INSTANT VIEW-Reactions and comment on Spanish blast

Reuters ^ | 3/11/04

[areafiftyone]

MADRID, March 11 (Reuters) - Following are some reactions from leaders and experts to the deaths of at least 173 people in bombings in Madrid on Thursday:

JOSE MARIA AZNAR, SPANISH PRIME MINISTER

The victims were killed "simply for being Spanish... The criminals who have caused so many deaths today will be arrested... We will succeed in finishing off the terrorist band (ETA).

GEORGE W. BUSH, U.S. PRESIDENT

The bombings were a "vicious act of terrorism". Bush "condemned this vicious act of terrorism in the strongest possible terms," a White House spokesman said.

VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT

"Terrorism has once again shown it is prepared deliberately to stop at nothing in creating human victims... An end must be put to this. As never before, it is vital to unite forces of the entire world community against terror."

POPE JOHN PAUL

"The pope wishes to reiterate his firm and absolute abhorrence of such unjustifiable acts that offend God and violate the fundamental right to life."

JACQUES CHIRAC, FRENCH PRESIDENT

"Nothing ever justifies barbarity. All democracies should, and will be, united to combat it without pause."

TONY BLAIR, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER

"This terrible attack underlines the threat that we all continue to face from terrorism in many countries and why we all must work together internationally to safeguard our peoples against such attacks and defeat terrorism".

GERHARD SCHROEDER, GERMAN CHANCELLOR

"I was saddened and outraged by the news of the terrible attacks in Madrid this morning. I am horrified at the large number of dead and injured.

ROMANO PRODI, EUROPEAN COMMISSION PRESIDENT

"This is not a political act, it is a criminal act against defenceless people, a perverse action of terrorists."

BERTIE AHERN, IRISH PRIME MINISTER

"The timing of the bombings was clearly designed to wreak the greatest level of havoc and carnage. They are an attack on the democratic process and cannot be justified."

JAAP DE HOOP SCHEFFER, NATO SECRETARY-GENERAL

"Our solidarity with Spain remains steadfast, as is our alliance's determination to vigorously pursue our efforts to combat terrorism."

[Bismarck]

It was NOT ETA! ETA always phones in before they target civilian infrastructure, so they do not kill civilians. They mainly target military, police and politicians. MARK MY WORDS: IT WAS AN ISLAMIC ACT!

[BrooklynGOP]

According to Jerusalem Post

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon expressed his "deep shock" at the horrible attack in Madrid. He sent his consolations to the King of Spain, the prime minister and the Spanish people and he wished a speedy recovery to the wounded in the attack.

I wonder why Reuters left that out....

[kevao]

JOHN EFFIN KERRY

Terrorism is a law-enforcement issue.

[epluribus_2]

Yeah, if those train passengers were jews, the world leaders would be calling for a "balanced" reaction to the attacks, emphasizing the need to understand the depth of anguish felt by the bombers.

[finnman69]

JOHN KERRY:"I think there has been an exaggeration," Mr. Kerry said when asked whether President Bush has overstated the threat of terrorism. "They are misleading all Americans in a profound way."

[ken5050]

I agree..also, ETA is a shadow of its former self..the Spanish Guardia Civil are really good, reallllly good, at the anti-terrorist game, and they don't operate with the same ;egal "niceties" that we operate under...In fact, Spain now has several Guardia units serving in Iraq.....so that's an even stronger connection to the probability that this is an Muslim terrorist effort....

One more point...if they can pull this off in Spain, imagine what they can do in Greece, which has NO internal security....the Olympics look dicey..

[Bismarck]

In deed... maybe CIA, FBI, Scotland Yard, Mossad, ex-KGB et al should swamp Athens A.S.A.P.

[Atlas Sneezed]

the Spanish Guardia Civil are really good, reallllly good, at the anti-terrorist game, and they don't operate with the same legal "niceties" that we operate under

---

They go a lot of practice under Franco.

[finnman69]

One more point...if they can pull this off in Spain, imagine what they can do in Greece, which has NO internal security....the Olympics look dicey..

It would be even easier to pull this off in NYC. NYC has 468 stations, each with multiple entrances. If I was a bad guy and wanted to create havoc in America that would gettons of attentiona nd paralize a major city, I would pull a Madrid style bombing in NYC. If they upped the number of attackers they could kill a thousand easy.

[eyespysomething]

One more point...if they can pull this off in Spain, imagine what they can do in Greece, which has NO internal security....the Olympics look dicey..

I am very worried about the Olympics. The building/arenas, etc aren't even done yet, so there will be a rush to finish, maybe hiring extra hands without much idea to their background, plus, less time to secure the venues, set up security.

[truthandlife]

I think the U.S. is well aware of this

U.S. in secret Olympic operation