Support NeoGAF

[Ripclawe]

Also Generalissimo Francisco Franco is still dead...


http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A38817-2004Oct16?language=printer

Some analysts argue that the placement of important clues -- particularly a videotaped claim of responsibility by a masked Islamic militant discovered two days after the March 11 attacks -- was aimed at quickly establishing that the attacks were a reaction to the presence of Spanish troops in Iraq and generating a backlash against the ruling Popular Party.

The party had a comfortable advantage in opinion polls but lost the election on March 14. The new Socialist party government of Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero quickly kept a campaign pledge to withdraw Spain's 1,300-troop contingent from Iraq. It also set about improving relations with neighboring Morocco, after two years of tension under the government of the previous prime minister, Jose Maria Aznar.

Newly disclosed wiretaps of an alleged organizer of the bombings expressing glee that "the dog Aznar" had been put out of office have prompted some analysts here to conclude that the perpetrators sought to try to bring about specific reactions through the attacks.

and this is why analysts get paid the big bucks. Whole article is interesting.

http://www.bugmenot.com/ if you need a login.

 

[Hamfam]

It took an analyst to work this out?

 

[xsarien]

Or, you know, the fact that as of a year prior to the 11 March attack, about 90% of the Spanish population opposed the war:

http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/europe/03/29/sprj.irq.spain/

 

[Ripclawe]

Or, you know, the fact that as of a year prior to the 11 March attack, about 90% of the Spanish population opposed the war:

http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/europe/03/29/sprj.irq.spain/

which is why they targeted Spain in the first place because even though they opposed the war, Aznar was still winning. So they give the election a little push, due to their thinking Spain is a weak link to begin with.

 

[Incognito]

hasn't this already been discussed? and more specifically, i remember quite a few spainards saying the attacks themselves had nothing to do with the election outcome, but rather the way the government held back information and accused another group of the attacks only for that to backfire ultimately leading to their ouster...

 

[xsarien]

which is why they targeted Spain in the first place because even though they opposed the war, Aznar was still winning. So they give the election a little push, due to their thinking Spain is a weak link to begin with.

Ever consider the possibilty that the attack simply gave the people opposing the government one more reason to vote them out of office?

 

[Ripclawe]

Ever consider the possibilty that the attack simply gave the people opposing the government one more reason to vote them out of office?

exactly, which was the reasoning behind the bombings, give them a reason to put in a friendly government.

 

[Tommie Hu$tle]

Ever consider the possibilty that the attack simply gave the people opposing the government one more reason to vote them out of office?

Sure it did. However if the govenment would have been more forthcoming about the reality of the situation then the public may have rallied behind Aznar. If the governmet was will to mislead the public in this situation what else were they willing to do?

The hawkish theory is if we attack the terrorists in the middle east they won't attack us at home. Well if they attack us at home when they are attacking us in the middle east that means that theory isn't working and it's time for a change.

I think that was more of the thinking of the Spanish.

 

[Outdoor Miner]

Anyone see where Ripclawe is going with this?

;p

 

[xsarien]

Sure it did. However if the govenment would have been more forthcoming about the reality of the situation then the public may have rallied behind Aznar. If the governmet was will to mislead the public in this situation what else were they willing to do?

This angle of it often gets lost in the American media, I certainly didn't mean to exclude it outright. Hearing it again, yes, the voting out of Aznar does seem rooted just as strongly in their efforts to blame ETA to the point where nothing else was a possibility. I'm just not a fan of black and white constructs, because they're flawed; and to say that the bombing in and of itself was the reason the election came out the way it did is intentionally ignoring other important factors.

The hawkish theory is if we attack the terrorists in the middle east they won't attack us at home. Well if they attack us at home when they are attacking us in the middle east that means that theory isn't working and it's time for a change.

I think that was more of the thinking of the Spanish.

I addressed this in some other Bush thread yesterday, and to be blunt, I agree.

 

[Ripclawe]

The hawkish theory is if we attack the terrorists in the middle east they won't attack us at home. Well if they attack us at home when they are attacking us in the middle east that means that theory isn't working and it's time for a change.

That is not a "hawkish theory". The plan is to attack them first wherever in the world, if they attack us at home while we attack them somewhere else is irrelevent. People expect them to keep attack western interests based on their feeling that people in the west are weak who will fold easily.

That's why after the Madrid bombings, Al Qaeda sent a tape asking Europe if they wanted a truce, because they see them as weak.

 

[megateto]

hasn't this already been discussed? and more specifically, i remember quite a few spainards saying the attacks themselves had nothing to do with the election outcome, but rather the way the government held back information and accused another group of the attacks only for that to backfire ultimately leading to their ouster...

Spaniard here: Yes.

But to say the truth, both parts pushed the media: PP used the public broadcasting system and all their official press meetings to blame it on ETA, not closing the door to the possibility of a fundametalist islamic attack; PSOE used, or better, media close to PSOE began a real bombing on alternative info that soon put the blame on the fundamentalist.

And yes, Zapatero promised that if he won the elections, he would take our troops from Iraq.

And yes, Spanish people were crying out loud "NO A LA GUERRA" before the man of the moustache send the troops there.