After the publishing of more than 90,000 obviously compromising documents the daily Der Standard declares the Afghanistan war a failure: "No matter what strategies the US, Brussels and Kabul come up with their credibility has been destroyed. How are they supposed to explain that a special task force has been hunting down the Taliban for years now without success? How can they justify publicly praising cooperation with the Pakistani authorities when it turns out that the Pakistani secret service is 'probably the Taliban's most important non-Afghan helper'? … Criticism of the risky operation will grow in all countries involved. For Nato, which since the end of the Cold War has seen it's role as that of the global policeman, this raises the question of its legitimacy. Despite the official exhortations to hold out it's long been clear that this war cannot be won. The parallels with Vietnam are becoming obvious: In 1971 a US court forced the publishing of secret documents on the situation in Vietnam, nowadays the Internet ensures transparency." (27/07/2010)

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More from the press review on the subject » Security Policy / Crises / War, » Germany, » U.S., » Afghanistan
All available articles from » Alexandra Föderl-Schmid

The tabloid The Sun roundly condemns the publishing of more than 90,000 mostly secret documents on the Afghan war: "The publication of intelligence reports by left-wing journals in Britain, Germany and America can only have one effect - to undermine the morale of the frontline men and women who are prepared to give their lives for freedom. Military chiefs warn yesterday's disclosures will put at risk the lives of even more British and American soldiers. And it will help undermine the trust between the coalition partners fighting in Afghanistan - as well as increasing public anxiety. The clown who published the files said they seemed to show 'evidence of war crimes'. But it is the man who leaked them in the first place who should be in the dock. And quickly. He has done enough harm." (27/07/2010)

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Wikileaks has made a scoop with its documents on the Afghan war yet the renowned papers researched and published the same facts years ago, writes the Neue Zürcher Zeitung: "The masochism of a profession that doesn't attach much value to its own achievements and the public's one-sided perception have acquired new dimensions with Wikileaks. There have always been people who out of revenge, greed for profit or genuine indignation have leaked the confidential documents of their employers to a newspaper. Investigative journalism would be unthinkable without these whistleblowers. But Wikileaks is taking this phenomenon to a new level. The platform maintains that in three years it has published 1.2 million documents - for which Wikileaks would have had to receive, examine and publish more than 1,000 reports daily. One may doubt the veracity of these figures but the platform's impact can't be denied. It reverses the normal media ranking order: the New York Times and the Spiegel don't do the investigative journalism, they just print the investigative products of others." (27/07/2010)

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More from the press review on the subject » Security Policy / Crises / War, » Print media, » Online media, » U.S., » Global, » Afghanistan
All available articles from » Eric Gujer

The disclosures about military deployments in Afghanistan should prompt Estonians to revise their views about Nato, according to the news portal Delfi: "Until now above all official Estonia has spoken about the rights and duties of a Nato member, including our participation in the Afghanistan mission. Now however we are confronted with a far more complicated situation. If Nato offers the right to protection and the duty to participate in joint missions, does that mean there is also a collective responsibility for the killing of civilians? Estonian soldiers are not mentioned specifically in the published documents, but we are allies of the Americans, British and other Nato partners accused of having shot civilians, including children. As long as the focus was on civil reconstruction we were happy to share the laurels. But how do things look now when it's time to share the burden of guilt?" (27/07/2010)

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The al-Qaeda terrorist network executed a French hostage on the weekend in retaliation for a French-Mauritanian military attack. The left-liberal daily El Periódico de Catalunya criticises the risky approach of French President Nicolas Sarkozy: "The terrorist organisation al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb … is solely to blame for the murder of the French aid worker Michel Germaneau, who they kidnapped three months ago. This should be emphasised to make it clear that nothing can justify the death of this innocent man whose only crime was to help with the construction of a school in the poor heart of the Sahara desert. But it should also be said that in cooperation with the Mauritanian military the French president initiated a series of operations in Mali's desert that ended in a crushing defeat because they weren't able to free Germaneau and led to the radicalisation of the Islamists who had him in their power." (27/07/2010)

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More from the press review on the subject » International Relations, » Security Policy / Crises / War, » Social movements, » France, » Africa

