The American Spectator

Special Report

(Page 2 of 2)

br> allegations are sufficiently disturbing that Europa Press needs to publish the entire leaked report, and submit it to the world's scrutiny /p>

Assuming the story is accurate: President Luis Zapatero was elected in the aftermath of the 3-11 Madrid bombing. The Europa Press source dates the sales to Venezuela from the first half of 2004, meaning it could have been either the Socialist Zapatero or his pro-American predecessor Jose Maria Aznar who arranged the sale. Which administration is responsible? My first guess is that since Zapatero hasn't taken the opportunity to decry his opposition's perfidious practice of selling weapons to rogue dictators, he may end up with tapas on his face.

More important than who sold the weapons is how much they sold, whether delivery has been completed, whether the sales were only for that quarter or they have been ongoing, and whether the exports were limited to Venezuela. If Spain is not forthcoming with answers about its WMD sales, Americans should consider a boycott of Rioja. And the U.S. should ultimately consider designating both Venezuela and Spain "states of proliferation concern" under the Proliferation Security Initiative, encouraging the interdiction and search of Spanish ships just as we do with North Korean vessels suspected of carrying illegal weapons.

If this threat is real, the Bush administration must react strongly to make certain that WMD's aren't finding their way into the Americas. Our intelligence services need to figure out what Chavez is doing with these weapons. And our diplomatic service needs to make it brutally clear to Spain that we will not tolerate further arming of Chavez's regime. As Admiral Dewey might have said, you may fire when ready, Condi.

topics:
Military, Iraq