In His Startling Leap to High Office, Socialist Takes Strong Stand Against

[RamboLiberal]

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/15/international/europe/15ZAPA.html

When José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, Spain's new prime minister, was picked as the Socialists' next great hope in this election, few people knew his name outside his slice of home territory in northern Spain.

But Mr. Zapatero, 43, a tall blue-eyed politician who was derided as "Bambi" in the press — "an innocent and idealist fawn," wrote one columnist — soon began an aggressive campaign to reinvigorate the moribund Spanish Socialist Workers' Party and to attack Prime Minister José María Aznar and his surrogate in the election, Mariano Rajoy.

Casting off his bland image, Mr. Zapatero tore into Mr. Rajoy for supporting the war in Iraq, an overwhelmingly unpopular decision here, and for allying Spain with the United States rather than France and Germany. In fact, one of his first campaign pledges was to withdraw the 1,300 Spanish troops stationed in Iraq by July 1 if the United Nations does not take over the occupation.

He fiercely criticized the government's handling of the colossal Prestige oil spill off Spain's northern coast, accusing officials of playing down its severity and bungling the clean-up. He portrayed Mr. Aznar as an unyielding autocrat — words that always conjure up the image of the Franco dictatorship.

"Mr. Rajoy says I have no principles or convictions: well I'm going to give you a few examples of my principles," he told followers at a campaign stop in Valencia before the election. "My first principle: thou shalt not kill. That's why I opposed an unjust war. My second principle: thou shalt not lie. That's why I criticized Mr. Rajoy's handling of the Prestige oil spill."

Are you taking notes Democratic candidates?

[aquart]

1. What a lovely use of the Ten Commandments.

Clever devil, ain't he?

[Nancy Waterman]

2. He will pull out of Iraq on July 1 if the UN isn't in place

Mr. Zapatero tore into Mr. Rajoy for supporting the war in Iraq, an overwhelmingly unpopular decision here, and for allying Spain with the United States rather than France and Germany. In fact, one of his first campaign pledges was to withdraw the 1,300 Spanish troops stationed in Iraq by July 1 if the United Nations does not take over the occupation.

[Occulus]

19. And effective,

and, most importantly, truthful.

What's this man's history? Is he to be trusted?

[ConcernedCanuk]

3. Gee . . Spain is getting THEIR flag back ! ?

.
.
.

And Junior won't like him pulling their suppport out of Iraq, but Good for Spain !

More from the Article:


"Elected just three days after a shattering terrorist attack, Mr. Zapatero and his Socialists clearly touched a chord in voters. Many of those who oppose the war accuse Mr. Aznar of having made Spain vulnerable to terrorist attacks by supporting the war in Iraq, especially after reports that Al Qaeda could be implicated in the train bombings last week. They also were highly critical of the government's handling of the bombings, accusing it of covering up information for political reasons.

/snip/

But, he quickly added, he will not hesitate in the face of terrorism — a perceived weakness of the Socialists — including attacks by Spain's homegrown Basque separatist group ETA. "My immediate task is to combat all forms of terrorism," he said in his victory speech.

Mr. Zapatero, who was born into a comfortable middle-class family in the Castilian city of Valladolid on Aug. 4, 1960, is married and has two daughters. A lawyer, he became the youngest member of Parliament when he won election at 26 and steadily climbed the Socialist ranks. He has led his party for three years, filling the ranks with a younger generation of politicians and shifting his party toward the center — just as Prime Minister Tony Blair did in Britain and Bill Clinton did in the United States.

/snip/

He is expected to introduce changes in foreign policy rather quickly, in addition to reviewing the decision to send troops to Iraq. He also vows to mend fences with France and Germany and "return Spain to its rightful place within Europe," as he said in a meeting with foreign journalists. "This government doesn't serve Spaniards anymore, it only serves the interests of Bush," he said at a rally in Málaga long before the official start of the two-week campaign."

...............................................................

Hmmm

de ole "coalition of da villing" - not bee so Villink anymore !!

buckfush!!

:bounce: yay Spain :bounce:

[wallflower2]

4. taking notes?? this guy learned from Kerry!

few knew Kerry outside his slice of home territory in northern USA - massachusetts.

Kerry is definitely aggressively campaigning; he has smoked the competition in a landslide and he's takin the shrub head-on!

he's a war-hero! duh!

in fact one of his first campaigns in politics was against the unjust war of Viet-Nam! pushing to withdraw our troops from Viet Nam.

Kerry has supported the UN from it's inception!

he's no holds barred against fraudministration and it's failure in so many areas to include the Kyoto Treaty and global warming!

and he has most certainly protrayed dumbya as an unyielding autocrat with his image of a fatcat oil tycoon right-wing fascist.

Kerry's has lived his convictions - got outta war and protested against it! and he has declard the frauds as liars and crooks and hasn't backed down.

this guy has nothing on kerry except he's openly a socialist, while we still hide behind euphamisms. we've got to get inside the world order and the UN if we are going to have a say!

[RamboLiberal]

7. I was speaking of Democratic candidates in general not Kerry

I love that Kerry is fighting back. And Dr. Dean certainly led the way. But too often in the past and even now Democratic candidates and supporters rolled over when Repugs attacked.

I'm in a mood this weeked where I've had it up to you know where with Repug crybabies!

[jsw_81]

5. How interesting

This is the equivalent of George McGovern winning an upset over Richard Nixon. What a rare treat! Not that I'm celebrating the terror attacks (I'm not) but it's nice to see Aznar's cowardly Bush-supporting government go down.

[cprise]

6. "Are you taking notes Democratic candidates?"

Democrats work to depose socialist leaders.

