The new suicide attack in Iraq, which caused 70 victims and 55 injured on 28 July, provides the front-page story in the Herald Tribune (29/7). “ Violence has exploded in Iraq”, write Jhalid al-Ansary and Ian Fischer, who point out that the car-bomb attack of the previous day “ was one of the attacks that has caused most victims in the country and by far the worst since the American occupation of 28 June“; not to mention that, on the same day, “at least 35 rebels were killed in a raid that involved Iraq and foreign troops to the south of Baghdad”. “The news from Iraq continues to be grim”, comments Elio Maraone in the Italian Catholic daily Avvenire (29/7), emphasizing that, apart from the number of victims of the terrorist actions, “no less striking, in a practically omnipresent situation of violence, is the fact that the daily number of Americans killed has doubled in the month that followed the handing over of power from the occupying forces to the Iraqi government. The number of the victims of terrorist attacks among the ranks of the Iraqi police forces and army in the process of being re-established has also more than doubled during the same period. The victims are mainly young: urged to enrol not only by economic need, but also by the desire for pacification within a re-found national dignity, purged by the oppression of the dictator Saddam Hussein”. The Democratic Convention in the USA monopolises the attention of the Herald Tribune, in its edition of 28/7. “Kerry aims at security and the fight against terrorism”, is the headline over an article by Brian Knowlton, who sums up the positions adopted by the challenger of Bush on the question of the war in Iraq as follows: “Kerry was obliged to trace a precise policy line on Iraq and on other military questions, trying to criticise the impetus that took Bush to war without paying attention to the fact that he had been voted into office to authorize it”. “Bill and Hillary Clinton, much applauded, appeal to the Democrats to unite”, is the comment of Le Monde of 28/7 on the Convention in Boston. With regard to the former presidential couple, Patrick Jarreau notes that “ both supported the war in Iraq and, if they criticize the way in which Bush has conducted it, do not form part of those who accuse him of having deliberately deceived the American people by asserting that Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction”. The two wives of the Democratic pretenders to the White House are commented on, in turn, by La Croix (27/7), placing the emphasis on the difference in style between the two ladies: “ Independent and strong writes Robin Assours – Teresa Heinz Kerry and Elizabeth Edward are ready to dedicate themselves at the side of their husbands to convince the American electors to elect the Democratic tandem in order to replace the Bush-Cheney duo”. “Democracy needs to be resuscitated” is the title of the editorial in the last number (July-August) of “Europe infos”, the monthly bulletin of COMECE, the Commission of the Episcopates of the European Community, and of OCIPE, the Catholic Office of Information and Initiative for Europe. “The victory of the parties hostile to the European Union write Jan Kerkhofs and Noel Treanor is not a source of disappointment. The presence of politicians who express the doubts of large numbers of citizens about the Union ought to be salutary for the European Parliament”. If there is a reason for regret, it is, in the view of the two commentators, undoubtedly that of “the high rate of abstention at the polls. It is inevitable to doubt in the representativeness of an assembly elected by only half the electorate”. The causes of such abstention include the fact that “the vote, once both a right and a duty, seems to have been forgotten by the electors, who preferred to go to the beach instead. Duties to the Community are considered obstacles rather than the precondition for our individual rights and liberties. As for European unification, this no longer seems to be the key to lasting peace in our continent”. The electors’ commitment to democracy, continues the editorial, “will be tested even before the next elections. Several countries are organizing a referendum on the new Constitutional Treaty. Asking citizens to evaluate a Treaty of 300 pages and reduce it to a ‘yes’ or a ‘no’ is extremely difficult. It needs to be ascertained whether electors are sufficiently well informed about the significance it has for them”. Faced by the forthcoming referendums on the Constitution, concludes Europe Infos, “the priority must be that of ensuring participation in the elections… The Constitutional Treaty must promote participative democracy and ensure open and regular dialogue between the Union and civil society. The Churches and communities will have the right to the same dialogue. The time has come to resuscitate our democratic culture”. ———————————————————————————————————– Sir Europa (English) N.ro assoluto : 1318 N.ro relativo : 58 Data pubblicazione : 31/07/04