The European Union on Monday decided to impose tough economic sanctions against Iran in a bid to force Tehran into serious negotiations over its nuclear programme. The sanctions are unusually harsh this time but the business paper Il Sole 24 Ore still doubts whether this approach will be successful: "Brussels is sticking to its carrot-and-stick policy but the stick is particularly hard this time. … The sanctions go far beyond the measures adopted by the UN and even the US because they go straight to the heart of Iran's economy, its oil industry and its relations with key business partners. … The negotiations on its nuclear programme have been at standstill since October. Yesterday Tehran's senior envoy to the International Atomic Energy Agency, Ali Asghar Soltanieh, stressed the willingness of his country to return to the negotiating table 'without conditions' but despite the simultaneousness it's difficult to see a connection between this sudden readiness for dialogue and the new sanctions." (27/07/2010)

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All available articles from » Sissi Bellomo

More than 30 years after the end of Khmer Rouge rule, the former head of the infamous Tuol Sleng prison camp in Phnom Penh has been sentenced to 35 years in prison. After Kaing Guek Eav, alias Duch, four other former leaders of the Khmer Rouge are still awaiting their verdict. For the conservative daily Svenska Dagbladet the ruling successfully brings to light the crimes of communism: "Historically speaking communism has never been held accountable for its crimes on a large scale. Many of the worst communist criminals escaped punishment or died before they could be put on trial. But this time at least justice has caught up with one of them. Pol Pot's second in command Nuon Chea, his head of state Khieu Samphan, foreign minister Ieng Sary and social affairs minister Ieng Thirith, all of whom await their judgements, also feel danger breathing down their necks. Anyone who refuses to believe that Duch personifies communism in its most naked form is only lying to himself. The catastrophe in Cambodia was not a limited event confined to a specific period of time ... but the symptom of a state of mind." (27/07/2010)

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More from the press review on the subject » International Relations, » Social movements, » History, » Remembrance culture, » Asia, » Global
All available articles from » Johan Wennström

The French party donation scandal has not only caused trouble for Labour Minister Eric Woerth and President Nicolas Sarkozy but will also have far-reaching repercussions for all Europe, writes the daily Latvijas Avīze: "Europe has a rich tradition as far as the disclosure of illegal party funding is concerned. The French scandal wouldn't have triggered such a commotion if it hadn't come at such an inconvenient time: Woerth is responsible for the pension reform and if this fails it means a loss of trust on the international financial markets with unpredictable results for all Europe. For now Sarkozy plans a major government reshuffle in October and no doubt he hopes the uproar will abate during the holiday season. But perhaps the opposite will happen because a majority of citizens are still of the opinion that the political leadership they elect should not be dancing around the golden calf." (27/07/2010)

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All available articles from » Uldis Šmits

For Jiří Dienstbier, former UN Human Rights High Commissioner for Yugoslavia, the International Court of Justice's recent judgement on Kosovo comes as a boon to separatists the world over. In a commentary for the leftist daily Právo he writes: "Supporters of the judgement are rejoicing that they are finally rid of a problem they themselves created with the bombing of Yugoslavia. But they're not rid of it. The court created a precedent which separatists throughout the world can use to their advantage. ... The court ignored a fundamental principle of international law: the Final Act of the Helsinki Accords bans border changes without the consent of all parties concerned. ... The inhabitants of Kosovo are also not aided by the isolation they find themselves in since their separation from Serbia - which was approved by a significant number of states. The Balkan countries must be supported on their path to EU membership. But the recognition of Kosovo, a dysfunctional province which even in the form of an international protectorate could not prevent the destabilisation of the Balkans, leads in precisely the opposite direction." (27/07/2010)

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All available articles from » Jiří Dienstbier

The tragedy of the Love Parade in Duisburg where 20 people died highlights the stiff competition between cities, writes Stephan Hebel in the left-liberal daily Frankfurter Rundschau: "Fired on by the organisers, Duisburg's politicians must have painted the prettiest picture of the consequences of a successful Love Parade. The old mining city, now for the most part only known for its poverty, wanted once again to hear good news about itself. Images of happy ravers were to draw people to the city in future. ... All that is particular neither to Duisburg nor to the 'public sector'. Everywhere you look you hear about projects where one thing holds above all: failure forbidden. We live in an accelerated economy dominated by worldwide competition, also between 'locations', that is to say cities and regions. There the realisation that a given project outstrips human possibilities and proportions is often not considered a strength - which it is - but a weakness. ... [Duisburg's Mayor] Adolf Sauerland is no cynic, he is certainly deeply grieved. He merely functioned as part of a world ruled by the dictates of the doable, even to the point of blindness. In that respect he is just like many of us." (27/07/2010)

