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WJS - 3/16/2004
REVIEW & OUTLOOK
Terror and Democracy
So, in their wisdom, Spanish voters ousted the ruling Popular Party on Sunday and elected the Socialists. Only three days after 10 bombs killed 200 in Madrid, this exercise in free choice shows the difference between terror and democracy.
But there's also no denying that the world's terrorists will take away a different, and more dangerous, lesson from the Spanish vote: That by murdering innocents they were able to topple one of the pillars of the Western anti-terror alliance. Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar's Popular Party, which brought prosperity in eight years of rule and forged a strong bond with the U.S., had seemed headed for victory before Thursday's attacks.
We aren't among those who think the Spanish have repudiated everything Mr. Aznar stood for. A switch of only a few percentage points determined the outcome, and in the wake of Thursday's violence a public outpouring in favor of saying "enough!" is perhaps understandable. A similar wave of fear swept the U.S. after September 11 -- until it could be tempered by leadership and shaped into a new national resolve.
The Socialists were thus able to exploit the bombings by arguing that somehow they were caused by Mr. Aznar's alliance with America. "Thank You Aznar for al Qaeda Terror," read a banner at a rally in Barcelona. The Socialists were helped by the tactical mistake of the Aznar government in insisting that the bombers had been from the Basque ETA, even as evidence built that Islamists linked to al Qaeda may have been responsible. The Socialists cynically cried "coverup" without any evidence, but the charge played amid Spanish grief.
The temptation will be to over-interpret all of this as a sign of general anti-terror fatigue in the West. Certainly the terrorists will see it that way, helped along by Socialist leader Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero. In a radio interview yesterday, Mr. Zapatero declared that the 1,300 Spanish soldiers serving in Iraq will now "obviously" be called home. "The war in Iraq was a disaster, the occupation is a disaster," he said.
So the terrorists will conclude that, with an investment of only a dozen backpack bombs, they were able to rout a major power. They are sure to try the same thing elsewhere in Europe, and almost certainly between now and the November elections in the U.S. We doubt that an America that has already endured 9/11 would react as the Spanish have, but now is the time for President Bush to begin preparing the public for the worst.
The illusion that it is possible to purchase peace with appeasement or neutrality is always powerful in any war. The burden of self-defense is expensive and painful. The British preferred Chamberlain to Churchill in the late 1930s, while millions marched in Europe in 1982 against Ronald Reagan's deployment of nuclear missiles to deter the Soviet Union. Mr. Aznar has good historical company.
We also believe he will be vindicated by history just as those earlier leaders were. In a world of open borders, no democracy can protect itself from terror simply by declaring itself a non-combatant. Mr. Zapatero may blame the Iraq war for the bombings, but the Islamic group that claimed credit said in its videotape that "This is a response to the crimes that you have committed in the world and specifically in Iraq and Afghanistan." Well before Iraq, French engineers were killed in Karachi and German tourists butchered in Tunisia.
Islamic terrorism had planted deep roots in Europe long before 9/11. Al Qaeda operatives wanted to blow up the Christmas market in Strasbourg. The September 11 plot was hatched in Europe, and Mohammed Atta, a Hamburg resident, finalized his plans in Spain. Soon after, Ayman al-Zawahiri, Osama's number two, denounced "the tragedy of al-Andalus" -- the reconquest of Spain by Christians, completed in 1492 -- making clear that the enemy is all of Western society.
Mr. Zapatero may soon discover that terrorism will not vanish simply because he has won an election. If the Basque ETA has made common cause with some al Qaeda offshoots, he will have no political choice but to be as hawkish as Mr. Aznar. His government also has obligations. Poland's left-wing government, whose 2,300 soldiers work alongside the Spaniards in Iraq, yesterday called on Mr. Zapatero to honor his country's commitments.
The war in Iraq and Afghanistan is about taking the battle to the terrorists so that we have fewer attacks on our airlines and railways at home. In Iraq especially, Spanish soldiers are helping drain the terror swamp by building a democracy at its Middle East source. To his own and his country's great credit, Mr. Aznar was far-sighted enough to see that if this effort succeeds the entire world will benefit. The emotional wave that elected Mr. Zapatero will soon fade, but the wisdom about terrorism that motivated Mr. Aznar will remain.
