WP: Madrid Bombs Shook Voters

[kskiska]

Anger at U.S. Fueled Upset In Wake of Terror Attacks

Tuesday, March 16, 2004; Page A01

MADRID, March 15 -- The hand-lettered sign at the sidewalk memorial for the 200 victims of last week's deadly train bombings starkly summed up a sentiment of many who came to pay respects Monday afternoon. It read: "They Died to Support Bush."

Sunday's stunning electoral defeat for the ruling party of Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar, one of President Bush's closest European allies, reflected a late surge of public anger over the government's support for the U.S.-led war in Iraq triggered both by the attacks and by the sense the government had sought to exploit the bombings for political gain, according to political analysts and voters.

Several added that it also reflected a sense of alarm and despair that seems to cut across the political spectrum over the way the United States is wielding power in the world.

(snip)

Some analysts said the vote cast doubts on Spain's commitment to the war on terrorism, and warned that the extremists responsible for last week's attacks would view the results as a clear-cut victory. They warned that European leaders who sided with Washington in the Iraq war, such as Italy's Silvio Berlusconi, could face similar electoral upheaval and the threat of a terrorist strike on their own civilian populations.

(snip)

Some of the highly visible anti-American sentiment here is aimed directly at Bush, who is viewed by many as a hard-liner lacking empathy for other countries. Several people at the Puerta del Sol singled out Bush's televised expression of sympathy following the train bombings as insensitive.

"He was cold and aloof," complained Elena Nicolas, a civil servant in her late thirties. "He didn't even bother to wear a black tie."

more…
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A61543-2004Mar15.html

[PartyPooper]

1. I'm so glad the Spaniards got this one right!

I can only hope the American people will be able to do the same in November 2004.

:kick:

[KissMyAsscroft]

2. He's a "war president"

Not an empathy president, you peons....now go back to doing whatever you Spaniards do!!

(channeling the spirit of a freeper)

[Barkley]

14. Yep! Dubya Stands for War n/t.

[Name removed]

3. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[rfkrocks]

5. what do you think of bush Peace?

Bush and the rich fat cats of the neo con movement sell 9/11 to us? I mean Bush is using the fireman's flagged draped remains for a commercial-I think that is selling don't you? He is doing the convention right at ground zero-isn't he? I mean isn't it selling the war when you blot out the caskets of dead AMERICANS at dover-you sell the war as not costing lives-right? Thats some nameless kid in the coffin -no Spain just had it with being manipulated and with the lie that al queda was related to Iraq-never was and there were no WMDs either-Join me in a chant now-BUSH OUT THE DOOR IN 04

[Bridget Burke]

10. "the way socialism was always meant to be sold to the people"

What lies!

[Almost_there]

13. I think the bombing certainly affected the election...

I think we have to look at this rationally, and that the PP was leading in the polls by 4% and after they dropped the ball on the honesty of the bombings, they lost by that same 4%. That's a swing of 8%, way outside any margin of error.

Socialism isn't "sold" to people. Its embraced and accepted, and I think the people are more apt to go with the socialist party because of the prospect of peace more so than prosperity with the wreckage of the trains still smoldering in Madrid.

I truly just hope this doesn't give Al Queda a set of cujones to try and bomb other countries, France for the head scarf thing?, Germany for the capture of terrorists after 9/11, Britain for being a US ally, and us come late October / early November.

Just a thought. Have they emboldened the terra-ists, or sent them a message that we care and want to work with them? I am just concerned that "working" with the terrorists is not possible.

~Almost

[Faygo Kid]

4. Bush trashed all 9/11 goodwill, and this is just the beginning.

The world is outraged at our privileged, gunslinging cowboy president. Bush did nothing - nothing - to build a sense of cohesion about terrorism with the nations of the world after 9/11. He spit in their face (no surprise; the man is an ignoramus). The occasional "leader," in Spain, Australia, Britain, et al, went along, but they will pay the electoral price. The world knows that an alliance with Bush is not an alliance with America; it is an alliance with a corruption of America, and not with the kind of nation (with all our warts) we have been. They want a strong America that leads through the ideals of the Gettysburg Address - not the power-mad neo-con corruption of our values and history that the Bush Administration represents.

[NV1962]

6. What a $#@%&* piece of #@$%&* drivel

"Anger at U.S. Fueled Upset In Wake of Terror Attacks"

Yet another message that suggests voters in Spain cast, in essence, a vote against the US.

YOU'RE NOT THAT IMPORTANT!!!

Grrrrrrrrrr...

