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Posted on 11/29/2003 5:51:59 PM PST by livius
The Head of the CNI in Iraq, Alberto Martinez, Was Among the [Spanish] Dead…
Trillo [Spanish Sec. of Defense], who traveled with Dezcallar [Spanish Intelligence Services head] to bring the bodies home declared that “terrorism has once again attacked Spaniards who were working for peace.”
MADRID. The attack upon the eight agents of the National Intelligence Center (CNI) took place about 30 km south of Baghdad, in the area under United States control. The attack was carried out with rocket propelled grenades (RPGs) and guns, probably Kalashnikovs, according to the statement of the Defense Minister, Federico Trillo, yesterday evening.
Seven members of the CNI died in the attack. The eighth, José Manuel Sánchez Riera, survived the attack and was not injured. The Minister did not identify the dead, although ABC found out yesterday that one of them was Alberto Martínez González, the head of Spanish secret services in Iraq. This agent was a member of the military and was in Baghdad on October 9, when his coworker, José Antonio Bernal, was killed. The other agents were also from the Armed Forces, where they were officers or junior officers.
The president of the Government, José María Aznar, is going to make an official statement on the attack today.
The information provided yesterday [it’s about 1:00-2:00 a.m. Sunday in Spain right now] was included in a statement issued by the department without providing time for questions. Federico Trillo, looking very grave, appeared wearing a black tie with a white shirt and a dark suit. He appeared alone, without any of the senior officers of the Chiefs of Staff or the director of the CNI, Jorge Dezcallar.
After lunch
According to Trillo, the attack took place 30 km south of Baghdad when the agents were on their way to the Iraqi capital. It occurred in the city of Lutafijayah, in the central area under US control, around 3:45 p.m. local time (1:45 p.m. Spanish time [6-7 pm EST time]).
The eight CNI agents were traveling in two civilian vehicles after having had lunch in Baghdad and were making an inspection before one group relieved another. [One group of four was leaving Baghdad and the other was about to take over.]
After the attack, the bodies of the agents were recovered by the US Third Brigade, belonging to the 82nd Airborne Division. They were brought to the morgue at the Baghdad International Airport for forensic identification. The agent who survived the attack, José Manuel Sánchez Riera, was taken to the Saint Michael base in Mauiya for observation.
Trillo began his words stating that he regretted to have to announced that “once again, terrorism has attacked a group of Spaniards working for the peace and stability of Iraq. “ After explaining that the Government [of Spain] had sent its condolences to the families and all CNI members “in these difficult moments,” he asked in the name of the Government that “all citizens of good will offer their greatest support to these servants of [Spain] and to their co-workers.”
The Minister made his statement around 8:30 p.m., after having spent the afternoon meeting with senior officials in his department and the director of the CNI. Throughout the afternoon, Trillo and Dezcallar kept the King and the President of the Government [José María Aznar] informed. They also informed the Secretary General of the PSOE [Socialist Party], José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, the Coordinator of IU [Communist Party] , Gaspar Llamazares, the President of the Generalitat [Catalan State Government], Jordi Pujol, and the spokespersons for the PP, PNV and CC [other parties, including the PP – Partido Popular, Aznar’s conservative party]. Aznar was at the Coto de Doñana and also stayed in contact with the King after learning of the attack.
The President of the United States, George Bush, called Aznar last night to offer him his support and condolences. The chairman of the European Commission, Romano Prodi, did the same. The French president, Jacques Chirac, sent a letter expressing his condolences.
The horrible picture that was shown today was of Iraqis/other attackers standing on the bodies of our allies, the Spaniards, just the way they did a few days ago with some of our own soldiers.
Does anybody find it a bit odd that these people, who were travelling in unmarked cars (SUVs, just like our troops) were found and wiped out? I think there's some major infiltration going on.
I think we can count on the Spaniards to stay the course....... they are very patient when it comes to dealing with Muslim problems. It only took them 800 years to get them out of the Iberian penisula, but they did it and weren't frightened by a little blood letting.
What the Muslims better not try is to start letting off bombs in Spain proper. The Spaniards get really pissed and aren't pussies like the French,Germans, or Italians. Which is a common misconception since they don't make a big mark as far as occupying other countries nowadays.
How difficult would it be to plan such an act? Choose a Saturday for maximum news coverage; RPGs, small arms, readily available; a few major roads ~ with flat horizons making it easy to spot a convoy of SUVs far off with the aid of simple binoculars and a rooftop.
Anyone could choose to use a weapon against another, yet they don't.
As for the 'rent a "Lord of the Flies" boys', who perform their gruesome and provocative acts for the waiting cameras, I wouldn't be surprised if Saddam focus group tested the reaction of the public to such acts over the years using the Iraqi Info Ministry.
Do the elite, anti-war, socialist / terrorist appeasers ~ Hillary, Kofi, Chirac ~ consider it a hate crime, I wonder, to fill a child's mind with lies, harden his heart with hate, and turn him into a killer?
Good Iraqi = Skinny Iraqi
Bad Iraqi = Fat Iraqi
Saddam's thugs got all the food when Saddam was in charge. All the oppressed and persecuted Iraqis got diddly squat. Thus, Saddam's buddies are fat and shouldn't be trusted one iota. The good (pro-Coalition, pro-Freedom) Iraqis are skinny. Only Skinny Iraqis should be involved in the post-Saddam reconstruction, and there certainly shouldn't be any fat Iraqis in any so-called "security" positions.
SPREAD THE WORD TO ANYONE IN IRAQ or in the Chain of Command.
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I'm sure he probably did. He was known to have had his minions watch the movie Black Hawk Down, and I think he was probably well aware of the effect. Getting rid of al Jazeera and al Arabiya TV was smart, but now the Saddamites have "coincidentally" managed to attack our allies at a place where there was a Western TV crew around to film it.
Saddam used the media and deceived a gullible world public opinion very effectively to keep his dictatorship afloat for years and years. And now he's trying to use it to undermine our victory and dishearten us and our allies.
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