Posted on 11/25/2004 7:19:53 AM PST by Jose Roberto
Translated by Jose Roberto Orellana for the Free Republic.
MADRID.- "I do not want to be a great leader". With this phrase, expressed by Rodríguez Zapatero to 'Time' Magazine during an interview in September, The Wall Stree Journal (European Edition) lacerates the Spanish President in a scathing editorial published today. The WSJ states that the "precipitated" decision to withdraw the Spanish trrops from Iraq is the "perfect 'thank you' to the terrorists that perpretrated the 11th of March attack on Spain and enexpectedly propelled Zapatero to the Presidency".
The American newspaper points that "Zapatero, after nine months in power, has demonstrated that his now-infamous phrase (I do not want to be a great leader) is a stunning self-fulfilling prophecy".
"In spite of the Socialists accusations that the previous (Aznar's) Administration exposed Spain to terrorism, we now know that the 3/11 attacks were planned before the War in Iraq", states the WSJ in its editorial, 'Presidente por casualidad (The Accidental Prime Minister)', that underlines that Zapatero's decision "has cost Spain friends and influence in the international community and has not brought an improved security to the country".
The prestigious newspaper (WSJ) accuses that the "Zapatero's rabid anti-americanism has shaken the international community, including the French and German diplomats. Since taking power, Zapatero has called on America's allies to abandon Iraq. And he still expects President Bush to return his telephone calls".
"It would be tempting to deny that these are major blunders of an inexperienced Prime Minister that behaves more like a Tarot reader", continues the WSJ, "but Zapatero's politics are not directed by inexperience but by his ideology, and that is difficult to change"
Furthermore, the WSJ mentions the "affinity" that Zapatero shares with the "last remnants of Socialism in Latin America". Thus, we see "his arduous work in the European Union to lift sanctions against Cuba" and his other "favorite project: reinforce his bonds with Chavez".
The WSJ underlines that "even the current Socialist Spanish Foreign Minister supported Chavez' accusation that the previous Spanish Conservative government of Jose Maria Aznar encouraged a coup d'etat against him (Chavez)".
"Zapatero has the right to his ideas", says the last paragraph of the editorial, "but the Spaniards also have the right to ask what do they get in a leader that appeases the terrorists, becomes friends with the dictators and soils Spain's international prestige". "These may be four long and dark years in the Iberian Penisnula", the WSJ concludes.
Good job Wall Street Journal! Zapatero is indeed a total A$$HOLE! And good on Bush too for not returning his calls.
It's the OKC bombing that propelled Clinton into the Presidency. When is the MSM going to acknowledge their own sins?
Thanks for your efforts in translating this. Interesting that Spain may be waking up to the error they've made in electing this man.
Zap is also destroying the church there too. Do they have mid term elections there?
The Spanish newspapers, El Mundo and El Pais are beginning to print unflattering articles about Zapatero. Even the Madrid Cardinal is fuming at the "shameful Socialist ideas" of Zapatero and his cronies.
BTTT
I really liked Asnar. He fundementally understood the challenges the world faces. What a pity he's gone.
appeasement never works-especially with terrorists! kerry would have been an absolute disaster. what's the attitude towards americans in spain? i'm under the impression that we're not very liked in spain.
I think the WSJ is a little premature in claiming that Cuba and Chavez are the "last remnants of Socialism in Latin America."
Have they forgotten about Lula-land?
Or maybe they've decided that communists who embrace "free trade" are respectably acceptable.
dont forget Venezuala
No, we are not very well liked by the Spanish at the moment but it is due to Zapatero's rabid anti-American rhetoric and the statements that he made that Aznar was "subservient" to "Emperor Bush". Zapatero has no morals, just like Kerry, and will say and do anything that is necessary to stay in power. But reality is coming to the Spanish people because finally, after Bush's re-election, there is a mounting realization that the American people as well as the Australian people made the right decision in electin Bush and Howard, respectively. Also, they Spaniards are still afraid because the Socialists are gutting their defense budget and there are finding more terrorists cells from Al Qaeda arriving from Morocco and they are seeing a revitalization of ETA. Hard times are coming in Spain...
Didn't the OKC bombimgs happen after the first Clinton election?
I think that OKC bombing occurred during Bubba's first term.
"It's the OKC bombing that propelled Clinton into the Presidency"
You mean like when Nixon gave a 1968 christmas speech denying the US had troops in cambodia while John Kerry was there himself?
Check dates.
He is sending a signal to the Spanish people that their sorry leader will not destroy the relations with the US, only put them on hold while he is in power.
They all deserve each other.
I think he means the 1996 re-election.
Wishful thinking on the part of WSJ. Spain didn't want to fight terrorists and they proved it with this election. Another thing, Spain was conservative for only a short period of time. The country has returned to what it was and has not descended into some dark paragraph in it's history.
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