jpatokal
16-03-04, 06:09 PM
From the front page:
For the first time, a terrorist act (or the reaction to it) has impacted a democratic election. If the Spanish bombings are indeed connected to international Muslim extremists, it would be the first time since 9/11 that terrorists acts resulted in any political capital for the bombers. The success of the Madrid bombings in getting Spain to pull out of the Iraqi occupation forces puts other coalition partners (such as Thailand) at greater risk of similar terrorist acts.
Bullpucky. First of all, 90% of Spaniards opposed sending troops to Iraq. Any government doing something so diametrically opposed to the wishes of the people should get booted out, and the opposition had promised to withdraw the troops long before the bombings. Second, the government immediately tried to turn the bombings into political capital by claiming them as the work of the ETA without a shred of evidence; this backfired badly when the evidence started coming in and pointing in the opposite direction.
The success of the Madrid bombings in getting Spain to pull out of the Iraqi occupation forces puts other coalition partners (such as Thailand) at greater risk of similar terrorist acts.No, Thailand's policy of blindly supporting the US puts Thailand at greater risk from people who oppose the US. Although, frankly, I'm pretty sure Thailand is quite low on al-Qaida's hit list...
For the first time, a terrorist act (or the reaction to it) has impacted a democratic election. If the Spanish bombings are indeed connected to international Muslim extremists, it would be the first time since 9/11 that terrorists acts resulted in any political capital for the bombers. The success of the Madrid bombings in getting Spain to pull out of the Iraqi occupation forces puts other coalition partners (such as Thailand) at greater risk of similar terrorist acts.
Bullpucky. First of all, 90% of Spaniards opposed sending troops to Iraq. Any government doing something so diametrically opposed to the wishes of the people should get booted out, and the opposition had promised to withdraw the troops long before the bombings. Second, the government immediately tried to turn the bombings into political capital by claiming them as the work of the ETA without a shred of evidence; this backfired badly when the evidence started coming in and pointing in the opposite direction.
The success of the Madrid bombings in getting Spain to pull out of the Iraqi occupation forces puts other coalition partners (such as Thailand) at greater risk of similar terrorist acts.No, Thailand's policy of blindly supporting the US puts Thailand at greater risk from people who oppose the US. Although, frankly, I'm pretty sure Thailand is quite low on al-Qaida's hit list...