Attacks in Spain
Just sickening.
When I first heard the news about the attacks in Spain, I too assumed it was ETA. But as I thought about it throughout the morning, that just didn't ring true. Like the IRA, ETA is about fear, not necessarily carnage, and the modus operandi typically was to give a warning before the bomb was to go off, limiting, if not eliminating, casualties. ETA's targets tend to be government and security officials. That didn't happen today, and both the timing and the placement of the bombs were clearly meant to create the largest number of casualties possible.
And reminding myself that not only is Spain an outspoken ally in Iraq and that Islam carries a historical grudge with Spain stretching back to the 15th century, it seemed more and more likely to me that it was Islamic fundamentalists. That now seems to be the case.
To paraphrase Le Monde following the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, today we are all Spaniards.
When I first heard the news about the attacks in Spain, I too assumed it was ETA. But as I thought about it throughout the morning, that just didn't ring true. Like the IRA, ETA is about fear, not necessarily carnage, and the modus operandi typically was to give a warning before the bomb was to go off, limiting, if not eliminating, casualties. ETA's targets tend to be government and security officials. That didn't happen today, and both the timing and the placement of the bombs were clearly meant to create the largest number of casualties possible.
And reminding myself that not only is Spain an outspoken ally in Iraq and that Islam carries a historical grudge with Spain stretching back to the 15th century, it seemed more and more likely to me that it was Islamic fundamentalists. That now seems to be the case.
To paraphrase Le Monde following the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, today we are all Spaniards.
posted by John at 5:03 PM
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