Posted on 09/23/2006 1:04:40 PM PDT by Pikamax
What a shame we've lost him as a world leader- he is a clear-thinking gent.
"Shades of El Cid..."
In today's PC world, El Cid would be cast as the bad guy.
Well, I honestly don't know if he was term limited or chose not to run again. However, my point intended was that Aznar was NOT running, but instead a candidate from his party was.
"he is a clear-thinking gent."
I sincerely doubt it. He accused ETA for the Al Quaida train bombs in Spain.
Please read the text below originating from wikipedia.org and then tell me if a man like this ought to rule a country of 40 million inhabitants. ( source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aznar )
"The Madrid train bombings
Further information: 11 March 2004 Madrid train bombings
Three days before the election a presumed Islamic terrorist group killed 191 people in the 11 March 2004 Madrid train bombings centred on the Atocha train station,[4] [5] [6] later claiming that this was in response to the role played by Spain in the Iraq war.
Ignoring evidences the Aznar cabinet first blamed ETA, since that's what they wanted the population to think while voting. Even after strong evidence that the attacks had been carried out by an Islamist group emerged, Aznar and his cabinet colleagues continued to insist that ETA was responsible and instructed Spanish diplomats to attribute responsibility to ETA at every opportunity. Two days after the Atocha bombings, demonstrations took place across Spain demanding news from the investigation, where chants such as "We want the truth before we vote" and "Who is responsible" were heard.
Three days after the train bombings, the PSOE won the election. Despite the overwelming proofs and the statement of the intelligence services that the attacks were carried out by an Islamist group, PP representatives would continue to claim that there was a link between ETA and the March 11th bombing. The investigations held by a Parliamentary Committee were characterised by bitter partisan exchanges between PP members and everyone else. Eventually the conclusions aproved by the majority (all parties except the PP) claimed islamic terrorism was responsible for the attack, not ETA."
Well you have to give them some credit for voting him into office in the first place.
Aznar and John Howard get Islam. George W. Bush still does not.
They should apologize for Constantinople, for Bosnia, for Spain, for Mohacs, for Greece, for Smyrna, for Jerusalem - but don't hold your breath.
Thanks. What always bothered me about that particular election in Spain on the heels of the train bombing was how quickly the left was out on the streets demonstrating ... almost as if they knew it was going to happen and were prepared.
Does anyone have an idea why muslim warriors never have been succesful in trying to conquer germanic (anglosaxon/scandinavian/german/dutch) soil?
They tried to take Vienna numerous times, but were defeated each time.
Santiago Matamoros!
You might wanna think a bit about Easter & Christmas traditions. Did Christianity fully "conquer" the Germanic people's of the world?
Um, by definition, Northern Europe is a farther reach for them than Southern Europe!
It is emerging in the Spanish press that ETA actually was involved. ETA didn't plan it, but they provided the materials and obviously, therefore, would have known about it in advance. But ETA is a sacred cow to the Socialists. ETA, which is a Marxist organization, won their hearts by attacking Franco, blowing up members of his government on their way to Mass, etc., and the Socialists are ready to conceal or pardon anything ETA does.
INdeed. I noticed the same thing, which is why when the democrats start whining about cargo containers being our biggest risk, I look at them with suspicion.
Both are true - parts of Scandinavia, for example, were not converted to Christianity until the 10th and 11th centuries, and it is also true that the Germanic countries are further away from the ME and also have a climate that is very inhospitable by Middle Eastern standards.
In addition, while the Muslims caught Southern Europe off guard, Northern Europe saw it as a salutary lesson on what would happen if the Muslims got in, and I think this encouraged them to pull out all the stops on resisting. And Spain itself did manage to kick them out, after 800 years, as Aznar points out, and their stay in other parts of Southern Europe was even briefer.
The head of ETA in Mexico converted to Islam several years ago, btw. Just a little food for thought.
"You might wanna think a bit about Easter & Christmas traditions. Did Christianity fully "conquer" the Germanic people's of the world?"
- Nope.
Example:
One of the strongest pre-christian, pagan, traditions in my part of the world (Sweden, Scandinavia) is and has always been Midsummer ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midsummer ).
Most people in Sweden aren't aware of the fact that, officially, Midsummer is a lutheran celebration of the birthday of John the Baptist.
At Midsummer, swedes instead celebrate swedish nature, the sun never setting and the joys of drinking Absolut Vodka and eating sill/baltic herring ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baltic_herring ) - or the joys of Absolut Vodka alone.
Just being vikings...
"It is emerging in the Spanish press that ETA actually was involved. ETA didn't plan it, but they provided the materials and obviously, therefore, would have known about it in advance. But ETA is a sacred cow to the Socialists. ETA, which is a Marxist organization, won their hearts by attacking Franco, blowing up members of his government on their way to Mass, etc., and the Socialists are ready to conceal or pardon anything ETA does."
This is interesting, I wont deny that.
All the same, I think you have to say Aznar failed to behave like a true statesman.
Anyhow, please understand that I'm a true friend of Spain and the idea of a united Europe.
Personally, I have always felt that some in the left knew more than they are letting on. Those leftist demonstrations were organized practically before the bodies were even cold and had identically printed signs. Also, Aznar had made major changes to the Spanish intelligence services, eliminating and consolidating them, and he had a lot of enemies there. It later emerged that some of the Muslims involved in the bombing were actually (in theory) "informants" to one of the intelligence services, and the police had also had contact with the Spaniard from Asturias who had provided the dynamite. So it's very murky; Aznar had tried to clean up the intelligence services, but obviously, not enough or not in the right places.
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