NEWS.BBC Madrid blasts: Who is to blame? Thu Mar 11 19:15:24 2004 64.140.158.130 Madrid blasts: Who is to blame? http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3501364.stm Two competing theories are emerging as to just who could be behind the multiple bomb attacks in Madrid. Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar has made it clear he believes the armed Basque separatist group Eta was behind the co-ordinated blasts. Spanish police are not closing any lines of inquiry But if Eta was responsible, analysts say the simultaneous attacks mark an unprecedented increase in scale, ruthlessness and co-ordination. Some observers say the bombings bear the hallmarks of the Islamic militant network al-Qaeda, which has threatened revenge on Spain for its government's backing of the US-led invasion and occupation of Iraq. On Thursday evening a statement attributed to al-Qaeda and sent to the London-based daily al-Quds appeared to claim responsibility for the bombings. But US officials have told the BBC that the purported al-Qaeda claims should be treated with caution. They say it is not al-Qaeda's usual habit to claim responsibility so early and that the investigation is still in its early stages. Spanish Interior Minister Angel Acebes revealed that an Islamic tape had been found with detonators in a stolen van recovered near Madrid. The van was found in the town of Alcala de Henares - where three of the four bombed trains originated. The other train passed through the town. Spanish police have been ordered to rule out no line of inquiry in the attempt to catch those responsible for the worst terror attack in Spanish history. 'Arab resistance' Before the bombs went off at railway stations in the Spanish capital, many observers had been tempted to write off Eta as a spent force. Last year, three people died in violent attacks by Basque nationalists - the lowest total for 30 years. If the attacks do turn out to be the work of Basque extremists, recent official boasts that Eta was "on the ropes" will ring decidedly hollow. But a spokesman for the radical Basque separatist party Batasuna - banned by the Spanish Supreme Court almost exactly a year ago - has said he refuses to believe the attacks were carried out by Eta. The party leader, Arnaldo Otegi, blamed what he called the "Arab resistance" for the bombings. 'Sign of weakness' The carnage has clear political implications for Mr Aznar's right-wing Popular Party (PP), coming as it did just 72 hours before Spaniards go to the polls in general elections. I don't think Eta have the resources any more to do what they did, which is to target individuals Professor Sebastian Balfour Mr Aznar is stepping down after eight years in power, but his successor, Mariano Rajoy, is widely expected to maintain the party's winning streak. Sebastian Balfour, professor of contemporary Spanish studies at the London School of Economics, says recent seizures of explosives by Spanish police are consistent with a shift by Eta away from their usual targeted attacks towards mass indiscriminate violence. At Christmas, Spanish authorities foiled an earlier plot to blow up trains in Madrid, arresting two men and intercepting two bombs. "But it's more a sign of weakness than strength," he says of Eta's apparent change of approach. "I don't think Eta have the resources any more to do what they did, which is to target individuals." Professor Balfour says Spanish police estimate that the number of Eta activists has now declined to no more than 250, following a series of high-profile arrests of key members of the leadership. However, he dismisses the idea that the apparent change in Eta tactics is the result of a new generation of leaders taking over. Nightmare scenario But the scale of the devastation dwarfs anything that Eta has done in the past, and if it was the group, it would be unusual for no warning to be given. The use of simultaneous co-ordinated bomb attacks is also more a hallmark of the al-Qaeda network than of Basque violence. Mr Aznar's strong support for the US-led war in Iraq could have exposed Spain to attack by Islamic extremist groups. Al-Qaeda cells have been discovered in Spain in the past. In November 2001, Spanish authorities arrested eight men suspected of being al-Qaeda operatives, one of whom reportedly had past links with Batasuna. The BBC's security correspondent, Frank Gardner, says the nightmare scenario for Spain would be a collaboration between Islamic and Basque groups. He says recent events in Iraq have shown how different groups can work together in a common cause. =========================================== 186 killed in commuter carnage: POWERFUL explosions ripped through three busy Madrid train stations, killing at least 186 rush-hour commuters and wounding more than 600 in Spain's worst terrorist attack ever. The government blamed the armed Basque separatist group ETA. http://dailytelegraph.news.com.au/story.jsp?sectionid=1258&storyid=1029522 8 people killed in clashes of Iraq police with Shiite armed unit: Four Iraqi policemen and four civilians were killed in the clash