happened, he won. On Nov. 20, heartened by the collapse of Taliban authority in two-thirds of Afghanistan and by a rousing speech from visiting British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Germany's Social Democrats followed suit and lent their full support to German military involvement in Afghanistan.

The German press has also been adamant that the war against terrorism will not be won in Afghanistan alone. In the Nov. 19 edition of the conservative Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, commentator Wolfgang Günter Lerch stressed the importance of resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. "Fighting terrorism... means defusing conflicts that are seen as part of the backdrop to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the United States.... Especially in the Arab world, practitioners of political violence often cite [the Israeli-Palestinian] conflict as justification for their actions," Lerch wrote, dismissing Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's insistence that negotiations should only begin after a week-long ceasefire as "unrealistic."

And though support in the British press for the war in Afghanistan has remained solid, Britain's efforts to fight terrorism at home have proved far more controversial. The British equivalent to the U.S. "Patriot Act"—which sacrificed a host of civil liberties for the sake of security—has met with far more resistance in England than its counterpart did in the United States. Members of Parliament from Blair's Labor Party have loudly criticized the proposed legislation and the Prime Minister's attempts to rush it through the House of Commons before the end of the year.

Though London's conservative press has proved less critical of Britain's proposed anti-terrorist legislation than—for example—the Guardian has, the conservative British press has not been a slavish supporter of U.S. and British conduct in the war against terrorism. In a Nov. 21 leading article for The Times, Simon Jenkins praised the consistency and simplicity of the U.S. policy on Afghanistan. But he took a dim view of indications that the United States is less interested in Afghanistan's future than in defeating Al Qaeda and dislodging the Taliban: "Having almost achieved its goal, the Pentagon does not care which bunch of murderers runs Afghanistan and is disinclined to prop up some puppet regime to appease British liberals."

We Are the War Crimminals Now | Robert Fisk, The Independent (liberal), London, England, Nov. 29, 2001.
Abolition of Ancient Rights Proves Hard to Swallow | Simon Haggart, The Guardian (liberal), London, England, Nov. 20, 2001.
Backdrop | Wolfgang Günter Lerch, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (conservative), Frankfurt, Germany, Nov. 19, 2001.
Germany: The Reticent Great Power | Daniel Vernet, Le Monde (liberal), Paris, France, Nov. 21, 2001.
Where America's Leaders Fear to Tread | Simon Jenkins, The Times (conservative), London, England, Nov. 21, 2001.


War in Afghanistan
In the months since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the United States, European newspapers have expressed fears about a range of topics. Analysts have worried about just what sort of operation their countries might have committed to support, about the sudden, drastic shift in the geopolitical equation, about terrorist reprisals against coalition members, about whether Bush can handle the crisis, about the dangers of waging war in an unstable region, about global and local Muslim reaction to U.S. strikes on Afghanistan...

But in the days since the United States and Britain launched air strikes against Afghanistan, European newspapers have rallied behind the effort. London's liberal Independent, no stranger to dissent, gave U.S. President George W. Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair high marks for the way the have handled the crisis in an Oct. 9 editorial. "But," The Independent's editors implored, "Before the impenetrable fog of war finally descends, as it is already starting to do in the form of disinformation and sanitised news, we want to register the strongest possible plea that—along with justice—clarity and truth should prevail... There should be no illusions..." The Independent continued, "About the fragility of the international alliance that the US and Britain have assembled, or the fragility of Afghanistan itself. Both could threaten the immediate and long-term success of the anti-terrorist campaign." In an Oct. 8 opinion piece for Frankfurt's conservative Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, commentator Günther Nonnenmacher also considered the strength of the coalition, but took a more optimistic view. And in Paris, Le Monde (liberal) turned to Spanish judge Baltazar Garzón—who has campaigned for the arrest of drug lords, corrupt politicians, and former Latin American dictators, including Chile's Augusto Pinochet—for his analysis of the internal politics of the coalition. "To remain mute in this this theatre of war, in which we are all actors," Garzón warned, "Is a very serious failure, a criminal acceptance of the bellicose actions... of the United States."

