A car bomb went off in Madrid today, injuring many (I have seen estimates from 10 to 31). According to the BBC, “Reports say a caller claiming to be from the Basque militants, Eta, told a newspaper the group was planning to explode a device in the city.” The BBC was also quick to remind us this strikes a blow to the city’s aspirations for the 2012 Olympics.
Of course, there will be those who will point to the almost immediate seeming capitulation to terrorism after last year’s horrifying actions at Atocha Station in the same city as being in part responsible for this. I am not so sure. People willing to murder innocents for their ends are unfortunately all around us, probably in every big city. Still, it is worth remembering that in the aftermath of the railroad disaster the Basques were the first to be blamed too. And it is also worth noting the rumors that they have been allied with Al Qaeda.
I will be following events on Barcepundit, of course, who reports that there was a second possible event, now described as a false alarm. Naturally, Madrilenos would be jittery.
UPDATE: For Austin Bay, this is a family matter.
Roger,
You need to get some sleep. I thought I was up early (east coast).
Possible confusion on “Who is really blowing us up”? Great.
That is precisely the issue that the Spanish people have brought upon themselves by their ousting of Zapatero so quickly after the Madrid bombing.
The lesson of this knee-jerk response of the Spanish electorate? To the Jihadists – rope-a-dope works. To the Spanish electorate – rope-a-dope worked on us. Not exactly the outcome that they expected, I surmise.
The Spanish government just nneds to get to the root cuases of the conflict. No doubt there is some prof somewhere in Spain claiming all the victims of Madrid are little Nazis and the perpetrators of such crimes are merely acting out. This is what the left has become and that is a real shame.
It doesn’t really matter if it was ETA, AQ, or someone else who planted the bomb.
By voting Zapateros out and voting someone in who promised to buy peace from the terrorists with concessions, the Spanish electorate sent a message to all terrorist groups:
You want something from Spain? Plant some bombs; get what you want.
I’ve got a friendship with a Madrileno that has suffered from disagreements over Israel and Palestine. Maybe it would help if I wrote and expressed support for using terrorism to achieve a homeland?
Don’t even bother trying Salt Lick because he’ll just tell you that you’re comparing apples to oranges. After all you can’t possibly compare a just Spain to an unjust Israel!
Anybody who has seen an injured bird being mobbed by its fellows knows what is happning in Spain,Spain has displayed its vulnerability,now it is open season.
If it is ETA,they will have seen how well it worked for Islamic terrorists and decided to use this opportunity to up the ante.
It always seemed unlikely that ETA did not know another terrorist group was working their turf.
Who is really blowing us up? Answer: they all are.
We’ve known literally for decades that the ETA, the IRA, Bader-Meinhof and the Japanese Red Army Faction all at various times trade traded resources and crosstraining with each other as well as the PLO, Al Qaeda and their various inbred byblows, all generously supported by the USSR (why do you think the AK-47 became the Saturday Night Special of geopolitics?) and later by Wahabi oil money and their own criminal enterprises. This is why talking about the “root causes” of terrorism, as the latte-lapping classes like to bloviate, is a pointless exercise. Terrorism has become a self-sustaining and self-justifying network. “Cause” has been utterly superceded by “function.”
It hasn’t even been that much of a mystery to the authorities in Europe. Why do you think the Eurocops were able to round up suspects so quickly in Holland and Spain? Lightning-fast police work? Unlikely. More likely, they’ve had the prime suspects under observation for a long time and made a “nuanced” decision to let sleeping dogs lie (or at least dogs who were only killing a few Jews and maybe a couple of Americans here and there) so long as they weren’t fouling their own nests.
In a very real sense, the nations of Europe have been terrorist host countries as much as Iraq and Iran ever have. Now the cancer they have nurtured is metastizing in their own bodies and they still won’t confront the issue.
This is my day for failure to attribute. Somewhere, almost certainly yesterday, I saw some article which seemed to claim that Hamas (pretty sure it was Hamas) had planned and/or staged some terrorist actions with the full intent to claim responsibility on behalf of AQ.
I have no idea if ETA is responsible for this bombing or if one group of terrorists is trying to frame another group of terrorists to avoid retribution. It wouldn’t surprise me in the least if there is a new twist in the thinking of terrorists whereby they find some value in remaining anonymous or even in deliberately trying to pin blame for their own vile actions onto another terrorist group.
It is immaterial to me whether one bunch of murderers is falsely accused and punished for the work of another group of murderers. They are all terrorists and we need to get around to cleaning out as many of them as possible. I still feel that the title of Global War on Terror, while painfully inaccurate, is the best available. Track ‘em down, kill ‘em. I’m even reaching the point where I’m losing my aversion to the idea of “torture” for interrogation purposes. Whatever it takes, do it. The modern niceties of law-enforcement and legalisms are insufficient. We are at war. Which reminds me… for those who haven’t seen it, VDH’s The Impatient Caucus is a good reminder.
Richard McEnroe,
Never a truer word has been spoken,this is what happens when terrorism is “reduced to a nuisance”.Like a low level chronic infection just waiting for the right climate to break out.
The “Peace Process” in Northern Ireland saw the handing over of the province to the IRA and the UDA to fight it out over the lucrative drugs trade,slot machines and prostitution rackets.In exchange the government got a moratorium on mainland bombing.
Interestingly the IRA has never given up its weapons or ruled out bombing.”Peace in our tme!”