in the southern Iraqi city of Nasiriya on Thursday. Police tried to storm the security service headquarters of a Shiite organisation but met with fierce resistance. http://www.itar-tass.com/eng/level2.html?NewsID=527805&PageNum=0 === 2 More Translators Killed In Iraq: Gunmen killed two Iraqi women working as translators for the British army, a day after the slaying of two American coalition officials and their translator by attackers disguised as police in southern Iraq, officials said Thursday. http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/03/11/iraq/main605250.shtml === Roadside bomb kills U.S. soldier in Iraq: Gunmen also fatally shoot 2 coalition laundry workers in Basra, as FBI opens probe into slayings of American staffers, translator in attack yesterday http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nationworld/iraq/bal-iraq0311,0,5201640.story?coll=bal-home-headlines === Is the Army stretched too thin?: More than 320,000 troops stationed in 120 countries http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4489450/ === Pentagon won't give war costs: Pressed to estimate the cost of future operations in Iraq, the Pentagon has repeatedly said it's just too hard to do. Now the ranks of disbelievers are growing -- in Congress and among private defense analysts. http://www.azdailysun.com/non_sec/nav_includes/story.cfm?storyID=83526 === Pentagon finance manager resigns: A study by the Defense Department's inspector general found that the Pentagon couldn't properly account for more than a trillion dollars in monies spent. http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/635B6007-9DD0-436C-BFF6-E6521520B1C7.htm === Rumsfeld Says Full Funding Needed to Continue Terror War: Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld warned March 9 here that progress toward democracy in Iraq should not be interpreted as a sign that the terrorist threat is under control and that the military can now endure budget cuts. http://www.emilitary.org/article.php?aid=354 === Nuke bunker-buster budget puzzling: A report by a nonpartisan congressional research group says sharp increases in the proposed budget to build a "bunker buster" nuclear bomb raises questions about whether the controversial program is only a study, as U.S. officials have contended. http://www.oaklandtribune.com/Stories/0,1413,82~1865~2010503,00.html === CIA chief plays dumb on neo-con intelligence: Was Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) director George Tenet really the last person in Washington to find out that both the president and vice president were being fed phony or "sexed up" intelligence about prewar Iraq by a Pentagon office staffed by ideologically driven neo-conservatives? http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/FC12Ak01.html === This is a must read Karen Kwiatkowski: The new Pentagon papers: A high-ranking military officer reveals how Defense Department extremists suppressed information and twisted the truth to drive the country to war. This is a must read http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article5829.htm === In case you missed it: Karen Kwiatkowski, retired U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. discusses policy decisions leading to the Iraq war. "Reality has never been a constraint" to Neoconservatives. "They are not the kind of people that America as a nation are proud of." A Must Watch Video http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article5790.htm === In case you missed it: Noble lies and perpetual war: Leo Strauss, the neo-cons, and Iraq: Danny Postel interviews Shadia Drury – a leading scholarly critic of Strauss – and asks her about the connection between Plato’s dialogues, secrets and lies, and the United States-led war in Iraq. http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article5010.htm === In case you missed it: Strong Must Rule the Weak, said Neo-Cons' Muse: Is U.S. foreign policy being run by followers of an obscure German Jewish political philosopher whose views were elitist, amoral and hostile to democratic government? http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article5790.htm === In case you missed it: Fire Paul Wolfowitz: The following article will help in providing some under standing in relation to the Bush Cabal, their history and plans for Americas future. Follow the links with the article for greater depth. http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article1989.htm === Then comes Chalabi: Chalabi's history has been well-documented. He was 13 in 1958 when his family, Shiite Muslims and members of the Iraqi elite, fled to the west after a revolution overthrew the monarchy. Educated at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, he received a doctorate in mathematics at the University of Chicago (his doctoral thesis was on the theory of knots) under Albert Wohlstetter, one of the original neoconservative theorists. http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article4183.htm === In case you missed it: The Despoiling of America: How George W. Bush became the