Editorial: British Citizenship Is Not Compatible with Fighting for the Taliban Regime | The Independent (liberal), London, England, Oct. 31, 2001.
Editorial: Merchants of Doom | The Times (conservative), London, England, Oct. 31, 2001.
U.S. Ground Troops in Action | La Repubblica (liberal), Rome, Italy, Oct. 30, 2001.
A Need for Honest Answers | Boris Kagarlitsky, The Moscow Times (independent), Moscow, Russia, Oct. 30, 2001.
Surprises and Paradoxes | Robert Malley, Le Monde (liberal), Paris, France, Oct. 30, 2001.



The United Nations Faces an Afghan Nightmare | Martin Woollacott, The Guardian (liberal), London, England, Oct. 26, 2001.
Israel and the Foreign Office | The Daily Telegraph (conservative), London, England, Oct. 26, 2001.
Serious Setback for U.S. Strategy in Afghanistan | Le Monde (liberal), Paris, France, Oct. 26, 2001.
The United States is Balancing on a Razor's Edge | Chavdar Kisselinchev, Monitor (nationalist), Sofia, Bulgaria, Oct. 9, 2001. Translated and posted to the Web on Oct. 25, 2001.
Islam Cannot Be Equated With Terrorism | Mesut Yilmaz, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (conservative), Frankfurt, Germany, Oct. 25, 2001.
Scenarios for a World War | Umberto Eco, El País (liberal), Madrid, Spain, Oct. 23, 2001.


Afghanistan, Bioterrorism, Israel: The Three Wars | Libération (left-wing), Paris, France, Oct. 23, 2001.
Experts Describe Supply of Emergency Medicines as 'Catastrophic' | Roland Linder and Norbert Kuts, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (conservative), Frankfurt, Germany, Oct. 23, 2001.
America's Pipe Dream | George Monbiot, The Guardian (liberal), London, England, Oct. 23, 2001.
Editorial: Future Imperfect | The Daily Telegraph (conservative), London, England, Oct. 23, 2001.
War-Zone Coverage Tricks | Russell Working, The Moscow Times (independent), Moscow, Russia, Oct. 22, 2001.



He Is a Terrorist, We just Frighten People | Matthew Parris, The Times (conservative), London, England, Oct. 20, 2001.
We Will Not Be Silenced | George Galloway, The Guardian (liberal), London, England, Oct. 20, 2001.
Bin Laden, Drugs, Oil, and other Players in the War | Le Monde (liberal), Paris, France, Oct. 20, 2001.
A Landmark in U.S.-Russian Relations? | Pavel Podlesny, The Moscow Times (independent), Moscow, Russia, Oct. 19, 2001.
A Historic Rupture? | Thierry de Montbrial, Le Figaro (conservative), Paris, France, Oct. 18, 2001.


Is this a Losing Battle Against Fear Itself? | Libby Purves, The Times (conservative), London, England, Oct. 16, 2001.
Anthrax Scares Mount Across United Kingdom | The Guardian (liberal), London, England, Oct. 16, 2001.
Schröder to Boost Germany's Military Role in War on Terror | Handelsblatt (financial), Düsseldorf, Germany, Oct. 16, 2001.
Future Imperfect | Klaus-Dieter Frankenberger, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (conservative), Frankfurt, Germany, Oct. 16, 2001.
Toward a New Cold War? | Patrice de Beer, Le Monde (liberal), Paris, France, Oct. 16, 2001.
Bioterrorism | El País (liberal), Madrid, Spain, Oct. 16, 2001.
Biggest Budget War Movie in World History | Julia Latynina, Moscow Times (independent), Moscow, Russia, Oct. 16, 2001.

