PIM,

The objective is to find a way to stop the violence coming out of Basque Country. You don't end it by having a press and government that basically says Basques are the enemy. There's more than enough hate on both sides to fuel a war.

The things that are being said in the Spanish press, and by government officials, maligns all Basques, not just ETA and Batasuna. If a person doesn't step forward and stand beside the government of Spain they are automatically classified as "an enemy of the state." I'm afraid I've heard that tune before and it don't play in a democracy, when there's millions of people directly and indirectly involved in the Basque movement.

Now, you all may think that outlawing Batasuna was a good move, but you're going to find out, as time goes on, that all that's been done is create a bigger monster. So, I wouldn't get too comfortable in the fact that the Spanish government did the right thing. When you cut off lines of communications with a people, you end up with another Bosnia and Serbia. I'm afraid that may very well be where this is heading. The problems have just begun, and when people look back at it, they had better face the truth, not some idealistic impression they had, based on propaganda.

To be honest, the whole issue developing concerns me as much, if not more, than the issue of terrorism in the U.S. At least the terrorism we suffer from is external. Your problems, in Spain, are internal, and that is even harder to deal with, because you have no way of knowing who the enemy really is.

Wolf