I’m not sure that willingness to engage in internal repression is a factor in the analysis of what Al-Qaeda has won. In the long run the war on terrorism is about what people think in the Middle East. Al-Qaeda can surely argue in Arabic better than the BBC can discount it that they toppled a government and got a change in policy on troops in Iraq that they favored in the bargain. Hedging from Zapatero will not effect how Al-Qaeda can play this change in the Middle East. I agree that you can be against the war in Iraq and for the War on Terrorism, but we shouldn’t pretend that the division between the two is so clear in the Middle East. Al-Qaeda has a propaganda victory far beyond the mere killings that they so relish. They have a good claim at forcing a change in government and forcing a change in Middle East policy more to their liking. The best the Socialists can do considering their stance on Iraq is to take some very public and very strong foreign policy stance. Cracking down on terrorism internally isn’t anything if Al-Qaeda gets to effect your foreign policy. And even the appearance of effecting your foreign policy in a way that they want ends up being a huge victory for them when dealing with people in the Middle East. For those who might lean toward Al-Qaeda they can say, “See we have great power, come join us.” For those would would oppose them they can say, “See, the West is weak. They will never be able to protect you from us.” To both they have stronger evidence than ever.

You’ve actually succeeded in making me feel better.

Thank you. [No irony intended]

In as far as the PP was coasting to victory just before the attacks, only to subsequently suffer a sharp reversal at the polls, I fail to see how the perpetrators won’t interpret this as a successful intervention on their part into the domestic politics of Spain - and this holds whether or not ETA or al-Qaeda was responsible.

Mr. Zapatero’s loud announcement of his intention to pull Spanish troops out of Iraq only adds to the problem, as other terrorists will draw a very dangerous lesson from it, rather than any nuanced considerations about what his ultimate intentions are.

This election upset is a massive propaganda coup for al-Qaeda, whether or not that organization was responsible for the outrages on Thursday, and we can expect more of the same to follow in the run-up to elections elsewhere in Europe. In that sense, it is entirely correct to say that the Spanish elections were a massive victory for terrorism, regardless of how committed or not the PSOE actually is to fighting terrorism. The message is crystal clear - bomb the Europeans at a critical time and you can get them to break with the Americans.

It’s worse Mrs T, the relatives even have to stump up the cash for themselves to have the boidies identified. There is no judicial investigation to my knowledge.

“And yet all that said, I wonder whether the Spanish electorate was not unduly harsh.”

I agree entirely. The PP paid the price of earlier arrogance and ’sleight of hand’ with information. We could even go back to the mad cow issue if you wanted. What happened was that moderate voters finally said: Basta Ya (that’s enough) even if for once, due to the magnitude of the problem, the PP politicians were, more or less, playing fair.

“It is so only in the minds of the PSOE supporters who still seem to be fighting the civil war”

Well I’m no PSOE supporter, like Mrs T, I would normally find myself being accused of being a neo-liberal (which again I am not)and I think there are plenty of ’skeletons in the cupboard’.

I mean whatever the beliefs of that baker who was shot dead in Pamplona by a policeman, it is odd that not one government spokesman came forward to ‘defend the rule of law’. Whatsmore, the TVE 1 bulletin that evening didn’t even mention the affair, even though the other stations - Canal Plus, catalan TV3 - had full coverage.

The problem is that a country where a policeman who disagrees with you feels able to take out his regulation issue gun and shoot you dead is still far from having a ‘normal’ democracy.