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Monday, March 15, 2004
The Spanish have
been Terrorised
Dear Sir
We
will rue the day when Spain allowed itself to be terrorised by Al Qaeda. By
voting against the government, the Spanish people have shown that they are
willing to be swayed by mass terrorism, against a course that is right.
Jose Maria Aznar's Popular Party
government backed the war against terrorism and the removal for Saddam
Hussein. They were right to have done so and their involvement broadened the
coalition and gave it greater credibility. It was also the first time that
Spain had supported a multilateral action since the sixteenth century. The
terrorists’ objective was to punish the Spanish people and reverse their
support for the U.S. led action. It looks as though they have succeeded.
To be fair, the incompetent
handling of the whole affair by their government must have contributed to the
sense of frustration that the Spanish voters felt. By blaming Basque
terrorists, immediately after the tragedy they were wrong. They had no clear
evidence to back the claim and they allowed themselves to be seen as making
political capital out of the catastrophe. Their incompetence should have cost
them their majority.
This does not detract though,
from the message that this will send to other countries. This message is; “if
you feel in danger from terrorism, take the line of least resistance”. This is
a danger to us all.
If countries like
Spain,
Italy and others, whose governments have backed the U.S. against local public
opinion, can be brought down so easily, where does that leave Britain? We
could be left alone in support of the U.S. in the war against terrorism. That
burden will weigh on us very heavily.
We must do all we can to support
coalition members, in Europe and the rest of the world. We must ensure that
they are not picked off one by one by the terrorists.
Yours faithfully,
N
Gregor Macgregor |