I'm not going to repeat it anymore:

- The direct link between the votes and the attacks is voter turnout. The extra votes came mostly from young people - and they vote mostly progressive, which benefits PSOE much more than PP.
- The indirect link between the votes and the attacks is that the votes that did change were a castigation of Aznar's governmental deception about the investigation, by maintaining publicly that ETA was the most "likely" culprit when in reality they knew Al Q'aida (or a related organization) was the prime suspect. If it were established that ETA had done it, that would benefit the "strong anti-ETA" profile of PP; if it is established that (indeed) it was Al Q'aida, then Aznar's involvement in Iraq (in the face of overwhelming opposition in Spain) would turn against his party. That is why government (and their toadies in government-controlled media) were constantly hammering that ETA was the "prime suspect" - even as late as Saturday late afternoon (Madrid time) when news of the five detained individuals had broken! For one clear example, the Foreign Minister distributed a (state) news agency EFE news report that "proved" how ETA was the prime suspect - when that news report was written in coordination with Government, and journalists in EFE refused to sign it off! El Mundo has an article about that scandal here, which outlines how furious the journalists at EFE are about the gross manipulation ordered by (government appointed) management. In public broadcaster TVE, employees are now also demanding (in a mood of exhalation, now that Aznar's PP lost) that the government appointed news management gets thrown out on its ear. Article by El Mundo about that can be found here. Then, (consumer) organizations representing the audience of public broadcasters are also demanding an immediate change of guard, insisting that (for once) a more impartial appointment system be put in place, as promised by Zapatero. Article in El Mundo about that here.

It is excruciatingly difficult to counter all the rightwing media and sources, certainly including figures like Bill O'Reilly and Rush Limbaugh, who insist that the Spanish voters expressed "anger at America" and "chose the path of least resistance, caving in to the terrorist threat of more attacks."

I was particularly saddened to read one phrase in Will Rivers Pitt's otherwise very noteworthy piece Three Days In Spain which states the same implicit message - that the terrorists determined the outcome:

The timing of the attack on Thursday is deeply troubling. If al Qaeda was indeed responsible, the terrorist organization certainly planned the blast to happen on the eve of the election. While many may rejoice at the repudiation of a party that brought its nation to war against the will of the people, the fact remains that this repudiation came after 200 people died. Terrorism, slaughter and fear owned the ballot boxes in Spain on Sunday, a precedent that is simply horrifying.

Fear was certainly present at all the mass protests held throughout Spain, on Friday March 12, the day after the attacks: according to police reports, 11.4 million Spaniards challenged their fear, and chose to vent their anger and love for their Democratic constitutional order.

That is what drove voters in massive numbers to the ballot boxes. But when they voted, they casted more than anything a verdict on Aznar's Gov't who had deceived them, in a transparent attempt to "bolster" their advantage shown unanimously in several polls, of an average 5% ahead of PSOE.

As a result, their sought absolute majority vanished, and became a crushing defeat, boosting PSOE into Government.

The fact that PSOE was staunchly against involvement in Iraq without a proper UN mandate for the reconstruction of Iraq was already factored in the 5% lead of the PP, prior to the attacks.

What tipped the scale was nothing else but the PP of Mariano Rajoy (the handpicked successor of PM José María Aznar) being electorally opportunistic over 200 cadavers.

The opinion of Spaniards about the US (as if, the whole country?) or its government is a fringe aspect of their angered dismissal of a deceitful government.

I do concur with William Rivers Pitt: if only in the US people were as diligently vigilant and vocal in demanding truth from their government...

I know the names of a few Spanish soldiers, and several assassinated members of the national intelligence service, who would still be alive - as well as several hundred US soldiers, who died for... What?

Regime change?

Take a cue and do that in the ballot box, by voting for John Kerry - someone who will do exactly that, instead of staying home or voting for a guaranteed loser who promises change but guarantees more of the same.

Returning to that revolting Washington Post article, which so nicely fits in with similar drivel produced by the FoGs, the Friends of George: you should be profoundly ashamed that you even dare call yourself publisher of a newspaper written by journalists. You're not, and they aren't.

Not while you pillage and rape the tenets of fairness and accuracy.

Check your g*dd*mn facts first.

[burrowowl]

8. Thanks for the links!

Wish Murikkkans would wake up!

[Junkdrawer]

12. By attempting to hide the links to al Qaeda, the PP emphasized...

their "culpability" in the attacks and their untrustworthiness to govern.

Take note all you RW spinmeisters.

[MrPrax]

7. What a SPIN!!

1) ansar didn't run (that is a factor in any election)
2) the oil spill that the Popular Party didn't bother to clean up for a month and Spaniard hatred of Aznar polled higher than the war decision--92% if I remember
3) Anzar shamelessly blamed ETA and the Spanish saw through it and got angry
4) do editorialist in the US actually believe that people in their own countries consider US foreign policy in their decisions when electing their OWN gov'ts
5) Do people at the WP get paid to write this shit and where can I sign up?

Pleez.....

[Barkley]

15. Spin #4 is right on!

Great comments!

[NewYorkerfromMass]

9. Vigil March 18 in memory of the dead

Hold a candle on March 18, one week after this tragedy. Let Spain know we care.

[Corgigal]

11. I think the Spanish people voted and think

the same way I would and do. First they want to use our sons in the military for the war in Iraq, a war based on lies. This Iraq war had nothing to do with Spain.

I tried to stop my Govt from using them but they thought they knew better and forced the military into Iraq. Then the bombs went off in Madrid and now I can't even ensure private civilians safety, and again all based on a war that was sold to us on lies. Which 80 percent of the voting population already disagreed with our Govt.

I think the population of Spain are just trying to protect themselves and what is wrong with that? Even our CIA told us that going into Iraq made the US less safe, not more safe.

[daleo]

16. The vote was a victory for democracy

As all honest elections are, by definition.