Free Republic

A Sailor By Alfonso Ussía Manuel Martín-Oar, captain in the Spanish Navy, died in Iraq. One line sums up the entire tragedy. He escaped alive from the terrorist attack on the United Nations headquarters and was found dead in a dirty, run-down temporary morgue. He has gone to his rest with honor, that lofty and sacred thing no longer valued in our time. The politicians have declared their regret and respect, with the usual abstentions. The grubby minds of Llamazares and Anasagasti [Basque Marxist separatists] have tried to take advantage of the death of a Spanish sailor to stir up...

The Spanish government came under pressure Wednesday to withdraw its troops from Iraq as it mourned the first Spanish fatality in the international reconstruction effort to rebuild the war-shattered country. Navy captain Manuel Martin Oar was one of at least 24 people killed in Tuesday's attack against the United Nations headquarters in Baghdad, which has been condemned around the world. Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar, a staunch US and British ally in the war on Iraq, has pledged a 1,300-strong troop contingent for the reconstruction effort despite growing public concern. Spain already has 744 soldiers there, but the death...