Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Common Interests Terrorism wins BIG!

Surprised to see no discussion about terrorism's big win. Not sure yet (well, pretty sure) if it's militant Islam, but whichever terrorist group that killed 200 people in Madrid just sucessfully ousted the president of Spain!! He was ahead by 5 points before the blast but was beaten by a wide margin. NO QUESTION that it was the terrorist act....

Do you think the people of Spain know what they have done? Deliberate appeasment?...Europe has a history of this. If it were my loved one killed I would be devastated a second to know that my countrymen had, as a result, fallen to their knees and begged for mercy.

No matter what the new socialist leader does on the "war on terror", the message is clear.......when it comes to getting your man elected, murder is by far the most cost effective tool..

I agree whole heartedly. They won.

Well, even if it wasn't the tangos that bombed that train who got the man into the presidency, the terrorists won that round because Spain's new president has sworn to pull all their troops out of Iraq by June.

There has been growing dissent in Spain with the Aznar's policies, especially when he decided to side with Bush and Blair on the Iraq issue. I would say a large majority of Spaniards did not support the government's role in sending troops and support to Iraq; like France, post-Franco Spain has never been well-known for looking outside it's borders on issues of security, given that ETA consumes a fair amount of their security and surveillance resources. To put it bluntly, Spain has felt that they have their own problems to take care of and Iraq, right or wrong, wasn't something that they should have stuck their noses in if it wasn't totally handled through the UN. Much of the aggrivation died down after the Spanish troops were sent, though. Aznar took a risk sending troops and support into Iraq against popular opinion as did Blair; doing the right thing isn't necessarily doing the popular thing and through a wicked set of events it has turned around and gutted the Popular Party...

Also, Aznar was set to step down from his position and let Rajoy run for election. It was the Popular Party that got ousted, not Aznar.

I won't go into the personal effect this bombing has had on my wife and her family (they are Spanish and lived there until '96), but the impact on the Spaniards was immense. I hate to stereotype, but I'm really not when I say that Spaniards are VERY emotional people; feeling rather than logic and serious thought guides many aspects of their lives. Given this, the vote is of no surprise to me at all, as it was an emotional protest vote more than a policy vote. I understand why it happened (youth voter turnout was said to be of record proportion and certainly had more in common with the Socialist Party than the Popular Party) though I can't say I applaud the message it now sends to every wacko terrorist group on the globe. I know nothing of the upcoming Prime Minister, though having terrorists attack your country, it's people and it's way of life and then telling the press that Spain is likely packing up their troops and high-tailing it out of Iraq is just about the worst message I can think of giving, short of inviting the Taliban in as policy advisors...

Come November 14th of this year, John Kerry's best ally in the election may be Al-Qaeda, especially if they try the same thing here. I can totally see something like this happening in the US.

It just go to show how thin this "support" for the war on terror really. I find it pretty damn sad how Spain is being called "weak" now but 2 weeks ago they were a "vital" and important part of the alliance on terror. It is amazing how things change so fast.

Apparently Spainards have a stong dislike for Arabs due to history. They probably dont care about Iraq because it doesn't impact them. Now it does and by getting out they think it will end. Not!

-Andy

The Spanish support WAS at the GOVERNMENT level. As JaTo said, popular support was lacking (only 10-20% by most estimates). Whats changed IS the government...and my point was it was changed by the TERRORISTS. Not sure that "weak" is the word I would use to describe the citizens. Perhaps emotion ruled the day. And I do feel for them, as they felt for us on 9/11. But whatever the reason, they have made a huge mistake, in sending the message that they did to terrorists. And impossible to revoke...because even if the new government cracks down even HARDER and sends MORE troups to Iraq (not going to happen) the fact remains that the LAST government was toppled by the terrorists as surely as we toppled the Taliban & Sadam..

Dan, what I am saying is just find it to be uneasy that a goverments stance can literally change over night. Maybe the Spanish did not sell the notion that the war on terror was good for Spain or not. The fact of the matter is their position as now is changed due to a attack. How many other countries are going to have to "fall" until they get a clear message on how dangerous this situation really is?

Alittle off topic. I hear the families of soldiers are paying for extra body armor on the news this morning. I know there are few soldiers here that was in IRAQ. Can they comment? My cousin was but he was not on the front lines( Helo mechanic.) So, I doubt he would know.

i was planning on taking a stroll down to morocco in a few weeks (in alicante now). looks like that might be out of the question unless i stay in spanish territory there. the one thing ive noticed here is the spaniards have a blase attitude towards patriotism.