NORWAY AND SWEDEN
by Elin Sjursen, 09/16/2001
|
"The Taliban in Afghanistan tell us that they are preparing for a massive American attack. They are wise to do so. But how many of the victims will be Taliban leaders who detest Osama bin Laden? How many will be poor Afghans living under the Taliban's repression, Afghans who are suffering hunger and barely have a place to live?" This quote is translated from the article "Who are to die when the U.S. gets revenge?" in the Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet. The sentiments of the Scandinavian press go out to the innocent lives that were lost last Tuesday, 11 September -- and the grieving nation left behind. Yet, the gruesome fate that came so unexpectedly this week to the victims of the terrorist attacks is a fate that no innocent person should ever again have to face -- regardless of nationality, location of residence, or religious belief. This is the recurring message in the Scandinavian news media. Now that the enemy has been "identified," there is growing concern that an American retaliation will do nothing but mark the U.S. as a vindictive nation, targeting a whole country and not the people behind the deed. At first, the media was in shock covering what happened. To some degree, this has now turned to a closer look at how desperate and anxious Afghanistan families are attempting to flee from their homeland, fearing a possible American retribution. Verdens Gang (Norway) publishes: Ahmad fled from Kabul, via Jahllabad. "I was scared. I was there for only three days, yet it felt like three months. Everybody is afraid, expecting the attack to come. People are inundating this border post because it is still open and thus give them an ounce of hope," he explains. Reaching the Pakistani border, these families are reportedly met by guards, policemen, and military personnel charging between 200 and 300 rubles per person for permission to cross the border. Some families have too many children and family members to afford this price of "freedom" and have nowhere to go. The Scandinavian press is concerned that if an attack is launched against Afghanistan, the unavoidable loss of innocent lives in this country will fuel a new hatred toward the American nation -- creating a "spiral effect" of violence that might never end. Aftonbladet in Sweden writes: "Revenge gives birth to new martyrs -- so that new seeds of young terrorists can grow." There is also widespread news coverage of Scandinavian citizens
who reside or are visiting the U.S. Two of Norway's most prominent
online papers, Verdens Gang The Norwegian television broadcasters, NRK and TV2, received some critique for repeatedly showing the scenes where the aircrafts crashed into the WTC towers. Psychologist Atle Dyregrov warned through an online interview that: ".. an ongoing repetition of these clips will eventually destroy people's capability to show sympathy. You will reach a point of tiredness, where you feel you have had enough and emotionally shut down. " Related Links in English
Related Links in Scandanavian Languages
|
