Enraged voters set for return of Right (Spain)

Enraged voters set for return of Right
By Lisa Abend and Geoff Pingree
March 13, 2004

THE devastating terror attacks in Madrid, regardless of whether they were set by Basque or al-Qa'ida terrorists, have transformed Spain's political landscape just three days before general elections.

The conservative Government's war on Basque separatist group ETA ("Basque Homeland and Liberty"), which the ruling Popular Party had made a key plank of its electoral platform, means the attack has effectively sealed its victory at the polls tomorrow. "Logically this will benefit the Popular Party," said Jose Alvarez Junco, a political analyst at Madrid's Complutense University. "They are the ones who are seen as toughest on ETA."
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Analysts said the 5 per cent lead the Popular Party held over the opposition Socialists in the latest opinion polls would probably grow by tomorrow, holding out the prospect of an absolute governing majority with no need for coalition partners.
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"The PP has based its entire campaign on the anti-terrorist fight, and the attack will feed that image," said Jaume Soriano, a professor at the Autonomous University of Barcelona. "Before, I did not think the PP would win an absolute majority, but today I think they will."

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,8951011%255E2703,00.html

Imagine a terrorist attack helping a right wing gov't get elected?
Nawh...never happen here

When the guy in charge has a MAJOR catastrophe happen on his watch, it's a FAILURE, NOT a reason for INCREASED SUPPORT!!

We can't turn nations into armed camps. And even if we did, we'd still be vulnerable.

nt

that they planned and carried out a Terrorist attack JUST IN TIME for a far Right Winger to win a major election. My oh My how dumb they must be...... :eyes:

After all, it wouldn't be the first time Osama worked with Rumsfeld and company....

... want a return of the far right.. Wouldn't it be possible that they had nothing to do with the bombings in Spain?

Clearly who ever carried out the bombing clearly had an objective in mind. The bombings didn't serve the Basque separatist and neither did it serve Al-Qaida.....

Are we permitted to streatch our minds to determine whos agenda the bombings served the most?

They are brothers in terms of personal liberties (lack of) and police state actions.

...can give succor and strength to each other. Without Al Qaeda, where would Bush be? Without Bush, where would Al Qaeda be?

The jailer needs the prisoner.

And why would ETA want a return to the far right.

the far right creates so many more terrorists.

"Are we permitted to stretch our minds to determine whos agenda the bombings served the most?"

No mind-stretching required. The most basic and fundamental question one can ask when investigating a crime is: WHO BENEFITS? Why are so many people so hesitant to believe that our governments are capable of such horrible things? Institutions of power should never be given the benefit of the doubt. Ever.

edit: spelling

a war between Islam and the infidels. they are as crazy as our Christian fundies who go to Israel to help the new Jewish immigrants so they can help bring about "the end of days" as they misinterpret in the bible.

Fundamentalism is a crime against humanity.

Vote for Bush and the terrorists win!

this is exactly what Al Qaeda wants and they probably would love to keep the RW bushies in here too. :scared: :puke:

like Marinus Van Der Lubbe.

They never should have burned down that Reichstag.
Pissed the Germans off something fierce.

like Operation Gladio in 70s Italy.

Thanks for mentioning Gladio. Spain's been making me think a lot about the false flag terror in Italy.

David Guyatt, on Operation Gladio:


US planners worried over the growing influence of Italy's large and popular communist party, established Operation "Gladio" in 1956. The name derived from the short sword used by Roman legionnaires 2000 years earlier, and was almost certainly drawn from the crest of SHAPE which features two swords arranged in an "A" shape. The Gladio network was operated by the secret services and initially funded by the US Central Intelligence Agency. 622 people were recruited and trained by US and British specialists in Sardinia. It is believed that up to 15,000 members were ultimately recruited to the Gladio network.

By 1972, with the prospect of a Soviet invasion receding, a decision was taken to "make a pre-emptive attack" on the Italian communist party - who had polled 27% in that year's election - and who would go on to increase their vote to 35% just four years later. There immediately followed a series of bomb outrages signalling the beginning of a "strategy of tension," designed to shift Italian politics sharply to the right. In April 1972 a Fascist bomb attack killed three carabinieri. In November 1973, an Argo 16 aircraft was destroyed in a mid-air explosion.

But if the Gladio network was the armed force, the secret Masonic lodge "Propaganda Due" (P2) was the Elitist "shadow government" tasked with directing them. Adhering to a right wing ideology bordering on fascism, P2 was headed by Licio Gelli - known as the "Puppet-master." During the war Gelli had been a member of Mussolini's notorious "Black shirts," and later acted as liaison officer to the Hermann Goering SS division. By 1974 P2 had in excess of 1000 members comprising a "who's who" of Italian political, military and economic power. Members included four Cabinet ministers, three intelligence chiefs, 160 senior military officers, 48 MPs, the Army Chief of Staff, as well as top diplomats, bankers, industrialists and media publishers.

