The Spanish people have punished the ruling conservative government after the terrorist atrocity in Spain, voting in the opposition Socialist Workers’ Party.
Only a week ago, four public opinion polls predicted the Popular Party would win with a reduced majority.
But the bombings and a claim attributed to al-Qaeda that they were revenge for Spain’s support of American policy in Iraq touched off a wave of anger against the government.
Small groups of detractors booed Aznar and his chosen successor, Mariano Rajoy, when they voted in separate Madrid polling stations, with some yelling “Manipulator” and “You fascists are the terrorists”.
Osama bin Laden may be on the run, but Al Qaeda and the other Islamic terror groups could be forgiven for thinking that they are truly winning the world war.
Yes, I did say “world war”, because that is what it is. The Western world is under attack by adherents of a fundementalist Islamic doctrine bent on reshaping the world. And, despite some key captures by Allied troops, Al Qaida are not only able to continue wreaking havoc all over the world, but more significantly, are able to turn the people against their governments, like we have seen in Spain.
There are two sicknesses in this equation – the terrorism and its underlying philosophy, but also the terror appeasement which is giving the former the impetus to continue. Would Al Qaida be attacking at will if the strategy only succeeded in mobilizing the citizens of the world against them?
I posit that successful terrorism is not measured solely in terms of numbers of people killed, but moreso, its political ramifications. Assuming that terrorism has real political objectives (such as Spain withdrawing from the coalition), Al Qaida can only truly succeed if their political goals are reached. And this requires a partner – the terror apologists of the Left.
In many ways, the terror attacks in Spain were a litmus test for Al Qaida to gauge the reaction of the European people. Many pundits saw significance in the fact that the attacks occurred 911 days after 9-11. While this may have been the case, I was more inclined to see the timing as related to the elections. Had the Spanish people overwhelming voted against terror, then Al Qaida may have been reticent to step-up their terror campaign in Europe. But by directly influencing the election results, Al Qaida can take heart that they are indeed setting the global agenda.
In my opinion, Al Qaida can now focus more on Europe, especially considering that terror appeasement is something that is more endemic to this part of the world. This is manifest by the Spanish election results. In contrast, terrorism in Israel has ushered in ostensibly more right-wing governments, which have promised to fight the terror. However, this terrorism can also be seen as having the upper hand, since it has caused Israel to respond, prompting criticism from the terror appeasers and forcing Israeli concessions.
In many ways, Al Qaida and the Islamic terrorist groups have only thrived because of the Left. And it all started with the PLO Arab terrorist groups who were not only able to kill a large number of Jews, but also do so with relative impunity. Not only that, but they actually garnered support from the Left and the terror appeasing governments of the world. Had this terrorism been met with unequivocal condemnation and support for Israel’s right to respond with all of its might, terrorism would not be what it is today.
Unfortunately, the lesson of the Madrid attacks and its aftermath is that “terrorism pays”. Unless this changes to “the terrorists will pay”, how can we expect to be victorious?