head of the new American Dominionist Church/State. http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article5646.htm === This web site represents the effort of one person. I need your help to offset the costs associated with site hosting and bandwidth usage. If you find this site informative please help by clicking here http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/support.htm === Pentagon is paying Iraqi group for intelligence of dubious value: A political organization led by Ahmed Chalabi, a member of the interim Iraqi government with close ties to the Bush administration, is getting paid $340,000 a month for `intelligence collection.' http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/nation/8156686.htm === The U.S. Press and the 'Heroes in Error': Despite recent articles about the role of defectors in misleading U.S. intelligence agencies over the alleged presence of WMD in Iraq, not a single national newspaper saw fit to follow up on a damning admission by Ahmad Chalabi in The Daily Telegraph of London http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/columns/shoptalk_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000458620 === American Citizen Charged With Spying : An American citizen was arrested Thursday on charges she acted as an Iraqi spy, prosecutors said. Susan Lindauer, 41, was arrested in her hometown of Takoma Park, Md., and was to appear in court later in the day in Baltimore, authorities in New York said. http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-3848609,00.html === Aristide to file suit against U.S.: Ousted president illegally deposed, lawyer says. `Coerced to leave; now under virtual house arrest' http://tinyurl.com/yv8y9 === In-Depth: The Full Story of Aristide's Kidnapping: Kim Ives, an editor of the Haitian newspaper Haiti-Progres, discusses the events surrounding President Aristide's overthrow. Ives spoke with Aristide his native Creole and was able to piece together what is probably the most comprehensive picture of what Aristide says happened to him and his wife the morning they were forced out of Haiti. http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=04/03/11/1538244 === UK accused of mercenaries plot : Zimbabwe yesterday said 64 suspected mercenaries aboard a plane seized in Harare could be executed for what it claimed was a western plot to overthrow the government of Equatorial Guinea. http://www.guardian.co.uk/zimbabwe/article/0,2763,1166958,00.html === Weapons found in seized aircraft : The department of foreign affairs says that their investigations indicate that there were weapons on board an aircraft impounded in Harare, Zimbabwe. http://www.sabcnews.com/africa/southern_africa/0,2172,75576,00.html === All detainees returned from Cuba released : All five Britons released from Guantánamo Bay are enjoying their freedom today after the four who had been questioned by anti-terrorist officers were released without charge late last night. http://www.guardian.co.uk/guantanamo/story/0,13743,1166826,00.html === Scandal of the detainees : Serious questions were asked today over how four Britons could be held for two years in Guantanamo Bay - but completely cleared by British police in just 24 hours. http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/articles/9592785?source=Evening%20Standard === The life and unexplained death of a Palestinian militant: Mohamed Aboul Abbas, the 'Achille Lauro' planner, said he never intended passengers to be held hostage or anyone to be killed, and apologised for it. The US and Israel allowed him back to Gaza. So why was he in a US prison in Iraq? http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/story.jsp?story=499955 === Squandering the trauma of September 11: "Lucky me, I hit the trifecta," said George Bush in the immediate aftermath of September 11, according to his budget director. War, recession and national emergency liberated him to soar in the political stratosphere. http://www.guardian.co.uk/uselections2004/comment/story/0,14259,1166864,00.html === Israel: Between Bush and Netanyahu: Netanyahu is demanding Sharon bring an impressive "compensation package" from the Americans. http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/403437.html === Why seeking justice for the Palestinians is the Jewish cause: I was recently asked a question I've been asked many times before, mostly by fellow Jews: Why do I spend so much time seeking justice for the Palestinians instead of directing my efforts and passions toward fighting for some noble "Jewish" cause. http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article2487.shtml === Venezuela to denounce US interference at OAS meeting : Venezuelan representative to the OAS Jorge Valero said Venezuela would submit to the OAS Permanent Council evidence indicating the United States had provided financial and logistic support to the opposition bent on ousting President Hugo Chavez. http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-03/11/content_1358989.htm
Message Board by American Patriot Friends Network [APFN]
APFN MESSAGEBOARD ARCHIVES