They don't take cues from them.

[RamboLiberal]

8. Take notes on how to fight back

And what the hell is wrong with socialism correctly used?

[cprise]

12. I wasn't criticizing democratic socialism

I was criticizing the Democratic Party.

[RamboLiberal]

17. My apologies then for misinterpreting

:kick:

[dweller]

9. nm

.

[Yavin4]

10. The World Is Moving Towards Socialism

People want to control their own fate. They don't want global capitalists telling them how to live, what services they can have, and when they should go to war. Brazil, Venezuela, and now Spain are sending strong signals that they want a government responsive to the needs of the people.

[jsw_81]

14. I don't know about that

But they're definitely sending the message that they're sick and tired of Bush. And as Martha Stewart would say, "That's a good thing."

[dudeness]

20. the sooner the better

australia next..

[PartyPooper]

11. As a socialist, I'm in political heaven!

O8)

[TanMeKangaroo]

13. Good

Leave the US high and dry in Iraq. The rest of the world will soon follow...

[SoCalDem]

15. In case you haven't noticed we ARE high & dry NOW..

Britain's forces are clustered in one small area near Basra, and their numbers have always been small compared to OURS.. The other "coalition forces" are tokens.. The Japanese troops that were provided under great duress and probably blackmail have bodyguards, and were advised by the Japanese govenment to grow beards, and try to blend in..:eyes:

Of course Eritrea probably volunteered to make cookies & bring punch..

The US forces are doing ALL the heavy lifting..even guarding PRIVATEERS who are over there siphoning OUR tax dollars into their coffers..

The SOONER this farce is exposed , the better..

Instead of FLOODING Iraq with NGO goodies , and providing a decent recovery for Afghanistan (which would have showed the arab world that we were interested in helping them)..we always seem to rely on bombs, bullets & body bags..

[PartyPooper]

16. As usual, thanks, SoCalDem for your pearls of wisdom.

:thumbsup:

:loveya:

[truthisfreedom]

18. this actually may prove to be a terrible thing for America. what if the

terrorists decide to make a statement here in the US just prior to elections here, hoping for the same kind of result?

fueled by a remarkable outcome in Spain, they may just have that kind of idea in mind. and that idea does not make me feel secure at all, no matter how much i want Kerry in office. i we don't have to suffer another horrible loss because they believe they can manipulate our government, or feel the need to.

i think the greatest sign we can give the terrorists that they don't NEED to manipulate our government by attacking us is to show a desire to change, and move away from this completely mad administration.

[wallflower2]

21. don't worry, Kerry will save us...

before this happens:



look what I found: it must be a right-wing fear-mongering hoax. Can you believe the length that they will go???
..................................
http://www.almuk.com/obm/books.html


Voting and Elections http://www.almuk.com/obm/Books/Book_PDFs/Voting_Elections.pdf
Preview Available on PDF (click on image)...
The Democratic process is one of the greatest illusions in history; claiming absolute sovereignty and authority to the people. However, this authority comes about once every five years, and the choice of candidates leave a lot to be desired. The Muslim Ummah in the Western Hemisphere is facing new and potentially destructive challenges. One of these includes that of voting for people who are involved in the Legislative process. What does Islam say about this? Your questions answered and more in this short treatise.


Human Rights : Man Made VS Shari'ah
http://www.almuk.com/obm/Books/Book_PDFs/HumanRights.pdf
Preview Available on PDF (click on image)...
In today's world, we hear people calling for Civil Rights and addressing points of Human Rights Abuses. However, the concept of Human Rights is one devised by those who concocted the great Democratic Lie. It is evident that the term Human Rights is used when it suits the Western Countries and their protectors and has no basis in fairness or justice. However, the Islamic Shari'ah, being a Divine set of Laws is consequently the pinnacle of Justice and Fairness and will supersede all that is written by Man.

http://www.almuk.com/obm/jihaad.html
AQD UL AMAAN: THE COVENANT OF SECURITY
The Muslims living in the west are living under a covenant of security, it is not allowed for them to fight anyone with whom they have a covenant of security, abiding by the covenant of security is an important obligation upon all Muslims. However for those Muslims living abroad, they are not under any covenant with the kuffar in the west, so it is acceptable for them to attack the non-muslims in the west whether in retaliation for constant bombing and murder taking place all over the Muslim world at the hands of the non-muslims, or if it an offensive attack in order to release the Muslims from the captivity of the kuffar. For them, attacks such as the September 11th Hijackings is a viable option in Jihad, even though for the Muslims living in America who are under covenant, it is not allowed to do operations similar to those done by the magnificent 19 on the 9/11. This article speaks about the covenant and what the scholars have said regarding Al Aqd Al Amaan - the covenant of security.


http://www.almuk.com/obm/paltalk.html
The obligation of inciting religious hatred
This Saturday's LIVE talk on Paltalk will discuss one of the greatest
forgotten obligations in Islaam - Inciting religious hatred. Allaah (swt)
orders the believers to hate all other religions, way of lives, creeds,
doctrines and beliefs that contradict with Islaam, and one cannot be
Muslim without to declare animosity and hatred towards kufr, bid'ah,
shirk and nifaaq (Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism, Sikhism,
Buddhism, Democracy, Freedom etc.).
....................................
I found this site being bantered around among the freepers.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1097933/posts
unbelievable huh? such slander by fundamentalist christian extremist wackos!!! they are so jealous as they see their paltry religon falter. holier than thou!
we just have to wait and see. kerry will protect us all. with him in charge we will never have to worry about this:
http://rawa.false.net/tymstrt.htm


because he will speak peacefully to the muslims and explain to them that we are not their enemies. if people would just talk!