Will Spaniards Turn on George W. Bush Instead of Osama bin Laden?

Tech Central Station ^ | March 12, 2004 | Eric Bovim

[Bonaventure]

But far deeper and more profound questions abound if Al Qaeda is responsible for the Madrid attacks. Still aware of the Moorish occupation, Spaniards can be fiercely bigoted towards Arabs. But, still fresh out of the Franco era, they are also fiercely pacifist. In that competition of histories, who will become the enemy to everyday Spaniards: Osama bin Laden or George W. Bush?

Last night in Barcelona, hundreds gathered to beat pots and pans to protest Aznar's support of the Iraq war, giving a glimpse at what may signal the widespread outcome of these bombings. Unlike Americans, who channeled their grief towards eradicating the Taliban after September 11, Spaniards may well find their grief leads them to lay blame on the U.S. and Aznar for invading Iraq.

A galvanizing terrorist event in Europe may well be what awakens the old continent to the realities of the bin Laden century. Sadly, this may not be it.

[Qwinn]

"But, still fresh out of the Franco era, they are also fiercely pacifist."

Dangnabbit. Franco didn't manage to kill all the commies after all.

Qwinn

[Plutarch]

...they are also fiercely pacifist.

Oxymoron alert.

[Paleo Conservative]

I think Al Qaeda is more upset about Ferdinand and Isabella than Aznar.

[livius]

Sadly, I think he's right. The left was out screaming and yelling before the blood was even dry, blaming Spain's support for the US.

Since most of the Spanish media is left wing, expect this message to get a lot of play. And since Spaniards, like everybody else, are simply media puppets, expect this attitude to pick up steam overnight.

[AmishDude]

Ditto. The Euros who are weenies just think if they play nice, al Qaeda will go away.

[kevao]

So the Islamofascists punished Spain for America's unilateral action in Iraq?

[Prodigal Son]

Following the worst terrorist event in Spanish history yesterday, one is left to ponder whether the ten train bombs that killed 198 commuters and wounded over 1,400 will tell a Spanish or a European story.

Today's headlines struggle to reconcile this question as details of the blasts at the Atocha station in the heart of Madrid during morning rush hour unfolded. Was it yet another bloody chapter in Madrid's 40 year battle with the Basque guerilla group, ETA? Or, if the work of Al Qaeda, was it Europe's first brush with September 11-style terrorism?

I would have covered events like these two years ago as a foreign correspondent in Madrid, and, while largely ignored by major western media, ETA car bombings and assassinations of political figures were standard fare in a week's work. At Reuters, it was routine to write two or three ETA stories per week, though nothing like what transpired in Madrid has ever happened at the hands of ETA before.

ETA, founded in the late 1950s as a resistance movement against the brutal Franco dictatorship, has been waging a guerilla war for independence of the Basque homeland against Madrid. ETA terrorists have killed over 800 Spaniards since, but in recent years, the center-right government of Jose Maria Aznar -- a staunch supporter of the Iraq war despite popular opposition -- has waged a debilitating counter-offensive against the group.

What was once a band of freedom fighters devoted to the ideal of a Basque nation, by the late 1990s had become a heavily armed "gang" of hundreds that recruited poor, urban males to conduct its violence. By 2002, it was not uncommon for ETA to detonate bombs in empty parking garages; or to call before exploding a bomb in a commercial area.

Civilians have rarely been targets, save for ETA's worst attack in Barcelona, when a bomb killed 21 people in a grocery store in 1987. A car bomb almost killed Aznar during elections in 1995. But ETA violence has always been very selective and strategic, save for the few instances like Barcelona.

That is why the Madrid massacre was so unusual, considering yesterday's death toll is equivalent to roughly a decade of ETA terrorism.

Spanish media is now characterizing yesterday as Spain's 9-11, although it remains unclear how, in the aftermath, the Spanish psyche will be affected. Coincidentally - or perhaps not -- the attacks came exactly 911 days after September 11 on 3-11. By late last evening, Spain's leading daily, El Pais, was starting to back away from the earlier claim that it was the handiwork of ETA. Arnaldo Otegi, the spokesman for the outlawed Basque political party, Batasuna, denied ETA was behind the attacks, blaming instead "Arab resistance."

So what does this mean for one of Washington's closest European allies and a cornerstone of "New Europe?"

If indeed this turns out to be ETA terrorism, then that suggests an alarming radicalization of what has so far been a beleaguered, provincial resistance movement. Are the professional terrorists tutoring the tyros? For many years, ETA was known to be trained by the IRA; now are Islamic terrorists, working with ETA, trying to unsettle a vital ally by proxy?

But far deeper and more profound questions abound if Al Qaeda is responsible for the Madrid attacks. Still aware of the Moorish occupation, Spaniards can be fiercely bigoted towards Arabs. But, still fresh out of the Franco era, they are also fiercely pacifist. In that competition of histories, who will become the enemy to everyday Spaniards: Osama bin Laden or George W. Bush?

Last night in Barcelona, hundreds gathered to beat pots and pans to protest Aznar's support of the Iraq war, giving a glimpse at what may signal the widespread outcome of these bombings. Unlike Americans, who channeled their grief towards eradicating the Taliban after September 11, Spaniards may well find their grief leads them to lay blame on the U.S. and Aznar for invading Iraq.

A galvanizing terrorist event in Europe may well be what awakens the old continent to the realities of the bin Laden century. Sadly, this may not be it.

[Principled]

So the Islamofascists punished Spain for America's unilateral action in Iraq?

Heh heh.

[Rokurota]

It's not really a bad plan for Al Qaeda if you think about it.

They see numerous rallies against (not terrorism!) but the U.S. led effort to fight terrorism. Thus, al Qaeda strikes Europe a lot (an easier target for sure) to drive a deeper wedge between the U.S. and Europe.

The Euros will blame Bush for this. No doubt. It's starting. And Al Qaeda is loving it!! They get to kill many infidels and not take the blame.

[swilhelm73]

So the Islamofascists punished Spain for America's unilateral action in Iraq?

Well said and bears repeating...

[Sender]

The Euros understand the motivations of the Palestinian freedom fighters and almost without exception take their side unquestioningly. Why not then also understand the deep frustrations of al Qaeda and the ETA? And who better to focus anger on than the enemy of the poor Palestinians and al Qaeda, GW Bush? Sure they will.

[Renfield]

Yep...I expect to see a violent confrontation between militant pacificists and radical moderates on the streets of Madrid any day now....

[dfwgator]

I fear they will next try to strike Poland. The good news is that Poland has relatively few immigrants from the Arab world, so any Arabic looking people would stick out , unlike Spain.

[PISANO]

Commie/Socialist/Left-Wing/Democrat thinking...... If you get attacked by A because you are a friend of B, it only makes sense to BLAME and DECLARE WAR on FRIEND B.

[Post Toasties]

Still aware of the Moorish occupation, Spaniards can be fiercely bigoted towards Arabs. But, still fresh out of the Franco era, they are also fiercely pacifist. In that competition of histories, who will become the enemy to everyday Spaniards: Osama bin Laden or George W. Bush?

Well, if they're true leftists, they'll become enemies of George Bush as a result of a characteristic emotional displacement mechanism.

[N. Theknow]

Spain?

Spain?

That's south of France isn't it?

[Heatseeker]

...they are also fiercely pacifist.

Oxymoron alert.

LOL. I had a friend in high school who described himself as a "conscientious fascist".

[Sir_Humphrey]

Will Spaniards Turn on George W. Bush Instead of Osama bin Laden?

You mean just like the Democrats?