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I quite enjoyed the unbiased account of Franco written by Paul R. Johnson in his great book "Modern Times." Whereas most of the Gramscian history books used to teach in government schools since WW-2 depict Franco as having been a Fascist or Nazi, Johnson's account made it clear that he was essentially neutral in WW-2 and the only thing he had in common with Musolini (and less so with Hitler) was concern about the power of the USSR. He was indeed a great anti Communist. I have often wondered about what would have happened if the USA had, instead of giving a wink and nod to the *COMMUNISTS* from here who went to Spain to fight against Franco in the Spanish Civil War, banned these Red Brigades and instead helped Franco to overcome the Stalinists. I have to beleive that Franco would have been our friend and given Hitler and Musolini a somewhat cold shoulder. If we could have succeeded at that, imagine the surprise of both Hitler and Stalin about a US invasion of Europe via Spain in 1940. I love thinking through alternate endings - it helps me to smell irrational, utopian driven, sad excuses for geopolitical strategy in the current era.

Your elderly aunt is exactly right. The one and only time I visited Spain in the 1970's before Franko's death, it was a safe place to be or else! The streets were safe. No drugs were apparent, no crime, no Basque bombing nonsense, no demonstations, just FRANKO. Quiet, civility, prosperous, Spanish people living under a dictator, however benevolent. Worked for me. I went to the Costa Del Sol, Madrid and Marbella and a few other places. Ate Piella, drank Sangria (that wine concoction) and had a great time. Danced a whirling dirvish with Russian expatriot. Shallow, of course, but I was a tourist. Spain is a lovely country with an underpinning of cruelity. Hemmingway picked up on it.

Francisco Franco was nobody's fool; he was one of the few European leaders that tweaked Adolf Hitler's nose and got away with it. Supposedly, when Hitler left Spain after an unsuccessful (for him) meeting with Generalissimo Franco, a furious Fuehrer remarked to people on the train that he'd rather have his teeth pulled than try to bargain with Franco again. Like Marshal Mannerheim of Finland, Franco has had over fifty years of horrible PR courtesy of the "progressive" press.

Today's bombings were truly horrific, and my heart goes out to the Spanish people. My sincere hope is that Spain will find the perpetrators of this atrocity quickly, and deal with them summarily.

Gen. Francisco Franco is a hero of the Third World War. Thanks to him, Spain was prevented from becoming a Mediterranean version of Warsaw-Pact Poland.

The fact that he is near-universally hated today is proof that he was a great man and a great friend of the West.

The Generalissimo knew how to deal with enemies of la Patria.

¡Viva Cristo Rey! Arriba España!

That's almost a pretty good synopsis of European politics. Give them democracy, and they love the largesse available from the public funds. But they can't provide any security. Eventually, they turn to a dictator. Now and then there's a revolution or war and the cycle begins again.

If only they'd seriously study American Republican conservativism, they'd realize they can have both a republic and security. But that seems to be beyond them. That's why many of our ancestors left the place to come here.