It was also during 1974 that Gelli met secretly with Alexander Haig. Formerly, the NATO Supreme Commander, Haig had meanwhile become President Nixon's White House Chief of Staff. The secret meeting was held in the US Embassy in Rome. Receiving the blessing of Henry Kissinger, the US National Security Adviser, Gelli left the meeting with a promise of continued financial support for the Gladio network and it's plan for the "internal subversion." of Italian political life. As welcome as this was, Gelli required additional funds to support P2 and operation Gladio.

more:
http://www.copi.com/articles/guyatt/gladio.html

The gods these people worship pay no mind to national loyalty; why should they care if the dead are Spanish, British, Iraqi or American? In this grand game, the people, of whichever nation, are merely pawns to be sacrificed for the "greater good".

if it weren't so damned predictable, wouldn't it?

Is there ANYONE who can't grasp what has been happening?

Very interesting to see this article up this soon! They must be getting very self-assured.

I chortled mightily when I found out the Spanish elections were on Sunday...

Oh really I says?

Sure enough... news 'analysis' were pretty thick on 'google' news search--

All the expert opinion seems to say the same thing: bad for the Opposition socialists, good for the Franco Fascists...

No idea if AQ was behind this attack, but AQ long term strategy is to create conflict with the west in order to unite the Arab world under a single leader, ie OBL. AQ figures that every retalization by the West will create more converts to their cause in the Arab world.

playbook of the Bush Administration?? Three days before a general election??

Why don't people get what is going on? What would Al-Queda or ETA have to gain from this, knowing what would happen politically? They aren't so idiotic to not know that something like this would propel the country to the right, and therefore assure more oppression.

Certainly the Popular Party has motive and should be investigated along with all possiblities--and would be in a just world.

But I agree with some posters that even attacks that benefit rightist factions ultimately benefit Al Qaeda. Anything that feeds the image of a crusade by the West on Islam drives people in the ME to the AQ camp. Rightist crackdowns are marvellously useful as radical Islamist propaganda fodder.

were speculating that after the election, the government would admit that the attacks were from Al Qaeda, and not ETA -- too late for voters to connect the attacks with Spain's involvement in Iraq.

Something to do with election, then the question goes who and why, subtract how things would have been going with out that happening, then a few clues pop up.

The few hundred that lost their life to the murderers were not that important to the muderers. The effect is what they were after, so what could they have wanted? Terrorism only works if people get frighted (anger is a reaction to fear)

Not taking it lightly, just trying for some perspective

HELLO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And living in a safe easy to understand dreamworld is sooo much better than that cruel bitch of a real world. It's much easier to believe that scragly religious flunkies can conspire for months, years even and pull off a perfect operation killing hundreds, even though it only furthers the cause of their enemy. Nevermind governments are pretty much the only organizations with the means, training and discipline to consistantly pull off acts like these and that GOVERNMENTS have been the greatests perpetrators of mass murder in all history.

This attack could have been done by about anyone who has a copy of the Anarchist's Cookbook.

And I've read the Anarchist's Cookbook you give it way too much credit.

of mass murder in all history.

AND the greatest BENEFICIARIES.

Dress rehearsal for an October surprise in the U.S.? :shrug:

Damn, I need to loosen this tinfoil. These kinds of thoughts never even used to enter my mind, but I just don't know anymore.

3 years of the Bush Reign of Terror has really pushed me over the edge! I trust no friend of Bushler!

Sometimes I wonder if this place keeps me sane or makes me insane, know what I mean?

My first thought was: 3/11! Why?

Next thought: Spain backed up the US in the lies that led to the Iraq War.

Next thought: Is there an election?

It's not like I wake up every day wondering what is going on in Spain, but geez there are too many weird coincidences here.

The timing seems awfully convenient. The rush to back a right-wing government out of fear seems mighty familiar, too.

after a domestic attack, while the cons are down in the polls?

It would appear the people throw off their doubts and elect the ailing cons.

Great.

about entertaining theories suggesting US government complicity in the 9/11 attacks than the US press has. I'd like to think this willingness to think the unthinkable would be reflected by an immediate suspicion toward the government welling in the hearts of the Spanish people along with their terrible grief and anger.

Let's see, right wingers get into government in Spain (more allies in attacking other countries); and on the day Bush rolls out his anit-Kerry ads and needs the country to focus on terror so he has something to run on, bingo--bam-boom, the Spanish re-run of our 9/11 complete with 11 being a prominent number. You can't make stuff like this up, Rove, can you???????

possibly be a right wing led con-job. Nope!