It definitely appears that the Spanish people have just voted themselves out of the war against terrorists and their supporters. From this Reuters article:
The Socialists have pledged to withdraw Spain's 1,300 troops from Iraq if the U.N. does not take control by June 30 when Washington plans to hand power back to Iraqis. Opinion polls showed as many as 90 percent of Spaniards opposed the Iraq war.
(Just a side note: Observe the title of the Reuters article, "Socialists Score Spectacular Spanish Election Win." Doesn't that seem just a tad celebratory? Compare with the title of the Fox News article, "Socialists Declare Victory in Spanish Elections.")
The reasons given by those voting for the Socialists? From the Fox News article:
Many voters said Thursday's bombings, which killed 200 people and wounded 1,500, was a decisive factor, along with the government's much-criticized handling of the initial investigation.
"The Popular Party has made me lose faith in politics," said Juan Rigola, 23, a biologist in Barcelona. "It deserves to lose and to see the Spanish people turn against them."
Critics accused the government, which had trumpeted its crackdown on ETA, of manipulating the investigation for political gain. That struck a chord with voters.
"I didn't intend to vote, but changed my mind," said Javi Martin, 30, who works for a TV station in Madrid. "And not because of the attacks, but because of the responsibility of the Popular Party. They gave out information drop by drop. It would have benefited them if it were ETA."
Here's the kicker, though:
Some voters were angry at outgoing Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar (search), accusing him of making Spain a target for Islamic extremists because of his support for the Iraq war, despite the opposition of most Spaniards. Aznar sent 1,300 Spanish troops to Iraq after the conflict and 11 have died.
My prediction is that Spain will, indeed, pull its troops out of Afghanistan and Iraq. They will return to a strategy of appeasement. What they don't realize is that it doesn't matter. The terrorists and their supporters cannot be appeased. They may buy themselves some time but, in the end, it will make no difference.
And, of course, there are all the other fun things that will come with a Socialist governmnet: higher taxes, increased government spending, increased government intrusion and control of business and everyday life, reduced economic growth, abrogation of personal responsibility, the politics of victimhood, focus on equality of results instead of equality of opportunity, the list goes on and on.
The war has come to Spain, just as it came to the US. And I fear that Spain has just surrendered. When Al Qaeda attacked the US on September 11, 2001, they figured that the US would cave in and run away. They were wrong. Assuming it is Al Qaeda, or an affiliated group - and it's looking more and more likely - it looks like they've tried the same strategy in Spain. And this time the strategy is working.
Farewell Spain. Sorry to see you go. Perhaps we'll meet again someday; I certainly hope so.
Update: Allah himself has something to say about this.
Update 2: Emperor Misha I weighs in and does so in his own inimitable way. He has more to say here.
Steve H. at Little Tiny Lies is very direct with his comments. Excerpts:
We are right. Spain is wrong. Not just Spain, but the Spanish themselves. Voting to give the terrorists what they demanded was cowardly and shameful. In a world where appeasement is policy, any imbecile who can make a bomb can give orders to nations. For decades, France has been such a nation. Now Spain has joined her.
...
If Spain had stood by our side, and if the rest of Europe had shown a little solidarity and courage, we might have a world where terrorism was gradually dying out. A world where terrorism was so costly to the terrorists and so pointless that they would give it up. But the Spanish just threw gasoline on the fire. Spain is now ruled from a tiny cave somewhere in Pakistan or Afghanistan, and her rulers will be encouraged to see how many other countries they can take over.
And be sure to read Mark Steyn's article which is right on target:
The question then is what does a nation have to do to avoid being targeted by the Islamists. Canada refused to take part in the war on Iraq, but whoever makes Osama's audio tapes these days still named the disinclined dominion as one of al-Qa'ida's enemies. Ireland did no more than allow American aircraft to continue their practice of refuelling at Shannon but that was enough for Robert Fisk to volunteer them for a list of potential Islamist targets.
...
If Islamic terrorism were as rational as Irish or Basque terrorism, it would be easier. But Hussein Massawi, former leader of Hezbollah, summed it up very pithily: "We are not fighting so that you will offer us something. We are fighting to eliminate you." You can be pro-America (Spain, Australia) or anti-America (France, Canada), but if you broke into the head cave in the Hindu Kush and checked out the hit list you'd be on it either way.
John Henke at QandO provides his take on the situation:
Whether the Spanish people were opposing Aznar's actions in the war on terror, frightened because of a single bombing, or a combination of the two....the fact is that it appears that the terrorism affected public policy in the favor of Al Qaeda.
And that's bad - very bad - for the United States.
Think about this: If Al Qaeda, and Al Qaeda-sympathetic groups, believe they can cow a people into favorable voting, then you can absolutely expect further terrorism. If Al Qaeda genuinely does have a preference about a US election, then a terrorist attack prior to the election may be inevitable. Even just a small one.
After all, it worked in Spain.
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