Here's an angle I haven't read elsewhere (thanks, Dad):
Frida Ghitis:
The triumph of terror
Spanish voters send a clear message: We'll cave in
Wednesday, March 17, 2004
The March 11 massacres in Madrid set off a spark of idealism, conviction and high purpose among Spaniards. As the images of death flashed mercilessly from their television screens, they vowed that the terrorist attacks would not succeed. With tears still streaming from their eyes, poets, journalists, politicians and people from all walks of life declared that they would stand up against those who, as the daily El Pais put it, hate democracy, hate freedom and hate the differences between free people. They pledged, as did writer Jose Antonio Zarzalejos, to stand with serenity and determination to see that justice is done; to see "the retribution that justice will bring to the assassins."
The people of Spain stood firm in their principles against terrorism. As long, that is, as the terror did not come from Islamic fundamentalists.
The first hints that carnage from Muslim extremists would receive different treatment came early on, when a Basque politician suggested that the reviled ETA terrorist organization was not behind the coordinated bombings of the commuter trains, which killed 201 and wounded some 1,500. Instead, he said, it could be the Arab "resistance."
Spaniards have long expressed their displeasure when others refer to the bloodthirsty ETA as "Basque separatists." They call it a terrorist band. When it comes to Arab and Muslim terrorism, they call it "the resistance." No matter that one of the great injustices they "resist" is the end of the Muslim Caliphate in Spain, defeated five centuries ago.
Read it all here.