Editorial: What Is This War for? | The Independent (liberal), London, England, Oct. 13, 2001.
Shröder Heralds New Era in German Foreign Policy | Handelsblatt (financial), Düsseldorf, Germany, Oct. 13, 2001.
Editorial: A Better Place | The Times (conservative), London, England, October 13, 2001.
Aerial Survival | El País (liberal), Madrid, Spain, Oct. 13, 2001.
Occupied Territories: Anti-American Day | Le Figaro (conservative), Paris, France, Oct. 12, 2001.
Editorial: NIN (political weekly), Belgrade, Yugoslavia, Oct. 11, 2001.
Excerpt: “America's war against Afghanistan is seen by our [Serbian] public with mixed feelings. On one hand, having faced terrorism at home, we have naturally and sincerely joined the international anti-terrorist coalition, because Osama bin Laden or any other terrorist cannot be our friend, ally or protégé. But on the other hand, as a country that was cruelly bombed by Americans two years ago, who had not even consulted the U.N. Security Council before their ‘humanitarian intervention,’ we naturally cannot be part of those who would wildly applaud those same Americans because they bomb a poor, starving, bigoted people under the pretext of war against world terrorism. Our view of terrorism differs from the American one. In Kosovo, those who we considered terrorists [ethnic Albanian rebels] were American allies.”
The War Bin Laden Has Already Won | Jonathan Freedland, The Guardian (liberal), London, England, Oct. 10, 2001.
A New Map of Europe Is Being Drawn in Afghanistan | Timothy Garton Ash, El País (liberal), Madrid, Spain, Oct. 10, 2001.
They Opted to Bomb, It Had Better Work | Simon Jenkins, The Times (conservative), London, England, Oct. 10, 2001.
Our Friend Vladimir Putin | Laurent Zecchini, Le Monde (liberal), Paris, France, Oct. 10, 2001.
Central Asia: Deafening Silence | Michael Cavanagh, Transitions Online (independent online weekly), Prague, Czech Republic, Oct. 8, 2001.



Forget Islam: Bin Laden Is No More than a Spoiled Rich Kid | Robert Harris, The Daily Telegraph (conservative), London, England, Oct. 9, 2001.
Editorial: This Is Retaliation. There Is No Need to Disguise it with the Language of Morality | The Independent (liberal), London, England, Oct. 9, 2001.
The Only Response to Terrorism | Baltazar Garzón, Le Monde (liberal), Paris, France, Oct. 9, 2001.
Editorial: The Greater Game | The Times (conservative), London, England, Oct. 9, 2001.
All for One | Günther Nonnenmacher, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (conservative), Frankfurt, Germany, Oct. 8, 2001.

Before the Strikes on Afghanistan:

Frankurt's conservative Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung considered the possibility that the attacks against New York and Washington were planned with the aid of a hostile state. In a thoughtful piece for the English-language Moscow Times, Boris Pankin, Russia's last Soviet Foreign Minister, asked whether the blind impulse to revenge is the best response to Sept. 11's tragic events. Le Monde originally wondered aloud about whether Bush is capable of handling this crisis. In more recent days, Le Monde has begun to consider the implications of the attacks on the United States. In a Sept. 16 piece, "We Are Sitting On a Volcano," analyst Frédéric Lenoir wrote, "...Two big illusions went up in smoke on Sept. 11: The illusion of an impermeable American sanctuary against military attacks or terrorist attacks against its vital centers, and, above all, the illusion of a new world order under the control of the United States." This analysis was expressed earlier, in a Sept. 12 article from Barcelona's centrist La Vanguardia.

As the initial shock of the disaster gave way to grief, fear for the future crept into the commentary from the European press. Bratislava, Slovakia's Independent Narodna Obrodna looked pessimistically at the future: "What happened on Tuesday in America continues to cause grief today. Sadder still is the premonition of what might happen tomorrow. Sept. 11, 2001, will enter the books not only as the day of the bloodiest terrorist attack in human history. Horrible though it is to consider, all indications are that war broke out that day. The fronts on which this war will be waged are still not clear or identifiable; one can only anticipate where, after the collapse of the New York skyscrapers, the first missile will be directed as part of the inevitable retaliation. One can hardly predict what will happen next, but it is quite obvious that the fuse of a new great war is already burning."

Transitions Online, a weekly online publication out of Prague, feared the explosion that U.S. attacks in the highly unstable region of Central Asia might bring. In "Running a Huge Risk," Transitions Online warned that "if the United States enlists Central Asian states in likely strikes against Afghanistan, then a whole region could wind up in chaos."

And in Moscow Times, Chris Floyd complained that the U.S. Congress has been too quick to grant U.S. President George Bush "dictatorial" powers (Sept. 21).

