Reuters: ANALYSIS-Al Qaeda Hijacks Spanish Election

Reuters ^ | Sun March 14 | Katherine Baldwin

[swmopatriot]

MADRID (Reuters) - If al Qaeda did mastermind Spain's bloodiest bomb attacks, its militants could claim to have caused a spectacular election upset in Madrid, but some analysts said the defeated government only had itself to blame.

The train blasts that killed 200 people triggered a backlash against the party of Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar -- a staunch ally of Washington over the Iraq war -- and handed power to the Socialists who opposed the conflict.

"If the al Qaeda network is behind these attacks, then you can certainly say that al Qaeda is responsible for removing the Popular Party from government," said Charles Powell, assistant professor at San Pablo-CEU University.

The triumph for Socialist leader Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero over Mariano Rajoy, who aspired to succeed Aznar, leaves Bush's other Iraq allies -- principally Britain, Poland and Italy -- looking increasingly isolated, analysts said.

Zapatero had pledged to withdraw Spain's 1,300 troops from Iraq if the United Nations does not take control by June 30, although he made no reference to that promise on Sunday, instead pledging to "beat all terrorism."

In the campaign, he had charged Aznar with leading Spain too far away from Europe, suggesting he will lean back toward Spain's more traditional allies like France, which opposed the U.S.-led war.

"If (British Prime Minister) Tony Blair ends up looking lonely (over Iraq) then that's his problem," said Carlos Berzosa, the rector of Madrid's Complutense University. "The Spanish people voted to live in peace."

VOTER BACKLASH

Thursday's train blasts and a claim in the name of al Qaeda that the group had mounted the attacks in reprisal for Spain's support for the war rekindled public ire over Iraq.

But some analysts and members of the public said Aznar had helped to bring Sunday's defeat upon his Popular Party (PP).

The perception that Aznar had sought to exploit the attacks for political gain by blaming Basque separatist group ETA only strengthened the backlash that turned opinion polls on their head.

That added to a growing impression that the government was manipulating information, a charge that had also been leveled by critics at the time of the sinking of the Prestige oil tanker off Spain's northwestern coast.

"The PP has only itself to blame. If the government had been honest with the public instead of trying to lay the blame on ETA at all costs, the PP could still have won this election," said one voter, Ramon Capellos, a Socialist supporter.

Rajoy had looked set to succeed Aznar, who had steered Europe's fifth-largest economy to prosperity and delivered stability.

Zapatero, meanwhile, was by no means the obvious choice for a public scared by the train bombings.

His campaign was marred by the disclosure that his party's coalition partner in the Catalan regional government had held secret talks with ETA, after which ETA declared a partial cease-fire limited to Catalonia.

The PP used that to charge the Socialists with being soft on the armed group which has killed some 850 people since 1968 in a campaign for a Basque homeland.

Before the blasts, the question had centered on whether the PP would win a second consecutive absolute majority.

It was Zapatero who was scouting for allies on Sunday.

The Socialists will have to seek out alliances with smaller nationalist parties to form an absolute majority in parliament's lower house while the PP remains the largest single party in the Senate by far, which could complicate Zapatero's legislative program.

[swmopatriot]

The headline of the article got it right, unfortunately.

[Arkinsaw]

"The Spanish people voted to live in peace."

The Spanish people voted to live in chains.

[Betaille]

When Al Qaeda attacks america, they get their asses kicked all around the world.
When Al Qaeda attacks Europe, the Europeans give them what they want. Don't think the Al Qaeda leadership hasn't noticed that today. Europe is in deep trouble.

[South40]

"If the al Qaeda network is behind these attacks, then you can certainly say that al Qaeda is responsible for removing the Popular Party from government,"

Al Qaeda finds useful idiots in many places.

[Travis McGee]

"The PP has only itself to blame. If the government had been honest with the public instead of trying to lay the blame on ETA at all costs, the PP could still have won this election,"

That might be right. If Aznar had presented a Blair-esque speech, blaming AQ instead of ETA, and laying out the need for the war on terror, maybe he would have won.

[Meredith]

The STUPIDITY of appeasing the TERRORISTS by letting them hijack an election is mind boggling.

[Young Rhino]

When the Moors were thrown out of Spain, a kingdom arose. Today, we see the remnants of that kingdom given away by idiots at the ballot box.

[swmopatriot]

"When Al Qaeda attacks Europe, the Europeans give them what they want. Don't think the Al Qaeda leadership hasn't noticed that today. Europe is in deep trouble."

Sadly, this is all too true. I really worry for my relatives in Athens. The precedent set by the elections in Spain today mean we will be seeing more attacks everytime an election is upcoming.

[Boundless]

> "If the al Qaeda network is behind these attacks, then
> you can certainly say that al Qaeda is responsible for
> removing the Popular Party from government,"

And we may presume that al Qaeda, not being very bright
strategically, will assume that they may successfully
meddle in the US elections.

