SPAIN GAVE TERRORISTS A VICTORY WITH VOTE (3-2004)

Chalk one up for the terrorists, and Islamic militants. 

It has generally been the policy of any nation not to cave 
in to the threats of terrorists, or to their demands, even 
if struck. But, apparently, someone forgot to tell that to 
the voters in Spain.

In the wake of the most disastrous terrorist strike in 
Spanish history, which killed more than 200 and injured 
1,500, the socialist candidate, Jose Luis Rodriguez 
Zapatero, upset the incumbent prime minister, Jose Maria 
Aznar, and his conservatives. The victory was a surprise 
win for the socialists.

Zapatero said he would now move to end Spain’s involvement 
in the Iraqi war. Spain had been a staunch U.S. ally, 
despite the fact that most Spaniards were opposed to 
sending troops there.

The attack on Madrid’s commuter train happened on March 11, 
and blame first was placed on Basque separatists, who 
denied involvement. Later, the blast was attributed to Al 
Qaeda and Islamic militants.

Zapatero, long an opponent of the U.S.-led war with Iraq, 
promised to remove all 1,300 Spanish troops from Iraq by 
June 30. He said of President Bush’s and British Prime 
Minister Tony Blair’s push to go to war with Iraq, “…you 
can't organize a war with lies.” The comments were 
unusually frank.

Wilfried Martens, head of an umbrella group for European 
conservative parties, said the elections would go down in 
history because Islamic fundamentalism had dictated the 
outcome of a European election.  

In this case, Martens and other observers may be right. 
Some analysts said it could be an alarming first case of 
Islamist militants influencing, by violence, the outcome of 
a major Western election. 

Although Zapatero denies this, saying his victory was 
simply a consequence of a very unpopular war, it is 
unquestionable that militant groups will find great comfort 
in the fact that they have gotten what they wanted from 
Spain.

Terrorists are buoyed up by acquiescence, no matter what 
form it takes. Spain’s decision to pull out of the war at 
this stage will simply encourage Al Qaeda and other 
terrorist groups to continue, or increase, their campaign 
of destruction. They now have a victory under their belts.

The debate may go on for years whether the U.S. had any 
justifiable reason for invading Iraq. But regardless of the 
ultimate outcome of that debate, the commitment that we and 
other countries have made to the war effort cannot simply 
be halted before a stable democratic government has been 
installed in Iraq. It would be unconscionable to go in and 
wipe out a government, then leave without helping the Iraqi 
people form a democratic replacement for the former 
dictatorship.

The war has been unpopular in other countries, too. Many 
groups and individuals in the U.S. opposed sending troops 
to Iraq. But it is unlikely that U.S. voters would place 
into office a candidate that promised to prematurely pull 
all American forces out of Iraq and just let them fend for 
themselves at this stage in the conflict.

We can argue over whether it was necessary to invade Iraq 
in the first place, but pulling out of the war in response 
to an act of terrorism would never be an option for U.S. 
citizens. It shouldn’t have been thought of as an option 
for the Spanish.

It is certainly understandable that the entire country of 
Spain, indeed, the whole free world, is very disturbed and 
infuriated by this latest act of terrorism. But, in the 
end, the possibility is very high that the Spanish people 
reacted in an inappropriate manner to their horror and 
shock. It could be that they gave the terrorists a big 
victory.