REVIEW & OUTLOOK
Terror and Democracy
So, in their wisdom, Spanish voters ousted the ruling Popular Party on Sunday and elected the Socialists. Only three days after 10 bombs killed 200 in Madrid, this exercise in free choice shows the difference between terror and democracy.
But there's also no denying that the world's terrorists will take away a different, and more dangerous, lesson from the Spanish vote: That by murdering innocents they were able to topple one of the pillars of the Western anti-terror alliance. Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar's Popular Party, which brought prosperity in eight years of rule and forged a strong bond with the U.S., had seemed headed for victory before Thursday's attacks.
We aren't among those who think the Spanish have repudiated everything Mr. Aznar stood for. A switch of only a few percentage points determined the outcome, and in the wake of Thursday's violence a public outpouring in favor of saying "enough!" is perhaps understandable. A similar wave of fear swept the U.S. after September 11 -- until it could be tempered by leadership and shaped into a new national resolve.
The Socialists were thus able to exploit the bombings by arguing that somehow they were caused by Mr. Aznar's alliance with America. "Thank You Aznar for al Qaeda Terror," read a banner at a rally in Barcelona. The Socialists were helped by the tactical mistake of the Aznar government in insisting that the bombers had been from the Basque ETA, even as evidence built that Islamists linked to al Qaeda may have been responsible. The Socialists cynically cried "coverup" without any evidence, but the charge played amid Spanish grief.
The temptation will be to over-interpret all of this as a sign of general anti-terror fatigue in the West. Certainly the terrorists will see it that way, helped along by Socialist leader Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero. In a radio interview yesterday, Mr. Zapatero declared that the 1,300 Spanish soldiers serving in Iraq will now "obviously" be called home. "The war in Iraq was a disaster, the occupation is a disaster," he said.
So the terrorists will conclude that, with an investment of only a dozen backpack bombs, they were able to rout a major power. They are sure to try the same thing elsewhere in Europe, and almost certainly between now and the November elections in the U.S. We doubt that an America that has already endured 9/11 would react as the Spanish have, but now is the time for President Bush to begin preparing the public for the worst.
The illusion that it is possible to purchase peace with appeasement or neutrality is always powerful in any war. The burden of self-defense is expensive and painful. The British preferred Chamberlain to Churchill in the late 1930s, while millions marched in Europe in 1982 against Ronald Reagan's deployment of nuclear missiles to deter the Soviet Union. Mr. Aznar has good historical company.
We also believe he will be vindicated by history just as those earlier leaders were. In a world of open borders, no democracy can protect itself from terror simply by declaring itself a non-combatant. Mr. Zapatero may blame the Iraq war for the bombings, but the Islamic group that claimed credit said in its videotape that "This is a response to the crimes that you have committed in the world and specifically in Iraq and Afghanistan." Well before Iraq, French engineers were killed in Karachi and German tourists butchered in Tunisia.
Islamic terrorism had planted deep roots in Europe long before 9/11. Al Qaeda operatives wanted to blow up the Christmas market in Strasbourg. The September 11 plot was hatched in Europe, and Mohammed Atta, a Hamburg resident, finalized his plans in Spain. Soon after, Ayman al-Zawahiri, Osama's number two, denounced "the tragedy of al-Andalus" -- the reconquest of Spain by Christians, completed in 1492 -- making clear that the enemy is all of Western society.
Mr. Zapatero may soon discover that terrorism will not vanish simply because he has won an election. If the Basque ETA has made common cause with some al Qaeda offshoots, he will have no political choice but to be as hawkish as Mr. Aznar. His government also has obligations. Poland's left-wing government, whose 2,300 soldiers work alongside the Spaniards in Iraq, yesterday called on Mr. Zapatero to honor his country's commitments.
The war in Iraq and Afghanistan is about taking the battle to the terrorists so that we have fewer attacks on our airlines and railways at home. In Iraq especially, Spanish soldiers are helping drain the terror swamp by building a democracy at its Middle East source. To his own and his country's great credit, Mr. Aznar was far-sighted enough to see that if this effort succeeds the entire world will benefit. The emotional wave that elected Mr. Zapatero will soon fade, but the wisdom about terrorism that motivated Mr. Aznar will remain.