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Italian Commentary Argues Madrid Bombings Mark 'All-Out War' on Spanish Society

Milan Corriere della Sera (Internet Version) March 12, 2004

'Behind the scenes' commentary by Magdi Allam: "Pact of Blood Between ETA And Fundamentalists. Basque Brigades in Iraq Too"

Among the hundreds of foreign combatants, mostly Islamic, who poured into Iraq on the eve of the US attack on 20 March 2003, there were also around 80 Basque members of ETA. Alvaro Gorka Vidal and Badillo Izkur were two them. On 29 February they were arrested aboard a van bound for Madrid which was packed with 500 kg of explosives. Unfortunately, Spanish investigators were not aware of their past. A past which reveals a terrorist alliance between the young ETA activists, a faction of the self-styled 'Iraqi resistance' which controls the area around Fallujah and Al Ramadi, and the circuit surrounding Spain's Anti-Imperialist Camp. And which yesterday perhaps inaugurated, with the bloodiest terrorist atrocity in Europe, an unprecedented season of violence marked by the indiscriminate massacre of civilians. The Euskal Herria Brigade, Basque Territory, took part in the operations to combat the attack of the US forces in Baghdad. It was made up of young members of ETA who were ready to make the final sacrifice of their lives. They had been carefully selected by Spain's Anti-Imperialist Camp. On the basis of an inflexible faith in the Arab cause, and a strong hatred of Israel. They went first by plane to Amman or to Damascus. From there they continued by land to the Iraqi capital. Many of them returned home again. Some remained in Iraq pretending to be humanitarian workers. The attack which claimed the lives of seven agents from the Spanish secret services on 29 November in Swaira, a place 45 km south of Baghdad, is probably down to them.

The terrorist partnership between ETA and the 'Iraqi resistance' took place in Europe. Thanks to the work of agents from the secret services of Saddam Husayn, who managed to infiltrate the Anti-Imperialist Camp active in Spain and in France. These individuals returned to Iraq on the eve of the war. And they succeeded in taking control of terrorist activity in Fallujah and Al Ramadi, the two hottest hotspots inside the so-called Sunni 'Triangle of Death'. That is where the bloodiest attacks against the Americans and the Iraqi 'collaborationists' set out from. The site of the Anti-Imperialist Camp is the main media channel for publishing the communiques of the 'Iraqi resistance'. Officially, this resistance says that it has nothing to do with Usama bin Ladin. But actually it is directly involved in recruiting Islamic and non-religious would-be combatants and suicide terrorists on European soil, and sending them to Iraq. Collaborating closely with al-Qa'ida in the success of the same strategy of terror which aims at the destabilization of Iraq and the evacuation of US forces.

Spain, in common with Italy, France, and Britain, is host to al-Qa'ida cells, both active and sleeper cells. These have, to date, been involved mainly in logistical support activities. The plan which resulted in the tragic attacks of 11 September 2001 on New York and Washington was drawn up partly on Spanish soil, where Mohammad Atta, the head of the squad of 19 suicide hijackers, made a trip. Equally, Spain has become one of bin Ladin's main targets, on account of its major support for the war in Iraq, and its presence, with forces of its own, in the south of the country. It was no mystery that Spain was a sworn enemy of al-Qa'ida. What was not known was the terrorist alliance which united ETA with the 'Iraqi resistance' and, indirectly, with bin Ladin. The atrocity in Madrid represents the de facto bin Ladin-ization of terrorism in Europe. In ideological terms, essentially. What really ought to be of concern is the change in the perception of the 'enemy'. By indiscriminately striking civilians, ETA has abandoned the principle of subjective responsibility, which in the past had led it to attack individual exponents of the institutions. In order to adopt the bin Ladin-style principle of objective responsibility. All those who, in various ways, are on the side of the 'enemy' deserve death. It is legitimate to kill them. Bin Ladin does this on the basis of the takfir, condemnation, on the grounds of apostasy, of the whole of a society which agrees to living under an 'impious' or 'atheistic' power. Yesterday, by killing people indiscriminately in Madrid, all-out war has been declared against Spanish society as a whole.

It is clear that Italy is also worried by the shift up in gear on the part of terrorism in Spain, and the emergence of a terrorist holding organization, which joins together indigenous subversive elements and Arab and Islamic extremist groups. The SISMI [Intelligence and Military Security Service], our military counter-espionage service, pointed up this risk in the report which it recently sent to parliament. And thus far the work of prevention and opposition has been successful. But it is clear that we find ourselves faced with the most insidious war of globalized terrorism, capable of mobilizing the enemies who are inside and outside the West.