Here are excerpts from editorials in newspapers around the world:

La Stampa, Turin, Italy, on the ruling exonerating Serbia of genocide in Bosnia:

The ruling by the International Court of Justice sounds almost like an international mockery. While, on one hand, it legally exonerates Serbia from its responsibility, on the other it does not specify the responsibilities of the self-proclaimed Serbian Republic of Bosnia, whose militias operated under president Radovan Karadzic and Gen. Ratko Mladic. Both are being sought on war crimes charges by the Court and are now most likely hiding in Serbia under the shelter of local authorities.

At this point, we don’t understand who were those who murdered more than eight thousand Bosnian Muslims or where they were from. We don’t understand the reason why the same Court tried late former Serbian president Slobodan Milosevic on charges of war crimes for years.

The bloodiest genocide that Europe has witnessed after 1945 is left, so to speak, without an author. Never, since the onset of a democratic Europe, has the memory of so many innocent victims been so clearly sacrificed to the altars of international politics.

Aftenposten, Oslo, Norway, on Afghanistan>

It is not an encouraging situation facing the American in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan, five and a half years after the terror attacks on the United States.

The most serious is American intelligence, in leaks to US newspapers, saying the Al-Qaeda terror network is gaining support, training new terrorists and has restored its command structure.

Al-Qaeda’s old ally in Afghanistan, the Taliban, has also gained strength, five years after the US attacked training camps there. The Americans see signs of a major spring offensive.

Even though the picture is not completely clear, it seems the United States is on the defensive in several countries, places where the Americans primarily used the military against terrorism.

In Afghanistan the US has broad political support for its battle, from the UN, from NATO and from Norway. Today, there is internal agreement in the alliance to do more to help civilians in Afghanistan, a change of course that may be too late.

Now it is important to have tight dialogue between allies in Afghanistan, and share information so all can have a clear picture of the situation. We know such a war (on terror) cannot be won by military means alone. That is the dilemma for the US, NATO and us.

The Star-Ledger, Newark, New Jersey, on federal protection for airline passenger$>

American Airlines in Austin in December. JetBlue at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York earlier this month. Every time airline passengers have been left sitting trapped on the tarmac for eight, nine, ten hours or more, the airlines have said they’ve learned their lesson. They won’t let it happen again.

But it does, and the JetBlue debacle shows why passengers need more than industry happy talk about letting the marketplace fix problems.

The airline industry still insists that federal intervention isn’t warranted. ... Industry officials say that given the challenges of overcrowded skies, an outmoded air traffic control system and the vagaries of extreme weather, the carriers actually have done a good job.

Not good enough for the JetBlue passengers stuck in those cramped airplane seats on the ground for six to ten hours. Or for the American Airlines riders who put up with little or no food or water, and with foul bathrooms, as they sat for more than eight hours in Austin two months ago.