Spanish, U.S. Politicians Spar Over Iraq

[Barrett808]

Spanish, U.S. Politicians Spar Over Iraq
By ED McCULLOUGH, Associated Press Writer

MADRID, Spain - Leading Spanish politicians on Thursday fended off U.S. charges that Spain is appeasing terrorists by planning to pull troops out of Iraq in the wake of the Madrid bombings.

A possible troop withdrawal stems from long-standing opposition to the U.S.-led occupation and is "not a result of improvisation and even less a consequence" of the March 11 attack, which killed 201 people, said Jesus Caldera, a Socialist former parliamentary spokesman expected to have a post in Prime Minister-elect Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero's government.

Zapatero — the upset winner in elections Sunday following the bombings three days earlier — had campaigned on pledges to pull Spain's 1,300 troops out by June 30 unless the United Nations takes charge in Iraq.

He has repeated that pledge since his election, calling the occupation a "fiasco" and the U.S.-led war a disaster, a stance that has won him support in Spain even as it is criticized by U.S. lawmakers and allies.

Iraqi sovereignty should be restored, and "that is done by beginning to take away allies of the U.S. intervention," Gaspar Llamazares, the leader of Spain's United Left party, said on television Thursday.

(more)

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20040318/ap_on_re_eu/spain&cid=518&ncid=1480

[bif]

1. Good to see someone standing up to this administration.

Good on ya, mate!