ITALY

Corriere della Sera, Milan, Sept. 25: It seems as though time has been suspended since the attack on New York. A world war has not exploded since 1945 even though there have been infinite numbers of conflicts -- Korea, Vietnam, Middle East, the Gulf War, Bosnia just to name a few.
These wars were lit fuses, but to the distracted, opulent states they did not even seem wars -- unlike the one of today, which threatens all humanity.
The word began to rebound immediately after the attack, in every language on earth: war, the apocalypse, the end of the world.
Mourning: How well is Italy responding? Commiseration and minutes of silence abound, like rhetoric. Soccer players hold hands as a sign of mourning. Ferrari's Formula one cars are painted black.
War is probably the most significant event in the lives of those who have experienced it. Its memory, in a time that denies its very existence, is still today among the few things that manage to be transmitted from generation to generation.
It should never be forgotten that peace is the supreme good, so difficult to regain once lost.
CHINA
South China Morning Post, Hong Kong, Sept. 25: As the U.S. noose tightens around Afghanistan, it's worth sparing a thought for the Afghan people. They have already been pushed back into the middle ages by a regime they did not elect. After years of Cold War-inspired conflict, their land has been devastated. Their towns and cities are crumbling, hospitals and schools barely function, and a generation of Afghan children are growing up severely malnourished. Almost every trace of modern civilization, except for the latest weapons, has been abolished by the Taliban.
Fighting machine: Now, for no discernible fault of theirs, the people of Afghanistan will face an onslaught from the world's most formidable fighting machine.
If a medieval, bitter Afghanistan is not to be a permanent threat, it is important that the United States and the rest of the world community make a concerted effort to rebuild Afghanistan and bring that country into the 21st century.
BRITAIN
The Independent, London, Sept. 23: Bush has not yet earned the right to lead us to war.
We await conclusive evidence that Osama bin Laden was the architect of the appalling attacks in New York and Washington. President Bush has described Mr. bin Laden as the "prime suspect," but he also promised to make public the evidence. Surely it would make greater sense to do this before any military action is undertaken. Where is the evidence, Mr. Bush?
Bellicose rhetoric: The rhetoric of the president is becoming more bellicose. His acclaimed address to Congress on Thursday has been described by his admirers as Churchillian. But Churchill had clearly defined war aims and a sense of the means required to achieve them. President Bush is talking Churchillian with only a shadowy enemy and war aims that are so vague as to be almost meaningless. There are too many questions to answer before he becomes the legitimate war leader of the West.
ARGENTINA
Clarin, Buenos Aires, Sept. 25: The prospects of finalizing an encounter between Israeli foreign minister Shimon Peres and Palestine president Yasser Arafat raise slender hopes, no matter how small, of the start of a new stage in the negotiations to rein in the conflict in the Middle East.
Israelis and Palestines, protagonists in a battle of antagonisms over national designs on the same territory, find themselves in the same camp when it comes to fighting fundamentalist terrorism whose declared objective is not the liberation or self-determination of a people -- but quite simply the destruction of civilization. In this new scenario, Israelis and Palestinians stand to lose much more in their internal struggles.
Dialogue: Awareness of these new dangers makes it even more imperative that the dialogue begin in order to turn back the spiral of violence that so far has been uncontrollable.
SWEDEN
Aftonbladet, Stockholm, Sept. 26: During the past 10 years, global capitalism has increased prosperity in many countries, but the very poorest have fallen behind. Terrorism must never be excused or legitimatized. But we, who live in the rich West, must openly understand and analyze its breeding grounds. It's no coincidence that the terror attacks against the U.S.A. -- by all appearances -- have their foundations in the poor parts of Central Asia.
Debt write-offs: Within the framework of the United Nations, the rich countries should unite on a crisis program with quick debt write-offs, new aid programs and an international exchange that could open these countries to the rest of the world. As long as the rich world does not take its responsibility, we cannot count on any modernization of the poorest countries.
And neither can we then count on any long-term success in the fight against terrorism.