Spain’s Prime Minister said it all “Bombs mean prison”, Que?
Oh my! Those Kuwaiti’s have some answering to do! Tsk, Tsk.
DanM – “That is precisely the issue that the Spanish people have brought upon themselves by their ousting of Zapatero so quickly after the Madrid bombing.”
R C Dean – “By voting Zapateros out and voting someone in who promised to buy peace from the terrorists”
Zapateros was not voted out, he’s the current Spanish PM. Jose Maria Aznar the previous PM and a friend of the US was not voted out either. His successor as party leader who was expected to win ended up losing.
Incidentally, Denmark’s very pro-American PM got re-elected yesterday without any real difficulties.
PeterUK – “Interestingly the IRA has never given up its weapons or ruled out bombing”
Nor have they given up their thuggish gangster ways. Just last week they murdered a young father after a dispute in a pub. http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,3604,1408652,00.html Week before they carried out horrific punishment attacks on some youngsters. Then there was the bank robbery, ties to Columbian communist guerrillas and various other unsavoury activities. But Blair is still pandering to them. He’s almost as bad as Zapateros.
Roger says: And it is also worth noting the rumors that they have been allied with Al Qaeda.
Is there any reason why Eta and al Qaeda leaders couldn’t have come to some kind of “spoils” accord, whereby the Basques get NW Spain and SE France, and the Moors reclaim the rest of Spain (and maybe Paris, too)?
Good anti-American and squishy Socialist Zapatero not only has to deal with terrorism, he is faced with a threatened secessionist referendum in the Basque region and renewed Catalonian stirrings for more autonomy from the central government. So what does he do when his country is under increasing internal pressure to fracture? He institutes an https://www.lind-waldock.com/cquotes/cq_delayfwnews.cgi%3Fid%3Di4534319075748347968+%22amnesty+program%22+Spain&hl=en&ie=UTF-8” rel=”nofollow”>amnesty program for illegal immigrants, the largest ever for Europe, that will “accomodate” Spain’s huge influx of foreigners having no allegiance to Espana or the EU, necessarily.
The North African al Qaeda killers scarcely need to blow up things, anymore. Zapatero will just give them papers. Today’s car bomb may have been just a shot across the bow not to interfere with the upcoming Basque vote.
Southwest France for above. It’s difficult for me to distinguish directions these days, other than knowing that the Left is not right.
Spain just this past week announced an amnesty for close to a million illegal aliens – mostly North African Muslims. My understanding of EU law is that there’s nothing to stop them from now moving anywhere in the EU. Thanks Spain.
I know this will offend some people but (it hasn’t stopped me before on this blog) I think the Spanish deserve ETA. If the root cause of Palestinian terrorism is occupation then surely that is also the root cause of Basque terrorism. Spanish citizens (dare I say “settlers”) have been moving to the Basque country in considerable numbers since Franco days. What is sauce for the goose…
Coisty,
They will also be entitled to all the social benefits ,free health care and housing.They will of course have the new identity cards and an EU passport,so the security aspect of the new IDs will be shot full of holes before they are issued.Here is the recruiting pool for those the IRA called “lilywhites”.Thank you indeed Zapatero.
I hope this isn’t a dead thread because it’s very interesting.
Someone who knows/lives in Spain could answer this. How are the Spanish electorate reacting to these attacks and Zapatero’s plan to offer amnesty to illegals? Are they feeling any regrets? Are they still in love with Zap? Are they too distracted by their hatred of Bush/America/Bush’swaronIraq to consider the state of their own nation?
Even if it was Al Quaeda, ETA will claim responsibility, all to throw the government and populace off. Propaganda is all they’ve got and they’re masters of the game. Speaking of propaganda, I’m just reading that Goebbels spread a Nostradamus rumor around that the N-man predicted Hitler, etc., etc., to spread panic before Paris fell. Sound familiar?
McEnroe, you are so right: this is all of a piece, part of a long history of anarchist terrorism in Europe. Of course ETA and Al Q have by now formed a working alliance. Expect more offshoot groups in the future.
PeterUK, don’t forget all the booty from the US (from my dumb Irish neighborhood) sent to the IRA to “free” Ireland. Beats working, eh?
Coisty,
DanM – “That is precisely the issue that the Spanish people have brought upon themselves by their ousting of Zapatero so quickly after the Madrid bombing.”
Geez, that’s what I get for trying to have a coherent thought @ 6:00 a.m. before mandatory caffeine.
The ol’ “I knew that” doesn’t suffice….
What Richard McEnroe said. The line between politcally-motivated terrorism and simple thuggery is increasingly blurred, not least because of the globalization of funds flows, knowledge transfer and operational coordination.
To which we can add another factor: international crime. The IRA get funds from narco-terrorists in South America. Mafiya groups in the former soviet union sell weapons to any and all. Money launderers in dozens of offshore locations offer shell companies that facilitate the funding of terror cells on different continents.
The result is that many groups that supposedly fight for political aims are, in their structure, m.o. and outlook, not fundamentally different from criminal gangs that shake down and terrorize their own at least as much as they do their supposed oppressors.
Is FARC essentially a political group or a narcotics syndicate that takes aim at the state?
Are the Chechens really liberationists or yet another mafiya organization with a veneer of islamist-influenced nationalism?
Are the IRA interested more in advancing the welfare of their people or in looting their bank accounts, knee-capping and terrorizing them?
One man’s terrorist is another man’s criminal. Strike that: they’re one and the same.