The War on Terror and the Implications of the Madrid Bombing

Good liberals everywhere hide their heads and pray they won't be attacked. (It reminds me of all the cowering townspeople in those old range-war westerns.)


My stance:
It makes me embarassed to be a liberal and *I* have been a liberal for my entire life.


My question:
Does anybody believe that al-Qaeda is NOT scum?

...the foreign policy that later became known as appeasement.

Chamberlain believed that Germany had been badly treated by the Allies after it was defeated in the First World War. He therefore thought that the German government had genuine grievances and that these needed to be addressed. He also thought that by agreeing to some of the demands being made by Adolf Hitler of Germany and Benito Mussolini of Italy, he could avoid a European war.

Germany calls for EU terror talks
Germany has called for an urgent meeting of European Union interior ministers following the Spain bombings.

The announcement was made after a meeting of Germany's national security cabinet in Berlin.

It comes amid growing indications that the Madrid attacks were carried out by an Islamic group and not Eta.

Germany asked the Irish presidency of the EU to organise a special meeting of the ministers as soon as possible - perhaps in the coming week.

German debate

The German Interior Minister, Otto Schily, said that if it were confirmed that the Madrid bombings had an "Islamic background" then it would mean a new level of threat in Europe.

He was speaking after a meeting of Germany's national security cabinet, which was summoned by the Chancellor, Gerhard Schroeder, after Spain announced it had arrested five non-Spaniards on Saturday evening.

The Madrid bombings have prompted fierce debate in Germany about security measures, with the opposition calling for airport-style security to be introduced at railway stations across the country.

The German government rejects this as impractical, and says it has beefed up security in other ways.

It has also insisted that the Schengen Agreement, which allows travel between many EU members without border checks, should remain in place.

Train marshals' to patrol Tube
Patrols are being stepped up on the tube network
Plain clothes anti-terror police will patrol London's Tube trains and stations and conduct random searches.

The measures were not a specific response to the Madrid rail blasts, British Transport Police said.

Earlier, Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon urged the public to report "suspicious and unusual things" to police.

Train marshals form part of a new campaign to warn passengers about possible terror attacks in London.

The changes follow a meeting of officials from underground rail systems across the world in London last week.


The patrols include, for the first time, deploying plain clothes counter-terrorist police to key locations
British Transport Police
A British Transport Police spokesman said extra patrols, using plain clothes and uniformed officers, were being carried out at tube stations and on trains and security measures would be constantly revised with the help of anti-terrorism experts.

"As part of the continuing government campaign against the threat from terrorism, police have stepped up patrols on the London underground system", the spokesman said.

"The patrols include, for the first time, deploying plain clothes counter-terrorist police to key locations."

He said the measures were being supported by the Metropolitan Police, City of London police and Transport for London.

Deputy Assistant Commissioner Peter Clarke, head of the Met's anti-terrorism branch, said the capital continued to be on a high level of alert.

"We will do whatever is necessary to protect the public from harm", he said.

In my opinion there is no doubt that this was an al Qaeda attack. I think it had two goals, to punish Spain for supporting the Iraq invasion and to create a backlash in todays election in Spain against the ruling party, that has supported the war on terror. In both case it was, in my opinion, successful. This is not good. If al Qaeda thinks it can manipulate elections in its favor than no election is safe.

Interesting. Al-Qaeda conducts terrorists attacks against Spain for supporting intervention in Iraq. Maybe they know something about Iraqi involvement with al Qaeda that no one else knows.

On the other hand, this should hopefully send a message to those governments that participated in the illegal rape of Iraq against their own citizenry's opinions that the day of reckoning (i.e.: being voted out) is near.

Welll, Hobitbob, of course, even bigger than the Iraq debacle is that we've allowed Israel to exist. How should we appease the Arab militants in that quarter?

Latest news 2 hr. 13 min. ago: ASHDOD, Israel - Two Palestinian suicide bombers attacked this closely guarded Israeli port Sunday, killing 11 Israelis and wounding 18 in the first deadly assault on a strategic installation in more than three years of Israeli-Palestinian fighting.

Sunday's bombings could signal that bombers were trying to carry out a so-called "mega-attack." Many of the bombings since 2000 targeted buses, cafes and markets, where a large number of people gather, but the death toll in each attack never rose above 30. In recent months, security forces said they had stopped dozens of planned attacks every day.

It is impossible to seal the entire country hermetically."

Moshe Karadi, police chief of southern Israel, said the bombers were using a different type of bomb than usual and may have been trying to blow themselves up next to tanks of bromide or other dangerous chemicals stored in the port, causing far greater casualties as clouds of poisonous gas billow about. The explosions went off some way from the chemical storage area, possibly prematurely.

In 2000, Palestinians tried to blow up Israel's main fuel depot, outside Tel Aviv, setting off explosives under a tanker truck. The fuel did not ignite, but officials warned that a successful attack of that type might have resulted in thousands of casualties.

Hamas and the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, militants with links to Yasser Arafat's Fatah party, claimed joint responsibility for the attack.