Americas

From the November 2001 issue of World Press Review (VOL. 48, No. 11)

Argentina: Total Solidarity with Victims

La Nación (conservative), Buenos Aires, Argentina, September 13, 2001

It is indispensable to account for the fact that the authentic faithful of Islam are far removed from terrorist fundamentalism. If that is not recognized, one runs the risk of encouraging inaccurate generalizations and thus giving a distorted view of the extent to which the groups that have chosen the path of terror are representative [of the global Islamic community]. The Islamic faith, when it is genuine, is the antithesis of violence and hatred. Nothing would be more timely, in that sense, than the majority of the Arab nations’ making a clear and severe condemnation of the monstrous attack.

These considerations take on fundamental importance at a time when the world anguishes over one of the most savage and abominable crimes recorded in human history. The entire world today must be prepared to express its total solidarity with the nation assaulted and with the victims of the infamous attack. That does not imply a disregard for the cultural context in which this crime was perpetrated, without which errors could be committed that would be difficult to repair.

The United States has reacted with calm rationality and a greatness of spirit in the face of vile aggression. That is precisely what is expected from a nation that has set its course in the defense of the great republican and demo-cratic principles that reign over a vast portion of the planet.

Of course, serenity and sensitivity must not signify passivity. Those people responsible for the perverse attack must be identified, detained, and brought to judgment with all the firmness that marks the laws and principles of the civilized world. Whatever is done toward that end must receive the strongest support of the international community. On that historic occasion, fundamentalist fanaticism must receive the punishment it deserves. On that point, there exists not the slightest doubt.




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