[inkling]

Thanks, Spain! Due to your cowardice, every democracy must anticipate slaughter of their civilians before each election. Way to let 200 of your countrymen die in vain.

[ysoitanly]

I have nothing to add to your insight. Well done.

[cvq3842]

Well said. It really demeans the dead, and ensures that there will be more of them, IMHO.

Although trying to think like these terrorists isn't easy - they apparently don't think rationally at all - one might suspect that they would HOLD OFF on attacking the US before our elections. It's possible that if there are no attacks here, Bush will fall victim to the "Churchill syndrome" - voters will think the threat is gone and vote for Kerry and his pie-in-the-sky promises.

Then again, I doubt these terrorists think that way at all. But the idea is out there. I hope and pray that we are not hit again (although I fear future attempts are inevitable) and I hope the Bush team, not the Kerry team, is in place to counter these murderers.

[Arkinsaw]

Way to let 200 of your countrymen die in vain.

Yes, they died in vain.

All the powers of this earth will be turning to throw George Bush out of office.

[Dog Gone]

I share your general assessment, but please understand that this vote was not unanimous. There are many Spaniards who still stand by the US and are smarting from the outrage we are sending to their country.

I'm not sure quite what to make of this. Al-Qaida is certainly thrilled, and I think democracies around the globe might well consider postponing elections in times of national emergency.

But all this happened in a very short period of time, and drawing long-term conclusions from it is probably wrong.

[Ichneumon]

Thanks, Spain! Due to your cowardice, every democracy must anticipate slaughter of their civilians before each election. Way to let 200 of your countrymen die in vain.

Or as Mark Steyn put it, "The rain in Spain falls mainly on the slain."

[anymouse]

I know it is easy to blame the Spanish people for falling for the SpanComm's propaganda blaming the Spanish government, but remember they were still in the early stages of grief. Remember that it took days after Sept. 11, 2001 before the American public got ahold of our emotions.

The timing of the train bombing and the SpanComm's deft spin of the public's emotional rage points to the clear fact that the SpanComms clearly had advanced knowledge of the bombings in order to be prepared to exploit them so easily.

Of course the Spanish government didn't help itself when it knee-jerk blamed the ETA, even when evidence started pointing to al Queda. And who was the bone-head that urged the Spanish public to mass protest? After something like this happens chaos doesn't favor authority, rather it aids those working against it.

[archy]

Thanks, Spain! Due to your cowardice, every democracy must anticipate slaughter of their civilians before each election. Way to let 200 of your countrymen die in vain.

Don't give up on Spain and the Spaniards just yet. Granted, they'll likely have reason to regret their recent political reflex, but after having given the world eight years of Clinton, we're hardly in a position to criticize them.

Tue Mar 16, 7:40 AM ET

Railway workers remove debris from the wreckage of a bombed train in Madrid, March 12, 2004. Spanish police believe they have identified six Moroccan Muslim militants who carried out the train bombings that killed 200 and helped propel the opposition Socialists into power, media reported on March 16. With Sunday's shock election result heralding the end of Spanish government support for the occupation of Iraq, Spanish newspapers and radio said one of the Moroccans might have links to last May's Casablanca suicide bombings that killed 45 people.

(Kai Pfaffenbach/Reuters

[DannyTN]

"Thanks, Spain! Due to your cowardice, every democracy must anticipate slaughter of their civilians before each election. Way to let 200 of your countrymen die in vain."

[freedom moose]

If you believe that the Spanish who voted for the socialists were wrong in blaming the government instead of the terrorists, then i think you would be wrong to blame Spain for future terrorist attacks.

[B-Cause]

An Open Letter to the People of Spain

by Laura Mansfield, Analyst - NE Intelligence Network

The terrorist attack that massacred 200 of your countrymen, and injured over a thousand, was a horrific act. The world grieves with you. We all know it could have happened to our people in our countries just as easily as it happened in Madrid last Thursday.

But no matter how tragic and horrible that act was, it was not a victory for the terrorists.

The victory for the terrorists in Spain came on Sunday.

The professed goal of the attack, according to numerous Al Qaeda communiques, was to punish Spain for its support of the United States in the war against Iraq.

Sunday, in your free elections, you voted to place the communist party in power. This morning your new leadership announced that it would withdraw the Spanish troops from Iraq, and in effect abandon the coalition.

Your actions proved beyond the shadow of a doubt to Al Qaeda that if they kill enough people in a mass casualty attack that they can swing the popular vote. You've proved that they can influence elections.

You have just guaranteed that the United States will sustain a mass casualty terrorist action on our soil before our November elections. After all, maybe we too can be frightened into a policy of isolationalism. You probably also doomed Tony Blair's government in England to the same fate. How many will die in terror attacks in the United States and England in order for the terrorists to try and intimidate us?

In 1937, your countryman Pablo Picasso created a masterpiece depicting the horrors of wars in Guernica.

That same year, British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain made this statement: "We should seek by all means in our power to avoid war, by analyzing possible causes, by trying to remove them, by discussion in a spirit of collaboration and good will." He entered into a policy of appeasement with Germany, instead of taking a stand and drawing a line in the sands of time. The end result was that Adolf Hitler had more time to strengthen his hold on power and perpetrate a holocaust not just on the Jews of Germany, but on much of Europe.

At the same time, your countrymen were giving their lives in a struggle for freedom in Spain.

You were not afraid in 1937. Where is the courage of 1937?

The message you sent to Al Qaeda yesterday was clear. "Please don't threaten us; please don't kill our people; we'll do what you want us to do."

Why are you allowing the terrorists to intimidate you now? Why do you let them win?

What happened?

I leave you now with the words "Hasta la Vista". Call us when you need us. You will be calling; your actions in response to the Madrid terrorism attack guaranteed it. And when you call us, we will come and help. Even if Al Qaeda threatens us and attacks us. We don't let fear cower us into appeasement or surrender. That's the kind of people we are.