All are war-incurred calamities: Commentary

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Wednesday, March 10, 2004

All are war-incurred calamities: Commentary

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In today's world, where is the paradise on earth? And where is the living hell? On March 1, an authoritative British consultative company published its "name list of global cities distinguished themselves in the quality of life". The list showed that of the 215 cities in the world, Zurich and Geneva of Switzerland ranked as the top two cities, and thus can be called "paradise on earth". While the war-ravaged Baghdad, capital of Iraq, was placed the last on the list and thus can be called a "tragic world".

Being one of the richest cities in Europe, Zurich boasts 120 banks alone. It is also called garden on water, where fresh flower, blue water and azure sky leaning close to each other. The carefully renovated gardens and exquisitely shaped buildings each give a show of their best. The city boasts world-class education and has brought up physics masters like Albert Einstein. Geneva converges the headquarters of many world organizations, the beautiful spring of water spurts out from the surface of the nearby Geneva Lake, and the lake skirts round the splendid garden. The capital of Switzerland Berne also ranked sixth. The F1 champion Michael Schumacher lives here, according to him, he moved from Germany to Berne because he can "enjoy a high-quality life" here.

If Zurich and Geneva are compared with Baghdad, it simply shows that they are poles apart with the former in heaven and the latter underground. In postwar Iraq, broken roofs and toppling walls can be found here and there, social security condition there is really terrifying. While walking on the street in daytime, it is worried that one would be hit by stray bullets. In the evening, no woman dares to go out. In the past they could wear a scarf when going out. But today they can hardly fence off danger no matter with what they wrap themselves up. Just in last week, the chain blasts in two Iraqi cities led to the deaths of over 200 people. Iraq is now short of daily necessities and is faced with an acute shortage of gas supply. It is no wonder that Baghdad was rated as the city with worst living quality. And everybody knows that all these are the evil results of US invasion.

The basis for ranking appraisal includes the economic environment, education level, efficiency of the traffic system, social security condition and the levels of medical and recreational facilities. A look at the name list shows that Switzerland has three cities among the top 10, while Canada, Austria, Germany, Denmark, New Zealand, Australia and Holland each have one city respectively on the list. These cities have a common feature: They are free from war chaos, and people there are living in peace and tranquility. In contrast, the rankings of cities in the Middle East and the United States all dropped on the list. Analysts attributed such a result to the calamities caused by the war.

Facts prove that without a peaceful and tranquil environment, there is no living quality to speak of. Not long ago, fashion show and beauty contest were held at the Israeli-built fences, although the events were intended to show the beautiful aspect of life. However, living under threat of terror and violence, what the Palestinian and Israeli people saw would probably not be happiness, but rather it was more of the bitterness of life.

By People's Daily Online

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