thanks to everyone on the info about the Basque ethnic group It appears this is AQ again...they seem to be still very much alive and well with this attack, Baghdad attack, and the Turkey bombings recently. I feel so helpess and angry. When will people see that violence isn't the answer and embrace tolerance? Why do they think causing suffering will achieve their goals? This goes for the good guys as well. It seems like no one is willing to learn from history avoid making the same horrific actions and policies. 190 dead over 1200 injured all for no reason except spite Imagine there's no heaven, It's easy if you try, No hell below us, Above us only sky, Imagine all the people living for today... Imagine there's no countries, It isnt hard to do, Nothing to kill or die for, No religion too, Imagine all the people living life in peace... Imagine no possesions, I wonder if you can, No need for greed or hunger, A brotherhood of man, Imagine all the people Sharing all the world... You may say Im a dreamer, but Im not the only one, I hope some day you'll join us, And the world will live as one.
Not so fast on the Qaeda connection This group (Abu Hafes al Masri) tends to claim responisibility for every disaster/tragedy, whether man made or not, in order to enhance Al Qaeda's reputation. For example, they claimed responsibility for the East Coast Blackout of 2003 http://english.daralhayat.com/arab_...bdd659-c0a8-01ed-0079-6e1c903b7552/story.html So who knows if they're telling the truth or not, might just be some ass with a fax machine.
Doesn't prove anything, but it is weird that this was found so close to the bombings. More to come i'm sure... http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4502950/
Sam and others had some great insight to the Basques. I lived in Spain for several months, and San Sebastian is beautiful, and a vacation haven for many Spaniards. Yet it's one of the centers of Basque activity. I was in Pamplona and nearly got in a fight with a drunken old Basque man who was bothering a couple of girls that I was there with. We will see whether this is from Islamic terrorists or the ETA. Either way it's a real tragedy.
Actually I am not completely sold on the reason we were given for the blackout - lightening bolts that hit 2 separate plants (and at the same time). It is also quite peculiar that London suffered a similar power blackout shortly afterwards as well.
Spanish Gov't still says its ETA. Nothing more about the van or the tapes, that may have been an initial report or a red herring. The reporter raises an interesting point. It's in the Government's interest (with elections coming up) to point the finger at ETA; the Ruling party (can't recall the name) is hardline anti ETA and has conducted a well backed campaign against them. It's NOT in the Government's interest, presumably, for it to be Islamic terror/al Q. the ruling party joined in with the Iraq plans in an extremely unpopular move, as most spaniards overwhelmingly opposed the war; accordingly a "but for the Govt's unpopular Iraq policy, 200 of us wouldn't have been killed" approach in the election is very bad for them. Now let's look at ETA's perspective. THe last few years have been bad for them (they've always been a fringe group even among basques; most basques are happy with their lot). Most of their main guys have been busted and they enjoy little public support. Could it be a last desperate gasp of hardliners? maybe. But like I said, that would be bad for ETA because it helps the ruling party's reelection chances. An interesting scenario is the following, what if it was ETA (they've been busted smuggling bombs onto trains before, apparently) that did it but was trying to make it look like it was Islamic/Al Q? That's an ideal situation for them, because a) they pull off an attack, and b) the anti ETA ruling party may lose the next election if people think its Al Q. Very strange indeed.
