(BREAKING) ARABIC TAPE AND DETONATORS FOUND IN VAN IN MADRID - SPANISH MINISTER

Reuters ^ | 11 march, 2004 | Skynews

[Eurotwit]

Sky News just reported that a Spanish minister has just announced that an arabic tape (?) and detontator where found in a van in Madrid.

[wimpycat]

Pardon me if the info has already been posted, but I've been FReepless until now. But does anybody know where we can send donations to the families of the victims of the terrorist attacks in Madrid? A reputable fund or donation? I have already e-mailed the Spanish Consulate in Washington to see if they can give me the information, but hopefully I won't need to wait for their reply.

[Sacajaweau]

btt

[GOPrincess]

The mere fact it is 3/11 seemed significant to me, knowing how A.Q. loves "important" dates...but that is really interesting it's 911 days in between.

[GOPrincess]

Hugh Hewitt is now discussing the 911 days on the radio.

[TaxRelief]

From http://basque.unr.edu/16/16.1t/16.1.1.faqs1.htm

Frequently Asked Questions I
The Basques, origins and language

Who are the Basques?



The Basques are a people who live in a small region (about the size of Rhode Island) that straddles the border of Spain and France from the sea in the west into the Pyrenees in the east. This area is called Euskal Herria (comprising seven provinces, historically: Araba, Bizkaia, Gipuzkoa, and Navarra on the Spanish side; Laburdi, Zuberoa, and Behe-Nafarroa on the French side). Basques speak a language called euskara, but today only about 25% of the population is fluent in that tongue. Even so, the word for a Basque person, euskaldun, means “possessor of the Basque language.” The Basque population is distinguished physically by a high incidence of Rh Negative factor in the blood.

Where do they come from?
No one knows exactly where the Basques came from. Some say they have lived in that area since Cro-Magnon man first roamed Europe. Estimates of how long they have lived there vary from 10,000 to 75,000 years. Some say they are descended from the original Iberians. More fanciful theories exist, as well. One is that the Basques are the descendants of the survivors of Atlantis.

Where does the Basque language come from?
Just as no one is sure about the origins of the Basques themselves, linguists are not in agreement over the origins of Euskara, the Basque language, either. (In Basque, the word euskara is not capitalized, but when using it in English, it is customary to capitalize it, just as we capitalize the names of other languages.) Although there are theories (none of them proven beyond a doubt) that Basque is related to other languages (such as the Georgian family of languages in the Caucasus, or the Berber language family of Africa, or even the Quechua language of Latin America), so far the only thing most experts agree on is that Euskara is in a language family by itself. That is, it is not related to any other language in the world. It is, therefore, not an Indo-European language (the large group to which English, French, Spanish, and Russian belong).

How many Basque Speakers are there in the Basque Country?
There are less than 600,000 fluent speakers in the Autonomous Community of Euskadi (Araba, Bizkaia, Gipuzkoa) and about 400,000 more who have learned some Basque but are not considered fluent. Since most of the Basque speakers of the world live in that area, these numbers give us a close estimate of the number worldwide. There are perhaps 15,000 speakers in Iparralde (the three provinces on the French side of the border), and it is estimated that about 10% of the people in Navarre speak Basque. There are also pockets of Basque speakers in Latin America and in North America. Basque speakers are called Euskaldunak, possessors of Euskara, and those who learn the language later in life are called Euskaldun berriak, “new Basques.”

[TaxRelief]

It's the 2.5 year anniversary of 9/11.

[GraniteStateConservative]

He can't stand Al Franken-- that's a plus!

[Kenny Bunk]

This could cause a backlash in Spain where emotions can run higher than cooler heads.

Al contrario, amigo

The Spaniards say,
"Revenge is a dish better eaten cold."

But, as the newest euroweenies (Spain is a socialist, very politically correct place), let's hope the Spaniards haven't forgotten all they know about kicking Islam in the teeth.

BTW, the Spaniards still have some small, but Muslim posessions in Africa. This, and their outspoken support of the US in Iraq and Afghanistan could be irking the al-qaida. Not to mention the rigorous anti-terrorist effort and the many arrests of the terrorists taking place in Spain.

Given the Muslim Medieval mindset, these clymers might even be upset that the King of Spain is the rightful Crusader King of Jerusalem.

!SANTIAGO Y A ELLOS!

[Wil H]

And I was equally surprised to hear that ETA were labelled the perpetrators so quickly with no empirical evidence whatsoever...

[oceanview]

I'm way behind on this story, just got home from work.

Any news on the type of explosives, I wonder if the method of corrdination was simple timers, how big were these devices to not have been noticed?

[Iberian]

Hey Diddlie, The ETA is not the type of organization that targets to kill. They have been known to call and evacuate prior to bombings and usually target polititians and office buildings belonging to the government. They are not out to kill Spaniards or anyone else.

The ETA cause although wrong is a fight amongst Iberians.

This attack is a 9/11 look alike to target innocent people. I think that getting a dash for the border for those A$$wipes is very difficult (hope they catch them).

My relatives in Spain are Livid, just like we were on 9/11.
They told me "Now we know hou you felt".

[Iberian]

The ETA IS usually the proplem but this is not their doing, they don't operate this way.

[Monty22]

"They told me "Now we know hou you felt"."

It's a damn shame it'll take this thing for them to 'get it'.

[TheErnFormerlyKnownAsBig]

Surprise, surprise, surpise. Al Queda???? Who'd a thunk it?

[Diddle E. Squat]

Do you think that this will change the Spanish public's view on the war on terror and the Iraq war to a more supportive one, or strengthen the view that invading Iraq was a bad idea that has now cost them?

[nolu chan]

[Tempest] Why target Spain though?

One possible reason is the presence of U.S. military in Spain. We have a large Air Force presence at Torrejon AFB outside of Madrid, Zaragoza AFB, and the smaller Moron AFB. We have a large Navy presence at the Naval Base in Rota, in Andalucia in the south of Spain.

[Wil H]

I understand that, it was the indecent haste to blame them when it had none of their hallmarks on it that was puzzling.