Madrid blast

[Arnab]

Why? What was the point?

[Shubho]

absolutely none, whatsoever.

[betterdaz]

in which context? it depends who you believe it is.

i can only say, contrary to my belief, the press here in spain is going to great lengths to point to Eta.

i wouldn´t say no point whatsoever - whether Eta or al-Qaeda (as the global press would have us believe) - though i am against killing of any kind, in particular innocents.

be it by "terrorists" or governments (often western) "foreign (and sometimes domestic) policies" disguised as benevolence - both seem to feed well off each other, getting very fat indeed.

well, i´m gona try stick to cricket in future - promise

[Arnab]

I love banglacricket. We have people from everywhere. Where you from betterdaz?

[chinaman]

He's our only Zimbo member but currently residing outside of Zimbabwe.

[betterdaz]

zimbabwe - living on the Spanish-French border.

and it´s late - i´m off. may see you for the decider tomorrow Arnab

[fab]

This is yet another testament as to why Bush's War On Terror is a complete and miserable failure

5 questioned so far include 3 Morrocans and 2 spanish of 'Indian' descent. Makes absolutely no sense. Where the Spanish the first country to support Bush on invading Iraq? But couldn't these morons see that the general public, i.e. those who they killed, where against it?

Right wing megalomaniacs are ruining the world.

[AGC]

ETA or Al Qaeda? I think the latter...

[fab]

Looks like the two Indians are Hindus.. VERY wierd!

[Edited on 15-3-2004 by fab]

[rafiq]

You didn't get that memo? New Al Quaeda tactic - recruit RSS Hindus for Jihad...

[reinausagi]

In the national elections which closed only hours ago, the voters seemed to blame the government for the blast, and threw them out of office.

[fab]

Considering that 90% of the Spanish population were against the war with Iraq, and that the backlash has been felt by the general public, it is no wonder that government has been thrown out. Good on the Spaniards! One less fanatical Right Wing group ruining a country.

[Tintin]

There is a Frederick Forsyth book called The Fourth Protocol on a very similar theme.

Britain had established an atomic reactor at some place in England and the labour party was strongly and loudly against it. KGB had a few of their men in important positions in the labour party. Russia smuggles in an atomic bomb and plans to explode it outside the reactor two days before the elections. The idea was that it will be assumed to be caused by the reactor and the resultant swing in public opinion will the election for labour against the incumbent conservatives.

This incident sounded just like the book.

[fab]

Yes, you are right. It does send a dangerous message to terrorists i.e. their horrific actions can politically influence a country..

[Zobair]

I have heard this reasoning repeated ad nauseum on US TV channels. But I don't know if it is an accurate conclusion. The perception of the spanish voters regarding the Iraq invasion (even before the bombs) is key here in my opinion. They were dead against the war. The bomb just hammered "the final nail in the coffin" i.e. the spanish people suffered for the 'sin' of the Spanish government who went aginst their wishes. On the other hand, if the spanish people were 100% behind the government's decisions I do not see how the bomb could have dismissed the government. If anything it would have further vindicated the resolve of the people and fortified the government (given the 'mindset' that would support such a war).
The precedent this event has set is that from now on governments will think hard before going against their voters' wishes. Thats precisely what should happen in a democracy.

Yes, you are right. It does send a dangerous message to terrorists i.e. their horrific actions can politically influence a country..

[Edited on 17-3-2004 by pompous]

[fab]

I think your analysis of why the Spanish voters ousted the Popular Party is correct. However, the danger is not about what you or I or the average Joe Bloggs thinks. The danger is that the fundamentalists will no doubt think that by committing such atrocious acts, they can get what they want. That is the dangerous precedent.

[Edited on 17-3-2004 by fab : apologies for my awful spelling skill]

[Zobair]

Agreed with you on that! What's worse is that the western media is just reinforcing the terrorists' dangerous notion by harping on the 'precedent' (since they don't want to admit the main reason behind the spanish governement's election failure)! I guess it is a win-win situation for both! The terrorist bigots are happy that every one is acknowledging their "success" and the "western media" is more than happy to shift all the focus to the 'precedent' rather than the troublesome foregn policy issues that is creating monsters and nurturing them.

However, the danger is not about what you or I or the average Joe Bloggs thinks. The danger is that the fundamentalists will no doubt think that by committing such atrocious acts, they can get what they want. That is the dangerous precident.

[fab]

But the thing is, before the blast the Popular Party was leading in the polls (although by a small margin).. It's only after they tried to blame ETA and manipulate the event for their own benefit that it angered many voters.

[Arnab]

Would you say , from the showing of 11 million people on the streets of Spain after the accident, that the Spanish people felt "frightened" about the attack?

[fab]

For starters, it was certainly no 'accident'. And no I don't recall saying they were frightened. It looks more like anger at the government for trying to manipulate the event and going to war in the first place.