Liars Lose -- The Lessons of Regime Change in Spain

[caledesi]

The leaders lied to their people and the terrorists took advantage of it.

No one likes to be lied to. Are you listening Mr. Bush*? PM Blair?

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Liars Lose -- The Lessons of Regime Change in Spain
by Jeff Cohen

"Political shock in Spain!" blared ABC News on Sunday night, as regime change came to Madrid. Along with Tony Blair, Spain's conservative Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar had been the staunchest of Bush allies.

One down, two to go.

The deciding issue in Spain's election was government deceit over war in Iraq and terrorism at home, especially the bomb blasts that rocked Madrid three days before the balloting. In a country (like ours) where major TV channels routinely echo government propaganda, grassroots activists defeated Aznar's Popular Party by reaching swing voters and young voters through mobile phones, the Internet and creative, nonviolent protests.

For weeks polls had showed Aznar's hand-picked successor comfortably ahead of Spain's uninspiring Socialist party, which had been voted out of office in 1996 amid corruption scandals. Then came Thursday's terror attacks, killing 200 Spaniards and injuring 1500.

The conservative government that had brought Spain into the Iraq war (despite overwhelming opposition) by echoing U.S./U.K. lies on WMDs immediately blamed the Madrid terror attacks on Basque separatists -- before there was any evidence, and continuing in the face of evidence pointing to Islamist terrorists. Antiwar Spaniards had long warned that aligning with the U.S./U.K would intensify the threat of foreign terror.

By election day, government manipulation had become the salient issue in the minds of millions of shell-shocked swing voters. But the seeds of doubt about Aznar's government had been planted by the antiwar movement. After all, intelligence on Iraq had been manipulated; now it seemed Spain was manipulating the truth about who had murdered hundreds of Spaniards. It leaked out that, within hours of the terror attacks, Spain's foreign minister had written ambassadors: "You should use any opportunity to confirm ETA's responsibility."


link: http://www.commondreams.org/views04/0315-13.htm