Free Republic

Story Number: NNS050506-03 Release Date: 5/6/2005 1:55:00 PM USS THEODORE ROOSEVELT (NNS) -- A ceremony held aboard USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71) (TR) May 4 recognized the ongoing friendship between Spain and the United States with the joining of a Spanish ship to the TR Carrier Strike Group. Alvaro de Bazan (F 101), a medium-size Spanish frigate, is now officially a part of Carrier Strike Group 2. “We are pleased and honored to welcome Alvaro de Bazan to Norfolk, Va., and into the TR strike group,” said Commander, Carrier Strike Group 2 Rear Adm. James A. Winnefeld. “This project was...

MADRID, Spain -- Spain's Socialist government approved a plan Friday to send hundreds of additional troops to Afghanistan to help NATO provide security for post-Taliban elections in September. The proposal would increase the number of Spanish troops in Afghanistan from 137 to about 1,000 for the vote; some would be rotated out, leaving 540 in place at the end of the year. The Cabinet also approved a proposal to send an undetermined number of police to join the U.N. force in Haiti. Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero criticized Spain's previous, conservative government for sending troops to Iraq without consulting...

MADRID, July 1 (Reuters) - Spain plans to roughly double its peacekeeping forces in Afghanistan to a maximum of 1,040 troops, subject to parliamentary approval, Defence Minister Jose Bono said on Thursday. Spain, which withdrew its forces from the international coalition in Iraq earlier this year after the Socialists won power, would send up to 893 fresh troops and bring home 328 of those already posted in Afghanistan, Bono said. Spain's parliament is due to vote next week on the proposal, which would have a total cost of 54 million euros ($65.76 million). Bono said the troop figures were final...

The decision by the new Socialist government to pull out Spanish troops from Iraq is lawful. But it is also gravely irresponsible. It raises Spain's risks and worsens our foreign relations. It alienates us from our partners and allies and does not contribute to the foreign policy consensus that had been promised to us by the new government. It suggests also a lack of solidarity with the Iraqi people and is the best news possible for those who attacked Spain on March 11. Many of us in Spain feel ashamed about the withdrawal of our troops. And many more of...

Posted on Thu, Apr. 22, 2004 Spain Intelligence Agents to Stay in Iraq CIARAN GILES Associated Press MADRID, Spain - Spain has agreed to a U.S. request to leave its intelligence agents in Iraq and not withdraw them along with its 1,300 troops, a leading Socialist party member said Thursday. "Yes, there is an agreement, a consensus, on this. Both the defense and foreign ministers have spoken on this," Trinidad Jimenez, the ruling party's spokeswoman for international affairs, said in a Telecinco TV interview. Spain would "maintain a commitment" in Iraq, Jimenez said. "It's just a question of deciding where...

<p>CHRIS WALLACE, HOST, FOX NEWS SUNDAY: Jose Maria Aznar stepped down this week as prime minister of Spain. He was retiring after two terms in office. But his final days were controversial, with his decision to send 1,300 Spanish troops to Iraq and then the brutal terrorist attack of 3/11.</p>

MADRID, Spain (AP) -- Spain's incoming government, under pressure over plans to withdraw its troops from Iraq, has agreed to double its military presence in Afghanistan to 250 soldiers this summer, an aide to the future defense minister said Monday. The Socialist party insisted that its plans on Iraq remain firm. A poll released Monday said 72 percent of Spaniards agree with its position. Outgoing Defense Minister Federico Trillo made the decision on the Afghanistan troops last week in consultation with his Socialist replacement, Jose Bono, according to Bono spokesman Jose Luis Fernandez. Reports that the Socialists, who won March...

MADRID, March 23 — Spain's prime minister-elect, who has pledged to pull troops out of Iraq unless the United Nations assumes supervision of the occupation force there, is considering increasing the number of Spanish peacekeepers in Afghanistan, officials in his Socialist Party said Tuesday. Advertisement Less than two weeks after the deadly train bombings in Madrid, Prime Minister-elect José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero wants to signal his commitment to fight terrorism and show the United States that Spain remains a loyal ally, said one senior party official. The new government wants "to send a message that the Socialists do not believe...

Spain’s new socialist government may not carry out its threat to withdraw from the coalition forces in Iraq, Foreigh Office minister Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean suggested today. “Of course there have been a number of things said by the incoming government which have caused some eyebrows to be raised on various issues,” she told the Lords. “The incoming Prime Minister of Spain (Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero) has made it very clear that no formal decisions will be taken about the way in which they deal with Iraq issue until he has come into office and had the opportunity to...

