Heroines have their own minds
Oct. 2nd, 2004 11:18 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ergI like the Italian american phrase "It's all good."
ROME -- For three weeks, Italians marched, held vigils and lit candles, and politicians united to promote freedom for a pair of humanitarian aid workers held captive in Iraq.
Only days after the safe return of Simona Pari and Simona Torretta, the country and its politicians are now divided. The celebration of the Two Simonas, as the pair came to be known, has been clouded by a wave of recrimination over Italy's participation in the U.S.-led efforts to pacify Iraq.
The controversy began almost immediately upon the arrival of Pari and Torretta in Rome early Wednesday. The pair expressed thanks to a variety of people and groups, including Arab moderates and Muslims. But they failed to thank the government of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, which organized a diplomatic campaign to free them and, it is widely reported and only tepidly denied by him, paid a $1 million ransom.
The women, who opposed the war and Italy's involvement in the occupation, also expressed a desire to quickly return to Iraq -- a wish since retracted -- and they called for an end to Italy's involvement. They made no appeal for the freedom of other hostages.
Torretta called the interim Iraqi government of Ayad Allawi a "puppet" and said people "have to distinguish between terrorism and resistance." The women worked for a group that has labored in Iraq since the end of the 1991 Persian Gulf War.
A mystery
"The guerrilla war is justified, but I am against the kidnapping of civilians," Torretta added. The pair said that their captors were "exponents of moderate Islam" because they "prayed frequently," she said.
Such comments have enraged Berlusconi supporters. At least 17 of Italy's 2,700-man military force in Iraq have died.
Mystery surrounds much of the time spent by the Two Simonas in captivity. They said they did not gaze on their captors or speak much with them. They said they did not know what group the kidnappers belonged to. The women said their captors asked for forgiveness before releasing them.
ROME -- For three weeks, Italians marched, held vigils and lit candles, and politicians united to promote freedom for a pair of humanitarian aid workers held captive in Iraq.
Only days after the safe return of Simona Pari and Simona Torretta, the country and its politicians are now divided. The celebration of the Two Simonas, as the pair came to be known, has been clouded by a wave of recrimination over Italy's participation in the U.S.-led efforts to pacify Iraq.
The controversy began almost immediately upon the arrival of Pari and Torretta in Rome early Wednesday. The pair expressed thanks to a variety of people and groups, including Arab moderates and Muslims. But they failed to thank the government of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, which organized a diplomatic campaign to free them and, it is widely reported and only tepidly denied by him, paid a $1 million ransom.
The women, who opposed the war and Italy's involvement in the occupation, also expressed a desire to quickly return to Iraq -- a wish since retracted -- and they called for an end to Italy's involvement. They made no appeal for the freedom of other hostages.
Torretta called the interim Iraqi government of Ayad Allawi a "puppet" and said people "have to distinguish between terrorism and resistance." The women worked for a group that has labored in Iraq since the end of the 1991 Persian Gulf War.
A mystery
"The guerrilla war is justified, but I am against the kidnapping of civilians," Torretta added. The pair said that their captors were "exponents of moderate Islam" because they "prayed frequently," she said.
Such comments have enraged Berlusconi supporters. At least 17 of Italy's 2,700-man military force in Iraq have died.
Mystery surrounds much of the time spent by the Two Simonas in captivity. They said they did not gaze on their captors or speak much with them. They said they did not know what group the kidnappers belonged to. The women said their captors asked for forgiveness before releasing them.