They'll likely have the opposite effect here, and any
actions prior to Nov will serve to remind the electorate
of what the major issue is.

al Qaeda's best chance would be to lay low until the end
of the year. But being stupid, they'll probably openly
endorse Kerry instead.

[Meredith]

I thought they had already endorsed him. Isn't that who Kerry is referring to when he says, "Leaders [stretching the term] around the world prefer me for president over George Bush?"

[Betaille]

"Today, we see the remnants of that kingdom given away by idiots at the ballot box."

Yep, Half of Europe is too old to care about the future, and the rest... all they care about is having their Ecstacy and Nightlife back. Europe is in no state to fight a war for its survival... and Al-Qaeda is starting to smell that.

[I got the rope]

I disagree...this was going to happen anyway...bombing or no bombing. The bombing just gives the socialist a reason to look like Frenchified cowards.

I should translate this into Spanish and send it to a Spanish newspaper.

But if you say, you can still pass the violations over, then I ask, hath your house been burnt? Hath your property been destroyed before your face? Are your wife and children destitute of a bed to lie on, or bread to live on? Have you lost a parent or a child by their hands, and yourself the ruined and wretched survivor? If you have not, then are you not a judge of those who have? But if you have, and can still shake hands with the murderers, then you are unworthy of the name of husband, father, friend, or lover, and whatever may be your rank or title in life, you have the heart of a coward, and the spirit of a sycophant.--Thomas Paine, Common Sense, 1776.

[Starve The Beast]

The perception that Aznar had sought to exploit the attacks for political gain by blaming Basque separatist group ETA only strengthened the backlash that turned opinion polls on their head.

I've noticed that this line has already started to emerge from the Left (of which Reuters is a charter member). It is unbecoming for the Socialists to have come into power in Spain via craven capitulation to Islamic terrorism. So the media-Left is working to come up with an alternate explanation: "We didn't cave to terrorists, we voted the Popular Party out because it was lying to us."

It's a silly lie, but when has that ever seemed to bother the Left?

[SkyPilot]

Speaking after the victory, Socialist leader Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said his priority is to combat terrorism.

"We, the German Führer and Chancellor, and the British Prime Minister, have had a further meeting today and are agreed in recognizing that the question of Anglo-German relations is of the first importance for our two countries and for Europe. We regard the agreement signed last night and the Anglo-German Naval Agreement as symbolic of the desire of our two peoples never to go to war with one another again. We are resolved that the method of consultation shall be the method adopted to deal with any other questions that may concern our two countries, and we are determined to continue our efforts to remove possible sources of difference, and thus to contribute to assure the peace of Europe."

[DallasMike]

"The Spanish people voted to live in peace."

Regrettably, they shall have war.

[Longbow1969]

"Yep, Half of Europe is too old to care about the future, and the rest... all they care about is having their Ecstacy and Nightlife back. Europe is in no state to fight a war for its survival... and Al-Qaeda is starting to smell that."

Well said Betaille.

Europe's soft underbelly is exposed for all, including every terrorist organization the world, to see.

Europeans never really understood what "peace through strength" was all about.

In a terrible way, part of the problem is indeed America's fault. Not that we got some of them, such as the Spaniards, into Iraq. Not that they are our nominal allies in the war against terror. The problem is that we have guaranteed Western Europe's security for so long, it has left them free to spoil themselves and tinker with pie in the sky notions of creating utopian societies.

The Europeans simply haven't had to honestly consider the possibility that they would have to fight for their societies - such as they are, or spend money on serious militaries.

It is really going to take a lot of bloodshed on the streets of Europe, death and destruction that doesn't end even after they appease the terrorists, to convince the majority of them that it is time to fight.

I've no doubt many of them eventually will. Just as I've no doubt that Americans, even if the US elects Kerry in 04', will, at the end of the day be willing to take seriously the war against radical Islam.

The question is, how much carnage and horror will it take before the West opens its eye's. So long as we continue to hear Western leaders talking about how Islam is "a religion of peace", I will know we are not at that point yet.

Longbow

[Tangerine Time Machine]

Some more for your translation project:

“If ye love wealth greater than liberty, the tranquility of servitude greater than the animating contest for freedom, go home from us in peace. We seek not your counsel, nor your arms. Crouch down and lick the hand that feeds you; and may posterity forget that ye were our countrymen.”
—Samuel Adams

“Only a virtuous people are capable of freedom. As nations become corrupt and vicious, they have more need of masters.”
—Benjamin Franklin, April 17, 1787

“War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse. The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself.”
—John Stuart Mill

“You can sleep well at night because rough men are willing to commit violent acts on your behalf.”
—George Orwell

[reluctantwarrior]

I respectfully disagree, the polity in the US is as fickle as Spain. If there is an attack around October 15th in the US and UBL is still at large the media will flail GWB and Jfn Kerry may be elected.

[Liberty Valance]

I pray for Spain and the everyday folks livin there.....the kinda people we could use a lot more of......Everyday Angels
:o)

[I got the rope]

Thanks...I was brushing up on my Spanish to sound more "Castillian". I'll try not to let you down.