Posted on 03/12/2004 9:04:04 AM PST by Lando Lincoln
Yesterday in Madrid, the war on terror seemed to have come to Western Europe. What British security services had privately regarded as virtually inevitable had happened: there was a terrorist spectacular in the capital city of a neighbouring democracy. The Spanish government was quick to blame this atrocity on ETA, in spite of categorical denials by that organisation's spokesmen. Initially, earlier suspicions that al-Qa'eda was responsible were dismissed, even though the scale of the atrocity, its modus operandi and the peculiarly vicious failure to give any warning are characteristic of al-Qa'eda attacks.
The ETA denial was put by Arnaldo Otegi, a spokesman for its political wing, Batasuna, in significantly pointed terms: "The independent Basque Left cannot imagine there is even a hypothetical chance that ETA could be behind what happened in Madrid." This particular form of terrorist incident, in other words, was so pitiless, so nihilistic and so contemptuous of human life as to shock even those who normally regard attacking civilians as a legitimate political tool. It is not inconceivable, of course, that a more extreme, and ruthless, breakaway Basque faction is now escalating its violence to the inflationary level set by al-Qa'eda's global standards.
Having supported US policy on Iraq, the Spanish prime minister, Jose Maria Aznar, may now feel vulnerable to the charge of having put his own country at risk from Islamic terrorists. In fact, Turkey, which refused to offer critical assistance to American and British forces during the Iraq war, has been attacked by al-Qa'eda. Presumably Turkey's crime was simply to defy the Islamic fundamentalist diktat by insisting on remaining a secular state.
Whether ETA, al-Qa'eda or some combination of international homicide merchants was responsible for the Madrid outrages, the warning for liberal democratic societies is clear: the global stakes for terrorist activity have been dramatically raised. For any group of national malcontents or international zealots to make an impression on the public consciousness - and get a suitably spectacular set of headlines - it must now stage an incident of massive proportions. As George W Bush and Tony Blair have claimed, September 11 truly did change the world. It forced all terrorism to become organised and fiercely professional. We are now only as safe as we are vigilant.
I raised this point yesterday -- and speculated that this was precisely why the Spanish government was so quick to blame ETA for the attack. It's also why I wouldn't trust anyone in a government to tell the truth when it comes to investigating an incident like this.
[T]he Spanish prime minister, Jose Maria Aznar, may now feel vulnerable to the charge of having put his own country at risk from Islamic terrorists. In fact, Turkey, which refused to offer critical assistance to American and British forces during the Iraq war, has been attacked by al-Qa'eda. Presumably Turkey's crime was simply to defy the Islamic fundamentalist diktat by insisting on remaining a secular state.Aznar needs to point out to his fellow citizens that the only thing that puts them at risk is that any of the terrorists are still walking around.
We need to erect a fence along the-- hey, wait a minute...Aztlan backers see Hussein capture hoaxA Mexican-American separatist website, La Voz de Aztlan, is claiming the U.S. capture of Saddam Hussein is a hoax. The pro-Arab and viciously anti-Israeli organization also sees a spontaneous uprising of popular support for Hussein throughout Iraq – a phenomenon unnoticed by news organizations throughout the world, including those in Arab countries... The Aztlan movement, which calls for the creation of a separate, Spanish-speaking state in North America out of much of the Southwest, gets its inspiration from Yasser Arafat's Palestinian statehood movement. La Voz de Aztlan, or the Voice of Aztlan, called the capture of Hussein the "mother of all hoaxes." Its website identifies Mexicans in the U.S. as "America's Palestinians." Many Mexicans see themselves as part of a transnational ethnic group known as "La Raza" – the race. A May editorial on the website, with a dateline of "Los Angeles, Alta California," declares that "both La Raza and the Palestinians have been displaced by invaders that have utilized military means to conquer and occupy our territories." ...The Zogby International poll found a majority of Mexicans say the U.S. Southwest "rightfully belongs to Mexico," and that Mexican citizens should be able to come into those areas freely, without U.S. permission... Zogby said 28 percent disagreed, while another 14 percent said they weren't sure... "There are great similarities between the political and economic condition of the Palestinians in occupied Palestine and that of La Raza in the southwest United States," explains an editorial in La Voz de Aztlan in Los Angeles, the city seen as the future capital of the new Hispanic state – much like Jerusalem is seen by Palestinian Arabs as their capital. The editorial goes on to draw analogies between the Arab uprising in Israel and gang violence in Los Angeles. It's the same thing, the activists claim.
December 18, 2003
Arabs still enter U.S. illegally from MexicoAn Arab-smuggling ring was broken up just last month... The seven-member ring included a former Mexican diplomat who worked in Lebanon's consular ministry office and gave out passports... [C]onvicted Arab terrorists involved in the bombing of the World Trade Center and other acts of sabotage have used the porous Mexican border as an entry point and have also capitalized on previous amnesty programs to establish residency in the U.S... Mahmud Abouhalima, a leader of the 1993 Trade Center bombing, was legalized as a seasonal agricultural worker as part of the 1986 amnesty. Only after he was legalized was he able to travel outside of the country, including several trips to the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, where he received the terrorist training he used in the bombing. Abdel Hakim Tizegha, involved in the millennium plot, sneaked across the border posing as a Mexican migrant... There is also a political alliance developing between separatist Hispanics and Muslim radicals... Former Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo said in a 1997 speech in Chicago to the "National Council of La Raza," a Hispanic advocacy group, that he "proudly affirmed that the Mexican nation extends beyond the territory enclosed by its borders and that Mexican migrants are an important – a very important – part of this." ...Mexican President Vicente Fox has pressed for an eventual erasure of the southern border and encouraged Mexicans who seek work in the U.S... President Bush says he wants to see a Palestinian state carved out of Israel. It may be very difficult for him some day to explain why an Aztlan state should not likewise be carved out of America.
December 15, 2003
I raised this point yesterday -- and speculated that this was precisely why the Spanish government was so quick to blame ETA for the attack. It's also why I wouldn't trust anyone in a government to tell the truth when it comes to investigating an incident like this.
The truth will emerge a few days from now, after the Spanish election.
That's the bottom line. Unless you put them in charge, they will find a way to hate you.
What makes it new is, sadly, that they have forgotten.
The "old" Europe, until now, has been content to adopt a cynical, short-sighted, self-serving, anti-American attitude toward islamist terrorism. Understandably reluctant to admit their wrong-headedness, they are now moving to give themselves cover for a change of policy. Afterall, they can't very well continue their efforts to destroy America if they themselves can no longer survive, now can they?
So it makes sense that they would assume the pretense that these latest developments are not a continuation of the same problem but rather a whole new unrelated one. They can't see this, but it doesn't matter what their policy is. The problem in old Europe is what they are, not what they do. They have no character, no reverence for God, no loyalty to their traditional ally, America.
And they will always "forget." That's because old Europeans cannot and will not face reality. They don't face economic reality, they don't face social reality, they don't face political reality, they don't face military reality. Why should they face other realities? For all their pretensions to "sophistication," these folks live in a dream world where money grows on trees, morality is an optional afterthought and God is a quaint old wives' tale.
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