Monday, March 15, 2004
Some things to think about in the wake of Madrid terror bombings & subsequent Spanish election results:
- Al Qaeda was not operating in Iraq until the United States led forces occupied it.
- The Spanish government insisted that Basque nationalists were the prime suspects.
- The majority of the Spanish people never supported an Iraq invasion & occupation conducted independently of the United Nations.
- We found no WMD in Iraq. But some turned up in Spain last Thursday. & they weren't put there by Saddam. Al Qaeda may not even be directly involved, except as Death Consultants.
- A democratically-elected government is accountable at the polls for its actions & policies, & no such government gets a "bye" on election day by claiming that only it can protect the nation from a real or perceived outside threat. The people decide what is real & what is perceived, & who is best qualified to deal with it. Yes, the bombings did influence the elections in Spain by putting the Socialists back in control. But what if Spaniards had reacted another way, giving the incumbent party such an overwhelming majority that its power would be unchecked by opposition & dissent?
The Cheney-Bush administration never made any effort before the Iraq War to correct a false perception that Saddam, Iraq, Al Qaeda & 9/11 were somehow linked. & now, because of Cheney-Bush policies, they have become linked - by 3/11. Supposedly, we had bin Laden & his gang on the run in 2002. But they got away, mainly because we failed to cut off their support at the true source - Saudi Arabia. It's still all about oil, folks.
"The hardest thing was hearing mobile phones ringing in the pockets of the bodies." Spanish official commenting the Madrid rescue effort.
Add YOUR comments here
"If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be." Thomas Jefferson
- Al Qaeda was not operating in Iraq until the United States led forces occupied it.
- The Spanish government insisted that Basque nationalists were the prime suspects.
- The majority of the Spanish people never supported an Iraq invasion & occupation conducted independently of the United Nations.
- We found no WMD in Iraq. But some turned up in Spain last Thursday. & they weren't put there by Saddam. Al Qaeda may not even be directly involved, except as Death Consultants.
- A democratically-elected government is accountable at the polls for its actions & policies, & no such government gets a "bye" on election day by claiming that only it can protect the nation from a real or perceived outside threat. The people decide what is real & what is perceived, & who is best qualified to deal with it. Yes, the bombings did influence the elections in Spain by putting the Socialists back in control. But what if Spaniards had reacted another way, giving the incumbent party such an overwhelming majority that its power would be unchecked by opposition & dissent?
The Cheney-Bush administration never made any effort before the Iraq War to correct a false perception that Saddam, Iraq, Al Qaeda & 9/11 were somehow linked. & now, because of Cheney-Bush policies, they have become linked - by 3/11. Supposedly, we had bin Laden & his gang on the run in 2002. But they got away, mainly because we failed to cut off their support at the true source - Saudi Arabia. It's still all about oil, folks.
"The hardest thing was hearing mobile phones ringing in the pockets of the bodies." Spanish official commenting the Madrid rescue effort.
Add YOUR comments here
