in article Jcj8c.83648$_w.1132827@attbi_s53, Jay Honeck at
wrote on 3/24/04 9:04 AM:

No problem, there's obviously no point in arguing with you. One last
thing I would like to say, though. In this discussion you have shown
how far from being a Spaniard you are, inspite of your own subject
line.

Sorry, Alex. I completely misread the situation in Spain, and my feelings
of solidarity with them were clearly misplaced. If you had followed the
more recent thread "We are All Spaniards -- NOT", you would know how I feel
about this.

I stopped "Being a Spaniard" the moment the Spanish electorate handed the
terrorists their biggest victory. They have endangered us all in a way that
cannot be measured.

What is it about the Spanish elections that confuses people so? Everyting
about them is perfectly rational.

The leaders of Spain, much like our own leaders, told their people that
sending troops to Iraq and defeating Saddam Hussein would help keep them
safe from Al Qaida. After having sent troops to Iraq, and subsequently
suffering a terrorist attack from Al Qaida that was roughly equivalent to
the 9-11 attacks in terms of percentage of the population killed, the
Spanish people have quite logically concluded that sending troops to Iraq
and defeating Saddam Hussein did absolutely nothing to keep them safe from
Al Qaida. Why would they conclude otherwise?

I still feel compassion for the innocent victims, but it is plainly evident
that the Spanish people have rightly earned their world status as a
third-tier nation. It's hard to believe that these same people once ruled
the seas, and much of the world.

How many decades hence will historians be saying the same thing about the
U.S? In our lifetimes? In a hundred years? Empires have never lasted, and
they never will. It's a simple and unavoidable fact.