Nation and world digest

SWEDEN

Dagens Nyheter, Aug 19: Afghanistan is holding elections. It is the second time elections are being held in the country after the U.S. invasion and the fall of the Taliban regime. ... It is the second time ever that democratic elections are being held in Afghanistan.

Afghanistan’s biggest challenge is to build up a functioning and legitimate state. ... The Afghan government needs to gain control over the country. Without military and police infrastructure nothing else works. To build schools just to have them burned down only creates disappointment and indignation.

But the civil infrastructure also needs to be built. Without schools, hospitals, roads and new work opportunities, instigators of rebellion, Taliban and criminal gang leaders will continue to recruit supporters.

International terror

Faltering states, such as Afghanistan and Somalia, are of concern for the whole world community in a globalized world. Chaos and civil war are the worst conditions people can live under. That is also a perfect breeding ground for international terror. The cynicism isn’t found in providing military help to try to establish a stable and democratic rule in these countries. The cynicism is found in leaving them alone or secretly peeking as inhumane dictatorships take power.

BRITAIN

The Independent, London, Aug. 19: The accident at Russia’s largest hydro-electric power station, the Sayano-Shushenskaya plant in Siberia, has so far cost more than 70 lives. The pictures show utter devastation in the cavernous turbine hall. As much as one quarter of the electricity Russia generates by hydro-power has been knocked out. The authorities say repairs will take many months and the expense will run into billions of roubles.

Blow to national pride

This is an accident, in its way, that has the potential to be almost as devastating for Russia as the 1986 disaster at Chernobyl was for the Soviet Union. It is a huge blow to national pride. Sayano-Shushenskaya was a landmark Soviet project. ... Repairs will knock a large hole in Russia’s budget, which is recovering only slowly from the effects of the global downturn and the slide in commodities prices last year.

But the accident apparently caused by a pressure surge in pipes is also a harbinger of something Russia’s leaders have long feared: the inexorable degradation of the Soviet-era infrastructure. From power stations to ports and airports, to pipelines and railways, through city heating plants and the Moscow metro almost everything is in need of renovation.

ISRAEL

Jerusalem Post, Aug. 18: As Israelis observe Americans debate universal health care, we find ourselves struck by the fact that our little country is actually more advanced than the U.S. in providing all residents with medical coverage. But we take no pleasure in the realization that political discourse in the U.S. has sometimes deteriorated to the crude levels too often seen in Israel.

According to the Pew Research Center, most Republicans say the U.S. health care system doesn’t need fixing, while most Democrats argue the opposite view. But overall, says the center, 75 percent of Americans do want to change the system.

Quasi-public option

Even Obama supporters say he needs to give the American people more specifics on how the plan will be paid for and better explain why providing a public or quasi-public option is not some elaborate plot for a government takeover of all health care delivery.

We do not presume to tell Americans how to proceed. We can only point to our own experience which demonstrates ... that universal coverage is workable.

However, there is no doubt that Israelis sacrifice a level of privacy that Americans enjoy.