Those who instigated the Iraq war have the blood of Madrid on their hands.
Before the war, opponents predicted that the invasion would unleash a new round of Islamist terror and that invading would put innocent people--in Europe, America, etc.--at mortal risk.
The invasion unleashed a new round of Islamist terror and put innocent people--in Europe, America, etc.--at mortal risk.
It's time for people who yak on in right wing blog fashion about the war on terror to take some personal responsibility for the consequences of their political positions.
It's true that the only people directly responsible for the Madrid bombings are the bombers themselves. Duh. But if I indulge in a reckless action, like the Iraq war, that any idiot could have foreseen WOULD PUT INNOCENT PEOPLE AT RISK, PEOPLE WHO IN THIS CASE WERE OVERWHELMINGLY OPPOSED TO THE WAR, then, goddamit, I've got some explaining to do.
By analogy, imagine if the police fought a neighborhood gang by recklessly exposing innocent residents to retribution by that gang--and, in the process, made the gang stronger. That is what has happened here.
In this case, the Andrew Sullivans and their ilk are cranking up their "Anyone Who Points Out the Obvious is Blaming America for 3-11" routine. Then, out of the other side of their mouths, they are blaming antiwars for 3-11.
Even more egregious is their argument that the Spanish people behaved in a cowardly fashion by voting out the ruling party.
Those who make these accusations can go fuck themselves.
Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - Sean
the Spanish are cowards for rolling over in the face of terror, and you are leading the cheering section. you are a coward. they say that in prison, you can avoid trouble by either killing someone right away or becoming someone's bitch. i see that you have made your choice clear. just remember that you are still free due to the exertions of better men than you.
2 - kemikalsupafreek
Using your "logic" (loosely applied, of course), the policy of ignoring or appeasing terrorist threats, or maybe even prosecuting terrorists to the fullest extent of the law, would have prevented such a tragedy (as if Al-Qaeda really gives a fuck what we do or don't do).
Funny, that seems to mimic our exact policy prior to 9/11/2001. So was that more reckless or less reckless than taking down a deranged psychopath like Hussein? If we went by straight body count, it seems you lose.
3 - Allan
Allahu Akbar!
4 - mike
Well, that's a nice start from the Right Wingnut Brigade. Bring it on!
5 - zipity
yeah, and that bitch deserved getting beat up by her husband anyway...
6 - John in Tokyo
The Iraq war would "unleash" a wave of terrorism??
I suppose that's true if you believe that there would have been no more terrorist attacks after 9/11 (and Bali and all the other attacks that have happened in the last 3 years).
Why are the terrorists so mad about Iraq when there was supposedly no connection between the two?
Did you notice that the group claiming responsibility mentioned Afghanistan too?
Weird, huh. It's almost like they're not just angry about Iraq or something crazy like that. It's like they don't like any action we take against rogue states. Must be some misunderstanding.
7 - zipity
and if the British had just left Hitler alone, they wouldn't have had any problems with that whole World War II thingy...
8 - Chuck D
Lets be honest here. Ever since dem spainards slaughtered the moors and forced the Moslems and Jews to convert to the Christianity, they've had this coming. ObL hadn't forgotten.
That's Moslem land them Spainards are sitting on and by golly, it WILL be liberated.
9 - mike
They're mad about Iraq because they know that popular opposition to the war in the Arab world made our invasion a great recruiting tool. As bin laden said, Saddam is the "socialist infidel," and he was grateful to the U.S. for wanting to get rid of him.
10 - Al Barger
Typical childish left wing nonsense. Everything is mean old Daddy Bush's fault. Al Qaeda terrorists blow up a bunch of people in Spain? Damn that President Bush!!! You're just silly.
But the stuff he really IS responsible for coming out of the Iraq war, you probably won't acknowledge, notably the disarming of Libya proceeding rapidly. Damn that Bush!!!
11 - Ronin
Shuttup and go make Allah a sandwitch.
12 - mike
Juan Cole, an Arabist at the University of Michigan (for all you right wingnuts, an "Arabist" is someone who knows something about the Arab world).
"Will the Socialists withdraw the Spanish contingent from Iraq? This is a demonstration that the Iraq war was not part of any war on terror. Imagine how much better off Spain would have been to put the resources it put into Iraq into tracking terrorists and increasing cooperation with Morocco."
13 - Joshua Scholar
Allah tells it like it is.
"You [Spain] are Allah's bitch now. Go make Allah a sandwich, bitch."
