Hi, Fernando (et al.)--
I give in...I have to comment too! I think you're very right, Fernando (and others) that many people (far too many, in my opinion) follow the reporting of the American media without questioning both the depth and the bias of the coverage. I would venture to suggest that most of the people on this board, however, feel compelled to delve more deeply into these issues (just look at the attention to this thread!) and don't accept what's said at face value. That said, this wound is a new and raw one for us Americans (and really, for so many people around the world) that we are just now coming to grips with how it will change our (heretofore relatively insular--even for those of us who try to take a broader world view, read overseas news, etc.) lives.

For people living in Spain, or the Middle East, or Northern Ireland, or any of the other places in the world where terrorism has become ingrained in daily lives (even to the point where the reports of attacks don't draw wide attention anymore), there has been much more time to think about what all this means for the regular citizen. That's not to say that people in those places don't think carefully and deeply about the ramifications of terror; on the contrary, those thoughts have had time to evolve in response to years and years (even a lifetime) of terrorist threat. If you want to see a particularly chilling picture of this, check out Laurel Holliday's "Children of Conflict" series, in which she compiles the writings of young people growing up in Israel and Palestine, Northern Ireland, America during the Civil Rights movement, and the Holocaust.

We Americans are still new at this. I think the military tribunals are a sign of this; one would hope that we will evolve a more appropriate system over time. In the meantime, we're still reeling, both personally and as a society.

I always tell my students at the University that we should keep in mind that most people in the world do the best they can with the situation and information before them at any given time. With all my dislike of the current American administration before 9/11, I have to work particularly hard to keep this in mind.

I hope we can all continue to (constructively) criticize BOTH Spain's and America's governmental policies. It's more important than ever to us in America, and it's as important as it's ever been in Spain. As for individual views on things like the death penalty, those will persist--as they should. Careful inquiry into death penalty cases by various groups (and even classes of college students) has resulted in some shocking findings of innocence among people slated to die. Regardless of your view about whether Bin Ladin and his ilk deserve to die or be locked up forever or whatever, I am sure we can all agree that the highest standards of evidence should apply to his case, as to all others. Those decisions are irreversible. I would argue that we owe it to the victims of 9/11, and to the many horribly victimized Afghan people, to learn all the facts we can before meting out punishment in their names.

Tara

[ 11-28-2001: Message edited by: taravb ]