The American Spectator

Reader Mail

(Page 5 of 13)

SPLENDID SPAIN br> Re: Reid Collins's Spanish Flee and Reader Mail's The Neoconquistadors : /p>

In response to "Spanish Flee" by Reid Collins:

The Washington Post reported that immediately after the attacks "outgoing Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar undertook an intense campaign to convince the Spanish public and world opinion-makers that the Basque separatist group ETA had carried out the attacks." This argument was made despite the fact that "Spanish intelligence services...had suspected al Qaeda from the beginning."

Just hours before the election, when it was announced that five suspects linked to al Qaeda had been arrested, it become clear that Aznar and his surrogates had attempted to manipulate information for their political convenience. It was then that "political allegiance shifted sharply to the opposition, especially because many Spaniards felt the government had not been completely forthcoming about the news." Nicolas Checa, a Spanish political expert, said on PBS that the number one factor behind the outcome was "the handling or mishandling of public information in the 48 hours after the tragic events of last Thursday."

While some now claim that Zapatero was never in the race until the terrorist attacks occurred, the conservative party's defeat was always a possibility. The last poll, conducted four days BEFORE the March 11 attacks, "showed that the gap had narrowed, giving the Popular Party 42%, compared with 38% for the Socialists." The four point spread is well within the standard margin of error for opinion polls.

In his first public announcement after his victory, incoming Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said, "My most immediate priority is to fight all forms of terrorism. And my first initiative, tomorrow, will be to seek a union of political forces to join us together in fighting it." From the beginning of his campaign, Zapatero promised to withdraw 1,300 Spanish troops from Iraq "on June 30 unless the force was sanctioned by the United Nations." But there is no evidence suggesting that placing more pressure on the Bush administration to secure international cooperation in Iraq is a victory for any terrorist.

p>The war in Iraq and the "war" against al Qaeda are two different problems. The President George W. Bush and his allies have used the bombing in Madrid as another opportunity to conflate operations in Iraq and the threat of al Qaeda. Yesterday, the President said, "al Qaeda has an interest in Iraq for a reason, and that interest is, they realize this is a front in the war on terror." The comments are part of a consistent pattern to confuse the separate issues of al Qaeda and Iraq. In September 2002, Bush said, "You can't distinguish between al Qaeda and Saddam when you talk about the war on terrorism." Meanwhile, as for any Iraq/al Qaeda connection before the war, Vice President Cheney says the "best source of information" was a Weekly Standard article based on leaked intelligence that has been discredited by the Department of Defense.

topics:
Mainstream Media, Religion, Islam, Iraq, Russia, Israel, NATO, Africa, Oil, Medicare