As I’m sure y’all know, the Spanish recently suffered the tragedy of a terrorist attack on their rail lines, killing hundreds of people. As a result, some are now referring to the event as "Europe’s 9/11," though the comparison is somewhat inappropriate. The American 9/11 was larger by a factor of ten. As tragic as the Spanish event was, it is not on the same plane. Let’s hope that Europe doesn’t have to feel the pain of a true 9/11-size event.
As I’m sure y’all also know, the Spanish then responded very inappropriately in the wake of their attack, when came just before a national election. The Spanish electorate kicked out their incumbent government, which had supported the War on Terror and the liberation of Iraq, and chose an appeasement-oriented government whose prime minister-elect promptly took to scolding the U.S. and promising the withdrawal of Spanish troops from Iraq.
This was criminally stupid for all kinds of reasons.
What did the Spanish get for their efforts in sending appeasement signals to the terrorists? More terror. How they could have expected anything else? Did they think that the terrorists would say, "Oh, now that the Spanish have turned tail and shown their cowardice, we’ll leave them alone"? Couldn’t they see that instead the terrorists would say, "Now that the Spaniards have shown they are cowards, let us press the advantage"?
You can’t play appeasement games with such people. All it does is embolden them. They want you to be afraid. That’s why they’re called terror-ists. If you give in to the terror then all you do is turn them into successful terrorists, and that will encourage them to keep going after you so that they can get more concessions from you.
What is jaw-dropping about this situation is how the Spanish, of all Europeans, thought appeasing Islamic terrorists would work. Don’t they know their own history? Don’t they know that their land was under Muslim rule for centuries until it was taken back shortly before the discovery of the New World? Don’t they know that Usama bin Laden has referred to "the tragedy of Andalusia"–by which he means the fact that the Spainiards’ ancestors kicked out the Muslims occupying the country–as one of the things stuck in his craw about the way the world is right now?
Spain, of all places in Europe, is the part Muslim Fundamentalists most want back in their hands, because it is an embarrassment to them. They had it, and they lost it. In their view, it is by rights part of Muslim territory, currently occupied by Christian infidels. As a result, the Spanish need to show more strength and resolve of will in dealing with Muslim Fundamentalists than other Europeans.
But apparently the Spanish do not realize this. They have been lulled into the same lazy stupor of fear and appeasement as the rest of Europe.
This creates problems, and not just for them. For us. The reason is that the terrorists don’t understand the difference between Europeans and Americans, and they are likely to try the same tactics on us that they tried on the Spanish. These won’t work. Americans have more resolve in dealing with the problem than Europeans, and attacks on us will only serve to further enrage us and redouble our efforts against the terrorists. But the fact is that the terrorists aren’t very bright guys. If they were, they would realize that there are better ways to get what you want in life than what they’re trying. Terrorists are just violent criminals with an ideology, and criminals in general aren’t a bright sort. As a result, terrorists are likely to try the tactics on us that worked on Spain.
We must now be extra vigilant.
Thanks for nothing, Spain.
One day they will rise again.
Out of all countries in Europe, God cannot possibly erase her from the face of the Earth, she lent so much help to the Church.
The majority of the Catholic world (if one can even say that anymore) is so because of Spain!
!!!QUE VIVA ESPAÑA!!!