A car Bomb exploded in one of the residential areas in North Madrid this morning near Bajaras Airport. ETA called it in 35 minutes before it exploded, so the Guardia were able to evacuate most people away from it before it exploded. News reports are saying 10 people had slight injuries from it. The royal family were supposed to be in the area later today to inaugurate an art center. Don't know what these folks philosophy is but they are not winning the hearts and minds of the Spanish people with their terrorist ways.

Oh no. Thanks for the notice, MedicalMan. And thank goodness no one was seriously hurt.

42 have been injured and various cars and buildings have been damaged.

Whatever they seeked with this bombing, what they should do is dissapear forever and leave us alone and in peace.

Fernando

Response to the congress saying NO to Ibarreche plan, I supose.
I hope the police is right now chasing the criminals!

Amen to that,Fernando!

Unfortunately, the ETA will not disappear. The ETA now has concrete proof that acts of terror can change a government's position. When the new government of Spain removed its troops from Iraq in response to the 3-11 bombings, they made a horrible error. If they wanted to withdraw from Iraq, it should never have been in conjuction with any act of terror or any terrorist demand.

I fear that the government's response to the bombings was a huge victory for international terror. It does not matter what you think of Bush or the war in Iraq, terrorists should have no voice in the government.

Very unfortunately, this is an all-too-common misconception about the action/reaction of the Madrid train bombings and pulling Spanish troops from Iraq. Had 3-11 never occurred and Zapatero elected, he still would've pulled the troops because that was his campaign platform since the beginning, 9-months before the train bombings. It's unfortunate the world at large has this misconception because of the timing of the events. Most people outside of Spain didn't know what Zapatero had planned this action long before being elected and is, in part, the reason he WAS elected - because 80+% of Spaniards were against their government's (i.e. Partido Popular's and Aznar's) participation in the Iraq war in the first place.

I'm not sure how many times we'll have to remind people of this as it seems people have closed their minds already. It is unfortunate but something we'll all have to live with.

Oh, and that's all I have to say on this topic, in this thread.

Sadly, MadridMan

You are right MM.

But perhaps it would have been wise to refrain from retiring the troops just after the elections and have waited a year or so.

Terrorists wanted to make a breach in the alliance (US, UK, Spain) and they achieved it. People voted what they wanted yes, but under the influence of a brutal bombing, and what is even worse, the manipulation of the main opposing party (PSOE) and elements of the ruling party (PP) in opposite directions. Our society didn't deserve being exposed to such levels of stress.

Fernando

Fernando

No, Fernando, no. We are talking about the spanish elections, not the US elections. Spanish government ( psoe or pp) has never been influenced by any terrorist group,and we know that. The fight on terror continues on Spain and the police investigation on 3/11 bombing is also well done ( we don't need any soldier to do that).

Has ETA achieved anything with their bombs ? No. For me , ETA is dead despite the last bombs.

And another amen to Fernando's comment -

Has anyone begun to gauge the possible impact of the EU and the 20/2 vote in Spain for ratification of the EU constitution on impacting the strenght and/or weakness of ETA?

I'm guessing that ETA will try to make political noteriety - again - but don't have enough of an understanding of the possible impacts of ratification on ETA demands. About all I know is that ETA is considered and listed as a terrorist organization by the EU as an entity.

I think the point is, many of us feel that Zapatero would have never been elected if 3-11 had not occurred and thus, Spain succumbed to the threat of terrorism.

I must admit that MM has a better handle on the political climate of Spain than I ever will. However, if I was a foreigner to the U.S., and watched the network media here to gain some insight into the political climate of the U.S., I would have been convinced that Mr. Heinz would have won by a landslide. What I am saying is, the media goes out of it's way to demonstrate how unpopular the right's view is. I'm sure they do in Spain also.

BTW, I'm reading a book called "Citizen Hughes" and read that Dan Rather was beaten to the floor, by the Chicago police under mayor Daly. Made my day..

This may come as a shock to you MadridMan, but other people were actually aware of the Aznar/ Zapatero polarization regarding Spain's participation in the coalition. Also, other people were actually aware that "plans" for withdrawal were part of the Zapatero campaign platform before the Atocha attack.

However, if you think for even one moment, that the Atocha bombings were not calculated by Al-Queda to influence the elections, and hasten the departure of Spain from Iraq, then you are being naive. Why do you suppose that the Aznar government was so hoping that the bombing could be laid at the feet of the ETA. The bombing propelled Zapatero to victory and Zapatero accelerated the withdrawal from Iraq to avoid any more bombings. The terrorists won that round and no amount of sugar coating about prior plans to withdraw can change that. Even if all of this were not true, Spain has rendered itself vulnerable to terrorists, just by the appearance of what they have done. There is every reason for ETA to continue their disgraceful acts because they too, can hope for appeasement. Terror thrives on appeasement and there will be no peace until this concept is universally recognized. By the way, I am not afraid to disagree with you, something that I sense is "not done" on this board. I share your love of Spain but not to the degree that it blinds me from seeing things as they actually are.

I recently returned from two years of active duty with CENTCOM Headquarters. It was a great shame that the Spanish troops were pulled before the original date. They were really doing a good job. It is good to see that the Spanish government is coming around and helping out in other areas. Sorry I can't be more specific, but there has been a change in the last couple months.

In any case, now that I am a private citizen and speaking for myself and my family, I'd like to thank Spain for the good work their people did in Iraq and the sacrifices that they made. The contributions of all of the coalition members are held in high regard.

ETA is back.

ccplaner, the problem is that my fellow citizens (at least the vast majority) continue to think that spanish troops (just a thousand soldiers and a medical ship) went to Iraq to invade it.

We sent F-18s to bomb Serbia under NATO flag and without a UN resolution and people said nothing. In Iraq we sent less than a thousand soldiers and a medical ship to aid population, and people opposed it to the point hundreds of thousands filled the streets in demonstrations.

What was the difference? Under my point of view only one: manipulation of certain political parties (PSOE and IU).

I think that our troops were doing a good job, and I'm happy our current government has decided again to support the US.

But back to the topic and answering Puna's questions: I don't think ETA intended to influence on the next EU voting in Spain. The majority of the parties support "Yes" to the EU Constitution.

Fernando

Thanks Fernando,

It's so good of you to provide insight into current Spanish politics. The similarities between the politics of Spain and the political climate in the U.S. has more similarities than differences. Your comments confirm all my suspicions.

Our former president bombed an aspirin factory and the left didn't say squat. And yet President Bush ousts a tyrant and all we hear is "Where's the weapons of mass destruction?" Go figure.

Dave B: I can assure you sir that there have been many disagreements on this board. Some have become very heated. Usually it is over some political ideal. When it gets to the point that keyboards and monitor screens are starting to smoke all over the world, then MM steps in and shuts down the thread. For the most part keep it clean, and to some degree sane, and everything will be okay. But rest assured, there have been many disagreements on this board, if you don't believe it go back through some of the old posts.

Thanks Fernando -