Pics of the funeral for the 17 dead Spanish soldiers

El Mundo ^ | 8/18/05

[sabrita]

Moving pics of the religious (gasp) ceremony in Herat for the 17 Spanish soldiers killed recently. It's in Spanish, but pretty self-explanatory. They're adding more pictures as events unfold. Click the back arrow for some pics of Zapatero looking really dopey.

[AppyPappy]

Where were they killed?

[msnimje]

Afghanistan.

[Alexander Rubin]

Afghanistan. Two helicopters crashed. Either collided or shot down by 'freedom fighters'.

[sabrita]

Herat, Afghanistan (some of the few Spanish troops still there supporting our efforts)

[68skylark]

Thanks for the link -- other than your post, there's been very little news about this incident here in the U.S.

[section9]

It's a damn shame. I'm sure that they were serving honorably and well. It is a good thing that we had the help of such brave men in that theater.

However, Zapatero is the Prime Minister of Spain. Which leads to the following question:

What's the over and under on when Zapatero stages the shameless bug out?

Be Seeing You,

Chris

[sabrita]

Zapatero is under a lot of pressure from his socialist buddies in the parliament who have called for a pullout from Afghanistan. It seems the strategy now is to distance themselves from the US in Afghanistan...Zapatero has said over and over Spain is there to help the Afghani people, with no mention of continuing or supporting the US efforts.

[nutmeg]

Link here: El Mundo

Please FReepmail me if you want on or off my ‘miscellaneous’ ping list.

[rlmorel]

They are soldiers. They were fighting alongside the USA. As reprehensible as their socialist government might be, these men deserve our unadulterated respect, and their families deserve our sympathy.

Their government is turning into a pacifist one, but the soldiers who died were still fighting.

[sabrita]

I have a friend in the Spanish military who is absolutely livid about the government's pullout. These brave men and women want to finish what they started in Iraq and Afghanistan. I respect them immensely for their sacrifices.

[rlmorel]

Me too.

I was very disappointed in what the Spanish government did. I have been there many times, and Spain has always been my favorite country in Western Europe (the Poles in Eastern Europe)

Ah well. There is hope the Spanish people do not accurately reflect the views of the government.

[Spanishguy]

That's right, just like you. Or did you agree with everything Clinton did?

Luckily, it seems that ZP is now a little bit smarter (or less dumb who knows...) than 1 years ago and he's not going to repeat the same mistake this time. At least it seems that the pull off option is not on the table now...

[rlmorel]

No, I understand you completely. I didn't want to imply the Spanish are monolithically behind what that ZP does, but I agree it came out that way.

And people do have the opportunity to grow in office as well.

[cgk]

God rest their souls. Prayers for their families.