<p>MADRID, Spain (AP) -- Defiant despite a crushing election defeat, outgoing Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar said Monday he does not regret supporting the war in Iraq and criticized his successor's plan to withdraw Spanish troops.</p> <p>Aznar's remarks were his first in public since the March 14 general election in which his conservative Popular Party crashed to surprise defeat amid charges that he had provoked the Madrid rail bombings three days earlier by backing the war. The attack killed 202 people and wounded more than 1,800.</p>

Among the big losers in Spain's election was Tony Blair, who lost his most important ally in Europe. With Jose Maria Aznar now headed to the world of think tanks and corporate boardrooms, Blair stands almost alone as a European leader willing to expend blood and treasure to establish Iraq as a democratic and peaceful model for a 21st century Middle East. True, Italy's Silvio Berlusconi remains with Blair, but he lacks Aznar's gravitas and international standing. Blair also expects plucky little Poland--to borrow a title once conferred on Belgium--to stand firm, as will the Danes and, most likely but...

It was, reported the BBC, "the most deadly terror attack in Europe since Pan-Am Flight 103 was blown out of the sky by a bomb above the Scottish town of Lockerbie in 1988, and the worst in Spanish history." The BBC was wrong. It was much worse than that. Thursday morning's carefully planned bomb blasts in and around Madrid, killed nearly 200 people, and wounded some 1,400 others, all — as this headline in El Mundo put it — "merely because they were Spanish." The Spanish government, and many others, at first blamed the ETA, the Basque terrorists, for...

<p>It happened on the 21/2-year anniversary of the attacks on Manhattan and Washington - 30 months to the day. The symbolism was intentional.</p> <p>The facts are still coming in. The Spanish government initially blamed the ETA, a Basque separatist organization with minimal popular support and a maximum will to violence. But evidence of al Qaeda links - including a letter claiming responsibility - soon surfaced.</p>

Remarks by the President to the Spanish and American Press Pools 3/12/2004 2:32:00 PM -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- To: National Desk Contact: White House Press Office, 202-456-2580 WASHINGTON, March 12 /U.S. Newswire/ -- The following is a transcript of remarks by the President to the Spanish and American press pools: Embassy of Spain Washington, D.C. 1:08 p.m. EST THE PRESIDENT: Mr. Ambassador, thank you for having Laura and me here during this solemn occasion. The United States of America sends our prayers and sympathies to the Spanish people, who mourn the loss of life, who today weep for their loved ones, who...

Why Spain was targeted for attack. SPAIN has now had its 9/11. Though scarred by a civil war 70 years ago, and by the fascist terrorism of the Basque separatist ETA movement in recent years, Spain has seen no previous horror that could prepare it for yesterday's Madrid nightmare. The blasts struck three railroad stations in the capital, killing at least 190 people and injuring 1,400 more. Spanish authorities at first blamed the atrocity on ETA - but evidence of al Qaeda involvement soon started piling up, including a letter to a Palestinian newspaper in London explicitly taking credit for...

But far deeper and more profound questions abound if Al Qaeda is responsible for the Madrid attacks. Still aware of the Moorish occupation, Spaniards can be fiercely bigoted towards Arabs. But, still fresh out of the Franco era, they are also fiercely pacifist. In that competition of histories, who will become the enemy to everyday Spaniards: Osama bin Laden or George W. Bush? Last night in Barcelona, hundreds gathered to beat pots and pans to protest Aznar's support of the Iraq war, giving a glimpse at what may signal the widespread outcome of these bombings. Unlike Americans, who channeled their...

Spain, a Steady Antiterror AllyThe terrorist bombing that killed over 170 people in Madrid Thursday was a huge tragedy for Spain, an event almost in scale for that country as Sept. 11 was for the US. Spaniards deserve as much empathy as Europe displayed to Americans over two years ago. But the person most in need of support is Spain's outgoing prime minister, José Maria Aznar. He, and his ruling Popular Party, no doubt will take some political heat for being so tough on the two groups most likely behind Thursday's attacks: the Basque separatist group ETA, or some variant...

<p>March 12, 2004 -- YESTERDAY, terrorists took the lives of almost 200 Spanish civilians, wounding perhaps 1,400 more. Ten coordinated explosions struck three morning commuter trains entering Madrid.</p> <p>It happened on the 21/2-year anniversary of the attacks on Manhattan and Washington - 30 months to the day. The symbolism was intentional.</p>

Please take a moment of your time to send a message of support to our allies in their time of need.

Spain has lost, I believe, the third highest number of personnel in Iraq, after the US and Britain. They lost an attache and a lot of guys who were there to train Iraqi police. Their PM Aznar stood by President Bush and the USA when the "axis of weasels" blocked all hopes for the UN to enforce their own resolutions gainst Iraq. Here is how you can send your thoughts, prayers, condolences, and messages of support to the families and loved ones of those lost and injured by another senseless act of terror today. Click on the email link at...