Abstract

Terror & Truth in Spain

The horrific bombings in Spain, which claimed more than 200 lives, were sad proof that terrorists can achieve success when their target is a government that has distanced itself from its people and pursued a misconceived counterterrorism policy. It also shows, in particular, that George W. Bush's" war on terrorism" is wrongheaded and dangerous. The perpetrators of the Madrid attacks--who as of this writing seem to be Islamic fundamentalists--were able to meet their apparent objective (punishing the Popular Party government of Jos& eacute; Mar& iacute;a Aznar) only because Bush had drawn the Spanish government into a dubious exercise: war on Iraq. Bush and his lieutenants argued before the war that it was imperative to invade and occupy Iraq because Saddam Hussein had a massive number of WMDs and operational ties to Al Qaeda. Most of Washington's allies, a large number of Americans and majorities in other countries--including Spain--didn't buy that argument. Their skepticism has been borne out. The attack in Madrid was a reminder that the high concept of Bush's war--smashing Saddam as a dramatic victory in the war on terror--has no foundation in reality. In fact, the attack reinforces the opposite view: that the war on Iraq has undermined the effort against Al Qaeda. It is understandable that Spaniards would react to the horror by booting a government that had defied their wishes. It was a repudiation of the phony case Bush made for war in Iraq, a case Aznar too willingly accepted. The Spanish vote was a warning. The United States is now more isolated in Iraq, and Bush's war on terrorism is further discredited globally.