By the way September is the 9th month of the year not the 3rd. You shouldn't post just after taking your Melaril, dude.
14 - RJ Elliott
The Spanish people showed their cowardice today. I'm sorry, but nothing else explains their last-minute switch to the Socialists.
The terrorists can claim a major victory. They proved they can influence elections in the West by killing innocents. And those who oppose their brand of terror will lose power.
This action by the Spanish people will only embolden the terrorists. Wanna bet they try to attack the US sometime after Labor Day, in the hopes of a Kerry win in November?
15 - mike
3-11 is a reference to the Madrid bombings, right wingnut robot #4256896.
Report back to base for more indoctrination,please.
16 - Joshua Scholar
You know a lot of the "right wing wingnuts" know something about the Arab world too.
Look up Bernard Lewis sometime. He's not actually guilty of any of the stuff that Edward Said made a career out of accusing him of.
I read Arab newspapers (when my stomach can take it)...
17 - mike
The racism on this thread proves my point.
This is like shooting fish in a barrel.
Thanks, right wingnuts!
18 - Joshua Scholar
Funny, " right wingnut robot #4256896." voted for Nader in the last two elections, and for Jessie jackson in the primaries before that...
I know an enemy when I see one, however and I know that bullshit attempts to surrender to Islamofacism will just insure that my granchildren live in a ruined country in constant fear.
But I guess that I'm supposed to fear captialism or Republicans or Christianity or something more than facists with bombs. You shallow cowards make me ill.
19 - mike
Well, then, here's an antiwar conservative (and U.S. military veteran) about the ruinous financial implications of our splendid little war:
http://www.canoe.ca/Columnists/margolis_mar14.html
20 - Joshua Scholar
"The racism on this thread proves my point."
Aparently you think that screaming "racism" every time you can't support your point of view will convince people that there must be some disgusting racism somewhere in the thread and stop reading it.
THat's become a common maneuver among the dishonest and intellectually deficient. Yech!
21 - Joshua Scholar
9/11 crashed the stock market and lost me (and plenty of other people) their jobs.
You know 3 recent polls show that 80% of Palestinian children dream of growing up to be mayrters who's goal is to kill as many Jews as possible. It's a dream of genocide that drive the Islamofacists.
When they get around blowing up dirty bombs or biologicals or whatever other fantasy of genocide they manage to unleash on American infidels - do you think our economy will thrive then?
You think you can afford terrorism, Mike?
22 - Joshua Scholar
If your memory goes back as far as two years ago, you'll remember that Al Qu'eda has publicly stated that one of their goals is to kill 4 million Americans.
23 - mike
Yes, I hate terrorism. Duh! By generating recruits for jihad, the Iraq war, as 3-11 shows, has made Islamists infinitely more powerful. So it's people like you who are aiding and abetting terrorists with your insane and ignorant policies.
24 - RJ Elliott
Mike:
I know you feel deep empathy for the terrorists. I realize that you are an infinitely more sensitive and caring man that I am.
However, I wonder if you realize that, despite your beliefs, the terrorists will view your radioactive corpse as just another vile infidel who needed to be killed.
Your attempts at appeasement will not save you.
If we retreat, as you wish, you will suffer the same horrid fate as the rest of us.
Thankfully, not everyone agrees with you.
25 - Joshua Scholar
Mike, go actually read the Arab newspapers, find out what they teach in Syrian, Iranian, and Saudi schools. Find out what they preach in the Mosques in those countries (and check out Egypt and Lebanon). Find out what their politicians have been saying in their speeches for the last 50 years. Check out what the polling data from these countries tell you about what the populations believe and want...
Then you'll realize that you knew nothing. These countries are scarier than Germany in the 30s and you can't pretend these enemies away anymore than England could have pretended away the Nazis.
Perhaps your problem is that the first president to notice the problem is George W. Bush. Well he had to notice it didn't he. Hard to ignore 9/11.
There's a world full of propaganda competing for your attention. After all despots have nothing better to do than to spend all of their efforts filling the world with propaganda to stablize their power... But you have to realize that just because something was mentioned in the American media doesn't make it false and just because it got shoveled into Reuters doesn't make it true.
If you got hours and days and weeks to spend on this, you'll be a hawk before you know it. Our enemies aren't sane, but they are committed and you can't wish them away anymore than you can change the hatred that Saudi funded Madrassas teach by calling everyone in the west a racist.