Posted on 06/07/2005 11:48:18 PM PDT by nickcarraway
MADRID — Spain's governing Socialists, in a report to be presented in Congress tomorrow, claim their conservative predecessors manipulated information after the Madrid train bombings for political gain.
That is among the conclusions of Socialist deputies who served on the parliamentary inquiry created to probe the causes and consequence of the attacks, which took place under the premiership of centre-right Jose Maria Aznar of the Popular Party.
The more-than-400-page document will be formally presented on Wednesday in the lower house of Parliament.
Besides criticism of the former government, the top Socialist on the investigative commission told EFE that the report will
offer recommendations on enhancing security and doing more to aid victims of terrorism.
The text will likewise urge the drafting of a multiparty pact against international terrorism modelled on the accord the then-ruling PP and the Socialists signed in 2000 with the aim of placing the battle against Basque separatist terrorism above partisan politics, Alvaro Cuesta said.
The Socialists "do not make the (Aznar) government responsible for the attacks," Cuesta said.
The inquiry demonstrated that the conservatives mounted a "massive deception" in an effort to pin the blame on the Basque group ETA for the 11 March bombings of four crowded commuter trains, which left 191 dead and more than 1,500 wounded.
Cuesta pointed to "manipulation" of the media by the Aznar administration during the period between the massacre and Spain's 14 March general elections to obscure the shift in the investigation away from the Basque separatists and toward Islamic terrorists.
National court judge Baltasar Garzon, who heads Spain's judicial offensive against al-Qaeda and has played a major role in battling ETA, told the legislative panel last July that evidence pointing clearly to Islamic militants as the perpetrators emerged within hours of the bloodbath.
Aznar's government had provided Spanish troops for the U.S. occupation of Iraq and were closely aligned with the Bush administration despite popular opposition to the war.
According to one line of reasoning, Aznar's administration feared that, if it become known radical Islamic extremists were behind the train attacks became known, people would see the assault as a response to Madrid's support for Washington and would chastise the PP at the polls.
Indeed, the Socialists won the general elections despite all previous polls pointing to a conservative victory.
Cuesta said both the commission's findings and the work of investigating magistrates have made it clear that police found no evidence or leads indicating anyone other than Muslim extremists as the people behind the train bombings.
The Socialist-drafted document also faults the Aznar government for a "lack of foresight" regarding the new terrorist threat that emerged with the 9/11 strikes on the United States.
The report said criticised the previous government to "connect the dots" in ways that might have enabled them to prevent the 11 March attacks.
Officials in the PP administration "didn't take into account alerts from the police" about the activity of radical Islamic groups in Spain, Cuesta said, adding that the forthcoming report emphasizes steps needed to avert future atrocities.
He said the report will recommend an audit of the security service's existing capabilities in order to highlight weaknesses and propose corrective measures.
Socialist Party sources told EFE the report is divided into three sections: one addressing the preparation of the attacks and security lapses by authorities; the second dealing with the "massive deception and manipulation" between 11-14 March; and the final portion devoted to recommendations for the future.
After presenting the text, the Socialists plan to meet with all the other parties represented on the investigative commission - except the PP - with an eye toward agreeing on a final draft of the report by 22 June.
The investigating panel met for more than 100 hours and heard from scores of witnesses, including Aznar and current prime minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero - the first-ever such appearances by any sitting or former Spanish premier.
Several closed sessions were also held to review classified intelligence material.
Have these scumbags ever done anything to catch and punish the perps - meaning the people behind this attack?
This is why we need to pray for a Republican administration after Bush. If the Dims get in the White House, they'll "find" evidence supporting all their wild accusations over the past four years.
Zarqawi blew the hell out of these wimps and they bent over and ran for the hills. I am not ever sure the French are as big wussies, its close though.
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