MSNBC: Madrid van with detonators contained Arabic language tapes

with Quran verses. No link yet.

j/k of course

lets make jokes about terrorism while we're at it.

which contained 8 detonators and a store-bought tape of the Koran.
Spain already has 1300 crusaders in Occupied Iraq now, guess bush wants more...

Are they saying somebody was walking past it, just happened to notice, and recognize, bomb detonators and a tape of the Koran inside, so they called the cops?

What a lucky break!

Armed with detonators and store-bought Koran CD's just in case they're needed...

Al Quaeda instead of ETA. ETA prefers to target (though not exclusively) Spanish military, police or government presence. Plus, al Quaeda likes to make a bigger "bang" than does ETA, typically. Looks as though Osama's folks are looking to undermine Allied support in Iraq by attacking those Allies in their home countries...before they try again at US, that is! :scared:

B-)

but they generally don't try to kill tourists, and provide adequate warning. Could be either, but my guess is Al Qaeda.

How convenient they left behind Arabic pamphlets. Those Muslims are certainly sloppy terrorists. Aznar needs to save his butt, I doubt those nasty old Muslims were involved, seeing as Azner is a better terrorist than they seem to be.

How is Aznar a better terrorist than Al Qaeda?

Could you give an example? I know they generally went for police/military/political targets when I lived in Spain, the only exception in my memory being the supermarket bombing in Barcelona. Ordinary people did not feel especially threatened by ETA, although there was much general revulsion at the violence, even in the Basque region.

Don't you think, though, that the overwhelming number of ETA targets have been police/military/political in the over 30 years they have been doing this? These links'dates appear to show a recent turn toward new targets. Know anything about that? I left in '92, and hadn't heard about tourist targets from friends there. Also, if the train bombings are ETA, they, too, seem a little outside their typical tactics, although there was the supermarket bombing. Thoughts?

And that's why I, if I had to guess, would say that Al Qaeda was responsible and not ETA. Can any of us say for sure? No.

A lot of Basque-watchers now think of it as the last gasp for ETA, which has not been doing too well lately. Immediately thereafter, Aznar shut down the Basque-language Egunkaria and held a number of its writers and editors for some time. They were all (eventually) released having been cleared of ETA involvement.

You can probably find several stories from the Basque point of view on the English-language feed of Egunkaria's successor, Berria. (Note: news stories are not updated very often, and the page still did not carry news of the explosions as of 3:30 PM EST.)

--bkl

"...Looks as though Osama's folks are looking to undermine Allied support in Iraq by attacking those Allies in their home countries...before they try again at US, that is!..."

... it is probable that this attack will further fuel the ongoing backlash against Islam in Europe. There are today policies in place in traditionally liberal countries like Denmark and the Netherlands (e.g. forced deportations of tens of thousands of mostly Muslim illegal immigrants and a ban on permanent residence for foreign (Muslim) clerics) which are pretty hard to imagine in modern America. In fact, Western Europe is already to right of America when it comes to immigration.

If so, it's interesting how these attacks always help the RW.

The conservative party was polling ahead. This might actually crush their chances as people may see it as revenge on Spain for joining into the Iraq war.

But it could be close. What's interesting is that although the attack does not follow ETA's tradition, it would have helped the Partido Popular.

The PP claims they're stronger on national security issues, and thus an attack by ETA would help them. However, they also supported the war on Iraq, so an attack by Al Qaeda would probably harm them. Al Qaeda wouldn't attack if Spain were not involved in the Iraqi situation.

So... I'm not surprised all the big PP figures came out blaming ETA without any investigation. It's politically convenient. Blaming Al Qaeda would remind the Spanish people of the war, and the Socialist Workers Party could gain some momentum.

We know how much credence we should give the US Intel evaluation. Little or none!

From MSNBC

<snip> "...but a senior U.S. intelligence source told NBC News that that conclusion might be wrong and that the CIA was looking for any connection to the al-Qaida terrorist network."

Full Link http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4502950/

Uno Mas, Por Favor.

Saw his news clip "Murikan pepople stand with the Spanish in war against terra!" Of course we know you are at war with the earth, Sr Arbusto! The world is fighting back.....

spain caught some guys who were not arabs with a truck full of explosives a few weeks ago. spainish officials have been on alert ever since this discovery....oh i forgot ,that does fit the official whitehouse propaganda

For Spain sending troops to Iraq.

something they have NEVER done when commenting on all previous acts of terrorism. How very odd that the media immediately jumped on ETA without further information.

Clearly Spain is paying the price for supporting *'s illegal crusade in the middle east. They would do well to remember that come voting day.

In fairness, Spain has never seen an act of terrorism like this since the Civil War. If ETA was responsible, it should want to distance itself to prevent a backlash.

cautioned it was too early to say, when I surfed past Fox News and heard their reporter laugh out loud when asked if there was a possibility ETA was not the culprit.

Bush gets no mileage domestically out of blaming ETA. If Al Queda was behind this would not Rove order the media to pump up the terrorism Bogey man that the Amerikan voter is familiar with?

I have only two possible explanations.

(A)Sloppy/corrupt "reporting" on the part of Faux

(B)Bush ordered blaming of ETA to prop up Shrub crony Aznar

did this. His exact words were "No way." He told me it wasn't there way of doing things. They always warn in advance, and he didn't thin they coud pull it off. Not w/o significant help from somewhere else.

his cave? No notes that say, "WE DID IT - ARABS". Well tapes in arabic with Quran verses is PROOF, I say, that THEY DID IT! :eyes:

Most of the Basques don't like ETA.

Most of the Basque radicals don't like ETA.

Batasuna ("Unity") -- assumed to be the ETA's political arm, like Sinn Fein was to the IRA -- has been distancing itself from ETA.

ETA operatives have been blowing themselves up at a rapid pace. They have preferred small, "kitchen-table" munitions, and it shows.

ETA also has a habit of warning the local authorities before a bomb goes off. This was a trio of big ol' honkin' bombs, and no warning was made.

Sr. Aznar -- who is (ironically) of Basque hertiage himself -- has been extremely anti-Basque since an ETA bomb destroyed his car and chauffeur back in the mid-'90s. I wonder how the decision was made to schedule political rallies around Spain to blame Basque separatists for the bombings. The last several sweeps for ETA members mainly just turned up journalists and newspaper editors.

--bkl

Multiple bombs is typical Al Qaeda... and as I posted in other thread, March 11 is exactly 6 months after (and before) of September 11. This screams Al Qaeda...

Now, the questions is... did the Spanish government LIHOP??? Spain is only 2 days away from the general elections.

I smell a rat....

I'm starting to think that AQ is some sort of name brand attached to "politically expedient" activities. Certain disasters get the "AQ seal of approval" no matter who planned them, who carried them out, and who claimed the credit.

Kinda like Martha Stewart for cheap housewares. (You don't really think that Martha made YOUR K-Mart sheets PERSONALLY, do you? hee hee.) Martha lends her name to a product she didn't make, never saw, and probably doesn't use in her own home.

Somebody owns the rights to the AQ trademark. I wonder who. It's a mystery.

I'm a horrible cook. Maybe AQ would approve my Chicken Cordon Bleu recipe. ;)

"Says to look within the Shrub to find the answer."

"MSNBC: Al Qaida tied to Iraq"

Whatever, call me when there's proof of something. :eyes: