Spain endured one of the most horrific tragedies in its history when terrorists blew up four trains in Madrid, killing 202 innocent civilians. What will be more tragic, however, is if the country continues on their present course of action with respect to the war on terror.
Spain's newly elected government has decided to withdraw troops from Iraq. Adopting this defeated stance sends a definitive message to other nations of the world. It also sends a message to terrorist organizations like the one that perpetrated the Madrid bombing.
By backing down from this action, Spain has made one of the most potentially damaging foreign policy decisions imaginable. By succumbing to terror, Spain has shown every terrorist group that in order to cripple a mighty nation and relegate their armed response to a whimper, all that is needed is a violent attack against innocent civilians.
Whether or not terrorists were initially connected to Iraq is less clear than the fact that terrorism is now part of life there. We now inexorably associate fringe groups and suicide bombings with the state of affairs in Iraq, and it seems most obvious that responsibility for this particular terrorist action is due to Spain's involvement in the Iraq war.
This raises two very important points. The first is that the Madrid bombing was undoubtedly an act of violent terror. Taken alone, it should be treated as such, and the perpetrators should be prosecuted to the furthest extent of justice by both Spain and the civilized world.
Second, although not all of the facts have yet come forward, it seems clear that this action is tied to Iraq. Spain chose to enter into the coalition with the United States, England and others. Its government did so in direct contravention to the wishes of its people. At the time, only one in 10 Spaniards wished to go to Iraq but Spain joined us anyway.
Elections have since been held, and the Spanish people are holding the government directly responsible for the tragedy, saying it was their government's negligence and decisions regarding Iraq that precipitated this attack. The newly elected socialist party quickly decided it would remove all troops from Iraq.
It is hard to think of anything a terror group would love to hear more than Spain succumbing to a veritable ransom demand that was never even made. All terrorists need to do is set off bombs and kill innocent people, and their wishes are granted. The next time Spain takes a course of action terrorist groups dislike, they will know killing more civilians is all it will take to change Spain's mind.
Whether Spain entered into a war for the right or wrong reasons, the retaliation they faced at the very least proves to the entire world there are still many out there who would rather kill themselves and others than live. This is a paralyzing proposition.
What Spain has done, though understandable in this time of horror, might lead to a more frightening proposition yet. By placating terrorists and giving them exactly what they want, Spain's government put every citizen of the free world in harm's way. Now is the absolute worst time to send the message to current and potential terrorists that any time a country does something inappropriate in their eyes, their wish is just 202 deaths away from coming true.
The moment the Spanish government decided to remove troops from Iraq, they effectively made the United States, England and dozens of other countries more vulnerable. They further endangered the lives of troops in Iraq who will surely continue to be the subject of similar terrorist actions.
Already, it seems terrorists in Iraq are becoming more hopeful that similar attacks might prompt similar responses of acquiescence from the U.S. and British governments. Large-scale attacks in Iraq have been on the rise since the bombing in Spain, and civilians are once again the ones who are suffering. In this way they have put the Iraqi people in harm's way, as obvious collateral damage to attacks against troops.
Most ironically however, Spain has taken the action least likely to protect themselves from future terrorist action. Every time they make a decision a fringe group decides is undesirable, the group needs only look back to March 11 in order to see they simply need to murder innocent civilians to get Spain to conform to their wishes.
The entire world mourns for the terror Spain has endured. However, Spain is heading down a most dangerous and regrettable path, one that is making everyone more vulnerable to terrorist attacks, and one that will only lead to more death.
