Revolutionary Moderation

My confusion continues



Something smells awfully fishy about the bombing and election in Spain, and the coverage thereof. I'm open to thoughts, because the news isn't helping me out at all.



First of all, al Quada? Really? Al Quada's raison d'etre was to destabilise secular governments in the middle east so that there would be opportunities to replace them with theocracies like the Taliban government in Afghanistan. Pissing off the Americans was a means to that end. That certainly doesn't explain the bombings on Thursday - what's Spain going to do to help the project along? Was the intent to defeat the government participating in the occupartion of Iraq? Al Quada and Saddam were not, despite the prewar propaganda, friends in any sense of the word. All they had in common was speaking Arabic and hating the Americans.



What about the Spanish? I'm not complaining about the change of government, but it seems to me that countries feeling under attack tend to rally behind hawks - look at Israel, or look at the U.S. right after 9/11. Why did Spain swing so far to the left, and to a party promising withdrawl from Iraq, only after the bombings? Did the voters really think "geez, you win, we give up"? I haven't personally felt like a terrorist target, so I'm not presuming to judge the people of Spain; nonetheless, this seems like a strange reaction from people that jog down narrow cobblestone streets with angry bulls for sport, and I can't help wondering if there's something else we're not being told.



Finally, why Spain? It's not like there's a whole lot of security on commuter trains anywhere else, either - why pick on the smallest of the major Iraq occupiers?



Like I say, I don't have the answers, but I don't hear anyone asking these questions, so I thought I had better.



Update: James Bow takes a crack at answering my question about the Spanish - he believes voters felt like the Prime Minister was attempting to exploit the bombings for political purposes, and reacted overwhelmingly against the manipulation.