[Vision2020] Spain

[Pat Kraut]

Yes, Yes this type of appeasement worked so well before WWII. As I said, it
will be interesting to see how this plays out.
PK
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Joan Opyr" <auntiestablishment@hotmail.com>
To: <vision2020@moscow.com>
Sent: Tuesday, March 16, 2004 12:05 PM
Subject: RE: [Vision2020] Spain


> Pat Kraut writes:
>
> >I wonder if the voters understood that this will not end the attacks from
> >ETA or Al Quida. Actually, it could only make it much worse if they
decide
> >they can control them with violence. It will be most interesting to see
how
> >this plays out.
>
> I think this is an over-simplified (not to say simplistic) view of the
> Spanish elections.  One of the problems Aznar's government had to contend
> with was the perception that it had lied to the Spanish people in the
> immediate aftermath of the bombings.  The government was quick to blame
the
> Basque separatist group ETA and, had the bombings in fact been conducted
by
> ETA, the government had every reason to suppose that this would increase
> Aznar's popularity.  (The Prime Minister was very hard on ETA during his
> time in office, and this part of his government's policy was popular.
What
> was unpopular was Aznar's support for George Bush and the war in Iraq.)
As
> the bombings do not seem to have been the work of ETA but were instead the
> work of Algerian and Moroccan jihadis who may or may not have ties to Al
> Qaeda, Aznar's blaming of ETA looked both disingenuous and opportunistic
to
> many Spanish voters.
>
> I've heard it said in some quarters that bin Laden won the Spanish
> elections; this is nonsense.  The Social Democrats opposed the war in
Iraq,
> as did between 80 and 90% of the Spanish people, but that does not mean
that
> they're in favor of Al Qaeda or terrorism.  It means that they will
approach
> the problem differently than Aznar and George Bush.  And who's to say the
> Social Democrats' methods won't work better?  Clearly, removing Saddam
> Hussein from Iraq did not make Spain markedly safer from terrorist attack.
> Perhaps an internal crackdown on known jihadis and Al Qaeda sleeper cells
> would be a better way to spend Spanish security money; perhaps greater
> security on the nations railways, bus stations, power plants, etc., is in
> order.
>
> The Spanish government has arrested more Al Qaeda suspects than any other
> European nation thus far, 69.  More, no doubt, will be flushed out of the
> woodwork.  Thanks to ETA, the Spanish have thirty years' worth of
experience
> in dealing with terrorists.  For that reason alone, I think it's both
> arrogant and short-sighted for us to assume that they voted out of fear or
> in the mistaken belief that playing nice with terrorists will keep them
> safe.  The Aznar/Bush approach to terrorism is not the only one, nor even,
> quite possibly, the best one.
>
> Joan Opyr/Auntie Establishment
>
> PS: Here's another interesting proposition to consider.  Lost in all the
> debate about France's opposition to the war in Iraq was the fact that the
> French Army has been and continues to be active in the war in Afghanistan
> and the hunt for bin Laden.  There were several reports this weekend that
> the French believe they've got bin Laden in a net in a mountainous area
> between Afghanistan and Pakistan.  What will be the American reaction if
> those cheese-eating surrender monkeys are the ones who catch bin Laden?
>
> I expect George Bush will have more heartburn than if he'd eaten an entire
> basket of Freedom fries.
>
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