Comments on: Europe In The Spotlight

By: mugu

mugu — Thu, 29 Apr 2004 19:54:23 +0000

You’re a full.

By: FransGroenendijk

FransGroenendijk — Sat, 13 Mar 2004 06:06:33 +0000

Al Qaeda wants to attack not only brutal but making symbolic statements too.
11 March is exactly 2,5 years after 9-11. That’s a statement.

Bob is right: we must get rid of Euro-centrism.
Remember Bali, remember Istanbul, remember Dar es Salaam and certainly not Karbala: killing as many Shiites as possible on their most holy day.

Yes, ETA could be linked to the mass-murder because of the Spanish elections, but Al-Qaeda as well. OBL knows that most Spaniards opposed the war in Iraq. He simply wants the Spanish people to vote against Spanish presence in Iraq. He already succeeded in chasing the USA out of Saudi-Arabia.

The opposition in Spain now face a big responsibility: are they hiding away behind “the government”, trying to put some blame on the PP, hoping in some way that the massacre will cause a victory in the election or will they speak out firmly for worldwide cooperation against terrorism.

After 9-11 almost all of the world could be united against terrorism. After Bush shifted focus from terrorism to Iraq the world became divided again. OBL is “asking” us to start cooperating again….
Hard choices for Europe.

By: David Frazer

David Frazer — Sat, 13 Mar 2004 02:40:23 +0000

Israeli mass circulation Yedioth Ahronoth told Europeans: “Welcome to the real world”.

I thought that liberals were supposed to be the ones who gloated over the deaths of innocents and regarded them as well-deserved punishment for the sins of their governments. Obviously I was misinformed.

By: des

des — Fri, 12 Mar 2004 23:56:01 +0000

There’s altogether too much linking of Iraq and al-Qaeda swirling around the blogosphere’s musings on Madrid for my liking. Has everyone (including A-q) decided to retroactively vindicate Rumsfeld’s belligerent pre-war ravings, or did somebody find some serious evidence of a link?

And if “Western Europe thought it was immune” how in God’s name are we supposed to account for the enthusiasm of David Blunkett and much of the French government for confiscating any civil liberties they can lay their nasty little hands on - pure spite?

The whole idea that terrorism is new to Yoorp is utterly laughable, and the Israeli suggestion that Yoorpeans will finally see the Palestinians for what they really are (and the corresponding Russian bollocks about the Chechens) is an offer I sincerely hope that Yoorp finds it in itself to decline.

By: Bob

Bob — Fri, 12 Mar 2004 20:17:07 +0000

I’m not convinced we should look at the terrible events in Madrid in an entirely Euro-centric way because we are apt to overlook this:

“Baghdad — U.S. officials in Iraq defended their security procedures Wednesday as the death toll in the coordinated suicide bombings of two Shiite Muslim shrines soared toward 300.” - from: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2004/03/04/MNGAH5DTGK1.DTL

By: Monkeybutt

Monkeybutt — Fri, 12 Mar 2004 20:07:53 +0000

I guess they (the terrorists) “hate our way of life” too. When the war in Iraq started I knew that Europe would be in trouble too. In some way I naievely hoped the mass demonstrations against the war in Europe would prevent some of the backlash. If Madrid was indeed an AQ job, that hope is now dashed. We are all Westerners.