The acceleration of the military offensive, before the onset of the Afghan winter, and the enlargement of the confines of the conflict, thanks to the participation of an ever growing number of countries “allied” with the United States: these are the “war issues” on which the main European dailies continue to reflect, with editorials and comments once again aimed at “decoding” the Western war in response to the Islamic terrorist attacks. “The war is being stepped up, political action is hardening” is for instance the front-page headline in Le Monde of 6/11, in an editorial in which Patrick Jarreau notes that “the pace of the bombardments” has been stepped up in the zone around Kabul: the military now “confirm it is their intention to continue the strikes during the month of Ramadan, which begins around 17 November”. “The Americans are picking up courage in Afghanistan”, is the headline chosen by La Croix (5/11), according to which “a ground attack seems ever closer”. And the war described by Pierre Cochez in an article inside the same paper is one that “ is being relentlessly stepped up“: Cochez notes that “ the fact that winter is drawing ever closer risks complicating the military operations, in particular if some troops are forced to intervene on the ground (…). Regarding the continuation of the war, the Islamic and American forces agree on one point: the fighting will be continued during the month of Ramadan, and no truce will therefore be observed”. The front page of the Herald Tribune (7/11), on the other hand, is dedicated to some recent statements of President Bush, who reports Brian Knowlton “has expressed a harsh judgment on the threat posed by terrorists such as those faithful to Osama Bin Laden in Afghanistan, saying they would not hesitate to use biological, chemical and even nuclear weapons and could threaten ‘civilization itself’ by their ‘mad, global ambition'”. Writing in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung of 6/11, Guenther Nonnemacher, in a front-page editorial “What must Europe do?”, poses questions about what ought to be the role of the continent and the EU in the current situation of international crisis: “Now the time of doubt about the American strategy has begun, and with it European unity has also been shaken by tensions, caused not least by questions of internal policy”. Various criticisms of European foreign policy then follow: “The EU could and should at least consolidate its confused apparatus of foreign policy”. Writing in the Spiegel of 05/11, which continues to treat the case of Afghanistan as a central issue in its reports, Susanne Koelbl deals with the difficult situation of Christians in Pakistan in an article entitled “Bodyguards below the cross”. “We could be the next. We have a need for protection. They see in us the Westerners, for them we are the English, the Americans”, says the Rev. Aftar Gohar, of Bannu. A similar situation is encountered in Peshawar, in the Christian settlement of Lahori-Gate, where “ Catholics and Protestants see themselves as potential targets”, writes the author of the article. The Spanish dailies too continue to dedicate a good deal of coverage to the American attack on Afghanistan. In La Vanguardia (5/11), the journalist Juan M. Hernandez Puertolas resumes the question of the “ethical and political debate between those who seek to justify the assassination of the terrorist-tyrant (Bin Laden) and the orthodox proponents of legality who defend the need to place the delinquent at the disposal of courts of justice”. The article “ The end and the means” emphasizes that “history has furnished various examples of identification between tyrant and regime”, but it asks “would the physical elimination of leaders like Hitler, Stalin, Mao, Ho Chi Min and the ayotallah Khomeini have saved hundreds of thousands of human lives and especially would it have radically changed the course of history?”. Another major theme is the “plight of Afghan women”, which M. Dolors Renau analyzes in El Pais (4/11). In a long article entitled “ Less war, more politics, more rights” she recalls that the “the best weapon against international terrorism is the eradication of the great injustices and a real democratic policy that may restore freedom, dignity and development to all people, both men and women. At the present time the political regime of a post-Taleban Afghanistan, that may guarantee democracy and the human rights of everyone, is being negotiated. The participation of Afghan women in anti-Taleban women’s associations, at the negotiating table, and in future governments is therefore essential, and active policies aimed at the recognition and exercise of all women’s rights need to be implemented”.
