Spain Announces Five Arrests in Bombings

Reuters, AP | 3/13/04

[VOA]

The prevailing feeling among many of these people is that Europe had no stake in Iraq

Except to earn as much money as possible from the continued empowerment of
Saddam, Uday and Quasay.

I guess it's just been too many years since some of these folks either had a relative
go into a mass grave...or helped put someone there.

[elhombrelibre]

Europeans are being provincial. Look at the Philippians, Malaysia, Indonesia, India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Turkey, the US and now Spain. We've all been attacked by these cretins. And Europe, with it's all so superior prissy dialectic intellectuals, think if they ignore it it will go away. It won't. You can fight it, or you can give in.

[Dog]

The crowd is the opposition staging a rally....per CNN.

[LS]

Doesn't make sense, nor does if follow history. Let me recommend three books:

"1000 Years for Revenge" by Peter Lance; "Why America Slept" by Gerald Posner; and "Losing Bin Laden" by Richard Minitier. I'm sure you've heard of a couple of these, maybe all---but the key is that all three CLEARLY show that bin Laden was into terrorism LONG BEFORE the Gulf War. He had already made up his mind that America was the great satan, and he had nothing to do with Iraq until the mid-1990s.

Moreover, the timeline of these makes it pretty clear that Iraq's participation in the first WTC bombing was minimal (although it as tangentially involved).

[McGavin999]

No. I'm becoming more convinced by the day that "radical, murderous Islam" is nothing more than a front for something that has nothing to do with religion.

That's what I think too. I think it's a political movement cloaking itself in religion. Easier to manipulate people.

[hellinahandcart]

Bad. Very bad. They are blaming Aznar.

[Catspaw]

If it follows the usual AQ pattern, there's a funding cell, a support cell and another cell that actually carries out the work.

[livius]

They think at least 10 people were involved in the attacks, so I would imagine there were a few others, in addition.

[Dog]

Tell it to CNN ..

[MEG33]

Chilling.We shall see if their aims are accomplished.

[Alberta's Child]

What, exactly, is "intriguing" (never mind relevant) about the fact that they are not al-qaeda?

Read through the rest of my posts on this thread. What's "intriguing" about it is that religion may have nothing to do with it. If religion has nothing to do with it, then this is basically a political war.

Which would also mean that anyone who has ever criticized President Bush for failing to identify Islam as the "enemy" in this war ought to stand up right now and offer the President a sincere, humble apology.

[FreeReign]

...second, that the government has not protected the country from al qaeda. third, by going along with the war on terror, the government has made spain a target.

Spain has been part of an ongoing WOT that has removed about 70% of Al Qaeda from the globe.

Now, do you really think that the Spanish voters are going to say, "OK, lets choose socialists would want to appease the remaining 30% of these terrorists who have just murdered our fellow countrymen", or do you think the Spanish voters will say, "OK, lets keep the pols we have now and let's finish the job".

I think it's the latter. Si?

[empirekin768]

Can we get you a dual citizenship quick?

[woofie]

Did Bush's tax cuts cause this?

[Truth666]

there was one flaw in what was first annouced : muslims.

That didn't fit plan B.
So now it has been reformulated :
"3 Moroccans, 2 Indians of hindu origin"

That fits plan B - keywords (arab, muslim) avoided; word hindu that has nothing to do with keywords introduced.

[dogbyte12]

Actually, it is more of a will, then a way. Let us not kid ourselves. We in a free society are very vulnerable to just a very conventional attack. All they would have to do was either internally recruit a cell in the US, or illegally ship one in across Mexico of suiciders who could match 9-11.

Think of just 10 suicide teams of 2 members each, with nothing but hand grenades and ak-47's. Not that very hard to procure. At 3PM EST, they all enter the food courts of the 10 most crowded malls in america, where they procede to toss 3 hand grenades each, and mop up the rest with the ak 47's. It would be a freaking blood bath. It just takes the will, and operational secrecy. In fact there is just about nothing to prevent two lone nut muslims from doing this at a busy location, other than fear of losing their life.

That is the only thing that keeps the wolf at bay. The technology, feasability in a country with as lax security (relatively speaking) as ours is easy enough for an amateur to pull it off, as long as they are willing to say hello to the virgins.

[TomGuy]

I hope Spain catches every last one of these A.H.s and terrorizes them in kind.

The International Red Cross and Amnesty International probably have representatives already complaining to the Spanish government about the ill treatment of those arrested.

[Alberta's Child]

This going to sound like a joke, but the Spaniards of Hindu origin could simply be a couple of guys who own convenience stores -- named "Siete-Once" or something like that -- where the pre-paid calling cards were purchased.

[FreeReign]

Indians !? that doesn't make sense....

Al Qaeda is outsourcing.

[empirekin768]

Ha!