....Or when they burn Spanish flags at their political rallies, or when at one point admitted 'Votar HB es votal a ETA', "to vote HB means to vote for ETA", or more recently when they warned everyone that all sorts of terrible things would happen if the decision that has been just taken was indeed carried out,....Scary

But I forgot to say that there's one thing I agree on with Cali; I think it's easy for us to say what the people who suffer ETA's extortion should do, we're not in their shoes!!! Toddy, are you sure you wouldn't pay ETA the money necessary to release a member of your family if they kidnapped him/her and you were certain that was the only solution?

Today I had a very interesting discussion with a manager from my office, I'm sure he's over 50, and he was telling me how he still remembers the chaos when ETA placed its very first bomb close to his house in San Sebastian and he was 6 years old!, which means that time truly flies and that their macabre activities have been going on for at least one decade more than I thought!

I'm talking about the day to day paying of an "ETA tax" by business owners to those cowards. ALL of the Basque people should stand against this and, if need be, stand and protect each and every business in the Basque country!
"United we Stand"

The problem is, that haven given into these poor excuses of human beings, the people most terrified of them are the same ones who gave them the power they have in the first place. This is why its gotten to where it is today. Yes, I would move heaven and hell to protect my family, as most of us would, but to give in to a bully only gives the bully more power, making the bully even more difficult to defeat. So, its a small step, and Garzon is a very brave man, risking his life to change things and make things right, and hopefully that courage will spread and people will unite to fight together against this monster. Let's pull its pants down and laugh at IT for a change!!!! Yes, people are going to get hurt, but do you want your children/grandchildren being bound by this never-ending cycle? Or fight now, even if it costs your life and provide a better future for them? Sound familiar? The French or American Revolution ring any bells for anybody? This isn't much more different than that!

Espe3,
Thank you for the fine post. I coulnd't agree with you more. On a personal level I am glad to see that the government of Spain has made Herri Batasuna for what they are: outlaws. This last June, my daughter, who I love more than life itself, nearly missed being murdered by a car bomb that these neanderthals had left in the Corte Ingles parking area in Zaragoza.
Dialogue? Reason with them? Understand their point of view? Why? The only thing this Basque version of tornado-bait trailer court trash understands is violence and mayhem. Pay them "impuestos revolucionarios"? Pay a ransom? No. No, sir. Not a single centimo.
Maybe someone should tell these so called "revolutionaries" that Franco is dead and it's highly unlikely that he will be resurrected anytime soon.
Until then, Fuhgeddaboudit!

Shalom, y'all.

It's time to start reading about ETA ONLY in the history books. The End!

For all of you who say you would stand up and fight, try and imagine what you would do if this happened to you. It's just one example of how vicious ETA is.

http://servicios.elcorreodigital.com/viz...IZ-ACT-227.html

ETA vicious assasins? NOOOOO! They're just playful "Basque separatists"

Very enlightening article Roe. Thanks.
It has reminded me a little bit of what happened to Mª Dolores González(a.k.a. Yoyes) an ETA ex-member who at a certain point in her life decided to change and stop being part of the senseless bloodshed, so she went into exile in Mexico and started a family, but loved her Basque land too much to stay away and thought that in democratic times she could return and live in peace, until one day one of her former "freedom fighter" pals killed her point-blank when she was taking a walk with her small daughter in the middle of 'la plaza de su pueblo'.
There's a movie made about her life's story, it's called "Yoyes", you might want to check it out. It makes me wonder how many former, current and future members of ETA or even HB, might want to get out of that horror at some point, but don't, because they know what would happen to them....

Oh those beautiful somber parades the "anti-ETA Basque" people participate in after each ETA attack. Talk and parades are cheap. Are you with them or against them........or are you third world revolutionaries in a third world country?

Pim, I earlier compared ETA to the mafia, the case you mentioned ilustrates this point. You can´t leave the mafia unless your dead, you can only leave ETA when you are dead. They treat former members in the same fashion,assasination.

parade on..........................