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More from the press review on the subject » Music, » Cultural Policy, » Economic Policy, » Germany
All available articles from » Stephan Hebel

Lobbyism has won the upper hand in Brussels under EU Commission President José Manuel Barroso, the weekly Glasove contends, and examines the careers of those who were commissioners during Barroso's first term in office: "Ireland's former EU Commissioner for Internal Market and Services Charles McCreevy went to budget airline Ryanair, which with its constant violations of EU norms was a permanent customer of the Commission. The Bulgarian commissioner Meglena Kuneva found her way into [French commercial bank] BNP Paribas. The well-known politician Günther Verheugen has secured himself a post at a major British bank and EU Commissioner for External Relations Benita Ferrero-Waldner is with German insurance giant Munich Re. ... Brussels has a lobbyism problem and it begins right at the top. The financial rationalism of the ex-commissioner is completely understandable but it turns the 'European dream' into capital. If as a result entire states begin to let themselves be guided by the logic of their own interests, no one will be able to blame them." (26/07/2010)

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All available articles from » Vladimir Shopov

The board of directors of the Polish postal services has approved General Director Andrzej Polakowski's restructuring plans, which are to prepare the company for the full liberalisation of the Polish postal market in 2013 and provide for the axing of 8,000 job. The online edition of the news magazine Polityka backs the plan: "Together with other costs, salaries certainly represent a large part of the ballast that Polakowski can toss overboard. In total he plans to save 1.7 billion złoty [420 million euros]. This sum also earmarks savings of 330 million złoty [82 million euros] through 'optimising its post office network'. Certainly, one should praise the monopolist's board of directors for pressing ahead with these bold reforms, nevertheless their impressive scale also shows unmistakably ... how poorly the business has been run until now." (27/07/2010)

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All available articles from » Paweł Wrabec

The news of the exhumation of ex-dictator Nicolae Ceauşescu and his wife spread around the world last week. The news portal Hotnews asks British historian Peter Siani-Davies, a specialist on Southeastern Europe, why the event arouses such interest: "Whether we like it or not Ceauşescu is the sole Romanian - with the possible exception of Dracula - known by almost everyone in the world. ... Just as Stalin embodies the horrors of Soviet communism, Ceauşescu represents the same for Eastern Europe - and that's why people find him so interesting. In such a complex and unstable situation as the fall of communism in Eastern Europe in 1989, the world wants to be clear on who are the heroes and who are the villains. On the one side stood Václav Havel and Lech Wałęsa ... and on the other was Nicolae Ceauşescu, the unmistakable figure in a sea of grey apparatchiks. He was the archetype of the unscrupulous tyrant who lived in luxury while his people starved. ... To this day Ceauşescu remains a fascinating and famous figure. And that's just as he would have wanted it, only without the negative aspects." (27/07/2010)

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All available articles from » Vlad Mixich

The Power Balance wristbands from California, which are supposed to restore the body-mind balance, have become an absolute 'must have' in Italy. The liberal daily La Stampa takes a look at why: "Some think it's rubbish. But fashion is holding sway and a wave of videos about the 'balance band' is flooding the web mostly featuring young adults balancing on one leg while others try to knock them down. The ones wearing the band remain standing while the others lose their balance. What looks like a sketch is an experiment recommended by the manufacturers to prove the effectiveness of the mechanism. … The band promises more flexibility, more energy, more balance. Is it all just publicity? Launched by word of mouth, this amazing object has been seen on the wrists of football players, film stars and royals like the Spanish infanta. … There are no limits to imagination. Like Jedi knights in the Star Wars saga bloggers talk of a 'new power balance'. May the Power Balance wristband be with you." (27/07/2010)

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More from the press review on the subject » Public Culture, » Italy
All available articles from » Roselina Salemi