Speech Impediment | Christ Floyd, The Moscow Times (independent), Moscow, Russia, Oct. 6, 2001.
Can the World Economy Rebound? | Babette Stern, Le Monde (liberal), Paris, France, Oct. 5, 2001.
Coalition Costs | Klaus-Dieter Frankenberger, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (conservative), Frankfurt, Germany, Oct. 5, 2001.
Streets Burn with Hatred as Blair Visits Pakistan | Peter Popham, The Independent (liberal), London, England, Oct. 5, 2001.
Infinitely Brutal | Ben MacIntyre, The Times (conservative), London, England, Oct. 5, 2001.
Sept. 11 and the Concept of Superpower | Perica Vucinic, Belgrade, Oct. 4, 2001.
Mr. Bush Will Have to Deal More Forcefully with Israel | The Independent (liberal), London, England, Oct. 3, 2001.
Putin's Power Games | Klaus-Dieter Frankenberger, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (conservative), Frankfurt, Germany, Oct. 3, 2001.
Germany Steps Up Drive to Starve Terrorists of Funding | Handelsblatt (financial), Düsseldorf, Germany, Oct. 3, 2001.
The Frankenstein of Globalization | Stephen Smith, Le Monde (liberal), Paris, France, Oct. 3, 2001.
Russia Waits for NATO's Embrace | Megan Twohey, Moscow Times (independent), Moscow, Russia, Oct. 2, 2001.
New-Found Unity | Leo Wietand, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (conservative), Frankfurt, Germany, Sept. 30, 2001.
'I Was One of the Taliban's Torturers: I Crucified People' | The Daily Telegraph (conservative), London, England, Sept. 30, 2001.



General Powell Is Neither a Hawk Nor a Dove—He's an Owl | David Aaronovitch, The Independent (liberal), London, England, Sept. 28, 2001.
The Moment I Saw Bush I Grasped the Point of this War | Tom Utley, The Daily Telegraph (conservative), London, England, Sept. 28, 2001.
From the Far West to the Middle East | André Fontaine, Le Monde (liberal), Sept. 28, 2001.
Crouch, Spring, Crouch | The Times (conservative), London, England, Sept. 28, 2001.
Face to Face with Bin Laden | Rahimullah Yusufzai, The Guardian (liberal), London, England Sept. 26, 2001.
Putin's Initiative | Günther Nonnenmacher, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (conservative), Frankfurt, Germany, Sept. 25, 2001.



Blank Check | Chris Floyd, Moscow Times (independent), Moscow, Russia, Sept. 21, 2001.
Bin Laden Best Left to Rot | Pavel Felgenhauer, Moscow Times (independent), Moscow, Russia, Sept. 20, 2001.
America Could Settle this Score without Spilling Blood Across Afghanistan | Geoffrey Robertson, The Times (conservative), London, England, Sept. 18, 2001.
A New Era of International Terrorism | Fernando Reinares, El País (liberal), Madrid, Sept. 17, 2001.
Running a Huge Risk | Transitions Online (independent weekly), Prague, Czech Republic, Sept. 11-17, 2001.
The Day that Changed the World | La Vanguardia (centrist), Barcelona, Spain, Sept. 17, 2001.
We Are Sitting on a Volcano | Frédéric Lenoir, Le Monde (liberal), Sept. 16, 2001.
Will There Be War? It's Here Already! | Blazej Panik, Narodna Obrodna (independent, nationalist), Bratislava, Slovakia, Sept. 14, 2001.
Editorial: A State Action?| Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (conservative), Frankfurt, Germany, Sept. 14, 2001.
Only the Bold Will Bear a White Flag | Boris Pankin, Moscow Times (independent), Moscow, Russia, Sept. 13, 2001.
The Bush Question | Le Monde (liberal), Paris, France, Sept. 14, 2001.
Excerpt: "Is the United States led by the president it needs in order to confront one of the most serious crises it has ever faced? No one, or next to no one, is asking that question openly..."
The Israel Syndrome Awaits Americans | David Shorf, Lidové Noviny (independent), Prague, Sept. 14, 2001.
Excerpt: "The front pages of the world's dailies declare: 'The world will never be the same.' All right. But if we forget for a moment the pathos of these empty sentences, what is the concrete idea that stands behind them? How has the daily life of the normal American changed? One doesn't sense geopolitical change on a personal level right away. But something else is evident immediately. Let's call it the Israel syndrome. When you go to buy milk at a supermarket in Jerusalem, you automatically stop at the security post with your open bag. There, they check to make sure you haven't got a weapon, bomb, or the like. The same thing happens when you enter the grounds of a university... Panic can break out if you put a bag down in Tel Aviv to take a look around a store. All Israelis are fearful of a possible bomb attack. They are terrified of anything that could be a bomb. Every day in Israel, a police robot destroys forgotten backpacks containing books. Everyone regards it as normal. It is a part of life. A life of war. Palestinian terrorists have managed to defeat the technologically advanced Israeli army. Not with arms but with fear."