Consequences of the Madrid Bombing

He was great in "Old School". :up:

 

You lost me. I think who you think I mean is not who I think I mean. I think.

 

Unless your name is Hillary or Bill Clinton, and live in the USA.

 

Let's not forget that the great brunt of our miltary force and our intelligence apparatus was diverted from the hunt for Al Qaeda to the invasion of Iraq and its aftermath.

My guess is that he we taken care of Al Qaeda first, there probably would not have been 200 dead Spaniards.

Just a guess.

 

C'mon Rodger - Al Qaeda isn't a place or a thing. It's a loosely-coupled network of terrorist groups with a common goal, spread across the world.

Turning Afghanistan into a nuclear wasteland would not destroy Al Qaeda. Capturing or killing bin Laden will not destroy Al Qaeda.

Claiming that stepped-up US military effort in Afghanistan would have somehow prevented an Al Qaeda bombing in Spain is specious.

 

I agree. And I don't even know what specious means.

Wher you been Rodger? Did you get that baby poop off your hands yet? It'll short out your keyboard y'know.

 

If it turns out that Al Qadea was behind the bombing, I'd say I was right.

If it turns out that they were not behind the Madrid bombing, it would be a bad guess, but not specious.

And are you saying that we couldn't have nailed Al Qaeda by now under any circumstances? I have faith in our ability to get these guys, eventually. If there were no other targets we could have done so by now. Just a guess.

 

I'm at work and buried!!

I do have a few poop stories, but that is for a different thread - the Shiese Thread!! But I do have a neurotic fear that Amelia will vomit on my home laptop! Seriously!

 

What happened was rabbit hearted appeasement of terrorism.

Before the cellphone connection was made it was reasonable to consider ETA the prime suspect. The type of explosive, the backpacks, the fact the ETA members had been recently caught carrying similar types and amounts of explosives.

The evidence suggesting an Islamic connection was well publicized as it was found. There was no cover up. The government was simply wrong. Guilty only of some wishful thinking.

 

You will notice I did not say "will be held accountable."

 

"Rodger Doyle, party of one, your table is ready."

Yes, I'm saying that so far we couldn't have nailed Al Qaeda by now under any circumstances that we can morally sustain. They are hidden in Syria. They are hidden in Pakistan. They are in Yemen. They are in Saudi Arabia. They are in the Philippines. They are in numerous African nations. They are in Europe. They had numerous cells right under the noses of the German intelligence service. Heck, they are operating in Iraq as we speak, directly and indirectly against our troops.

Right now the only way to "nail" Al Qaeda is to "nail" all of the countries where they exist. This is not possible.

As we learn more about them and get better cooperation from other countries we will be able to close off their sources of funding and destroy their terror machine. In the meantime the best we can do is to try to keep them small and frightened and on the run, hoping to minimze the damage they do. But we'll never be able to completely prevent it - especially if the damage they do causes our allies to turn away from us as has just happened with Spain.

 

Precisely.

 

Well, you are free to bury your head in the sand. I watched live speeches from government officials after it was reported that the van had been found, and ETA denied responsibility. The government still claimed ETA was responsible. When was ETA ever afraid of taking responsibility for a bombing before?

 

Numerous times. Since ETA was formed there have been over 800 bombings blamed on ETA, and ETA certainly has not taken responsibility for them all.

I don't know what news channel you watch, Papa, but I watch Deutsche Welle, and what I saw (translated from Spanish to German, of course) was Spanish officials saying that the bombing had many ETA hallmarks. Which it did. At the same time, those Spanish officials were mounting an investigation, chasing leads that appeared to lead to Al Qaeda. If they truly were trying to hoodwink the Spanish people, wouldn't they simply have announced that it was ETA and prevented investigation into other evidence?

It was clear that the German news media believed the Spanish were investigating all possibilities, and there was no hint of cover-up. A fervent wish by the PP that it would not be Al Qaeda, perhaps, but no cover-up.

 

Those things are a bit like gators - dangerous at both ends.

Papa, I believe you about why the election went the way it did. It still concerns me that terrorists may see it as proof that their way works, and that world leaders will seek to appease rather than fight. There is only one way to appease someone who wants you dead.

 

So what was covered up? Did the government fail to peruse the Islamic connection? Was any evidence withheld?

I think I heard it was common for ETA to wait for weeks after a bombing to take responsibility.

 

Whatever the cause for the outcome of the election, the appearance is that the bombing had it's desired effect.
The Spaniards don't comprehend that this will only buy them more acts of terror whenever Al Qaeda (or others) wish to push an agenda. They will stick with what works.

That's the funny part about kow-towing to bullies, it makes you less safe rather than more.

 

So just where are those WMD?

 

right next to the fighter planes from last gulf war.

 

In Iran?