GERMANY

The Berliner Zeitung, Berlin, March 6: The Taliban regime in Afghanistan is recognized worldwide only by Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and United Arab Emirates. International ostracism has hurt the regime as much as the the arms embargo. As long as Pakistan continues to maintain relations with the Taliban, this regime will be able to do whatever it wants. It will be able to persecute and massacre the population, and no one will prevent it from doing so. The drought -- which has lasted for months and is the worst in more than 30 years -- is viewed by the "prince of the believers," Mohammed Omar, as "God's punishment of those who reject Islamic rule." They are the one million people who are at risk of starving to death.
Deaths: There has been war in Afghanistan for more than 20 years. Two million have died and three million have fled. Pakistan and Iran have taken in most of the refugees. Only very few Afghans have come to Europe or even to the U.S. Therefore Western interest in this conflict amounts to nearly nothing.
The world accepted the murder of millions of people. It would be a miracle if it continued to be scandalized by the destruction of the two impressive statues.
The missiles fired against the Buddha statues in Bamiyan by the Taliban are not aimed merely at stone. They want to kill an idea, the idea that people with different views, of different origin, and with different beliefs can live together and build a society in which these differences are not leveled, but made fruitful. This, however, would be what we call culture.
BRITAIN
The Guardian, London, March 7: Here is Winnie the Pooh, coming down the stairs now, bump, bump, bump, on the back of his head, behind Walt Disney. As a bear of very little brain, he is possibly not yet aware that Disney has paid a cool 240 million pounds ($360 million) for the right to exploit him, along with his friends Piglet, Rabbit, Eeyore and Owl, for the next 25 years. The money will go to various causes, chiefly the Royal Literary Fund, which stands to make 90 million pounds ($135 million).
Disney's coup is not, however, an outcome which satisfies the Sun tabloid, which calls it a lost opportunity. "We calculate," it moans, "that the U.S. taxman will earn $1.5 billion this year alone from Disney's Pooh profits. Schools will be built in America. Roads will be built in America. National debt will be paid in America. (The family of Pooh creator A.A. Milne has) sold out to a gigantic media conglomerate. Did it ever occur to them that they could have been running their own?"
Gentle figure: Probably not. The real life Christopher Robin seems to have been a gentle, reflective figure, unthrilled by the prospect of a Very Deep Pit full of money. Gigantic media conglomerates were hardly his kind of heffalump.
THAILAND
The Nation, Bangkok, March 7: With the destruction of Buddhist statues throughout Afghanistan, especially the unique giant rock carvings, the ruling Taliban has assured itself of an infamous place in history. Thailand has joined other Buddhist countries, and indeed the rest of the world, in condemning the Taliban's action.
Religious jingoism: Apart from satisfying some deep religious jingoism, there appears to be no logical reason for this act of vandalism. The consequences are simply that the Taliban will be further isolated from the international community. The country is already reeling from economic sanctions by the United Nations, and the Afghan people, most of whom have been hit hard by severe drought and a harsh winter, continue to suffer. Since they took control of most of the country several years ago, the Taliban have not provided any social services for the people, rather they have striven to take the country back to the dark ages."
SWITZERLAND
Le Matin, Lausanne, March 7: The death rate by shooting of young people under 15 years old is 12 times higher in the United States than in 25 other industrialized nations. Could this be something to do with the fact that there are 250 million guns in the country?
Ask this question of relatives of the victims of violence in high schools, and measure the huge gap between their viewpoint and that of their president on what is still a taboo in Republican circles -- controlling the trade in firearms.
In the name of the sacrosanct Second Amendment -- which guarantees the right to bear arms -- Dubya has made the arguments of the gun lobby his own. But in a country which counts more gun shops than educational establishments the American people have other ideas.
Arms industry: In the face of such a popular consensus how is it possible to explain that, two years after the Columbine High tragedy, legislators still refuse to set in law the obligation to register the purchase of a handgun? Why have they failed to force the arms industry to add safety mechanisms to guns?
The answer is simple: in English, "Follow the money."
Follow the money of the gun lobby, which has made over $13 million in campaign donations since 1990, 90 percent of them to the party of the President. But the patience of Americans with this powerful interest group is wearing thin, and Dubya will need more than charm to convince them of his integrity and leadership on this issue.