"Tony" wrote in message news:WOt5c.5074$%g.3194@okepread02...
Well, we now have the first surrender in the War on Terror. Spain has
surrendered to Al Quada and will remove its troops from Iraq.
Do the Spanish really think that will be Al Quada's last demand?

I'm as disturbed as anyone that Al Quaeda has apparently influenced
the outcome of a democratic election; in other words, engaged in its
own 'regime change' with a lot less effort than it took in Iraq.

On the other hand we need to remember that the vast majority of the
Spanish people were always strongly against Spanish involvement in
Iraq, and it had always been the opposition party's (now the
government's) declared intention to pull out. Aznar lost the election
partly because the bombs reminded the voters just how much they
disliked his policy on Iraq, but also very much because his government
tried to pin the blame on ETA in a very heavy-handed way, and this
caused great outrage.

It is facile to assume that the Spanish cower before terrorism. If the
bombers had been ETA, the result would have been strong support for
the existing government in its fight against terrorism. It's just that
Iraq has always been an unpopular cause there.

Tony Williams
Military gun and ammunition website: http://www.quarry.nildram.co.uk
Military gun and ammunition discussion forum:
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