Major Bombings In Spain Today - Al Qaeda At Work?

by Steve

At least ten different backpack-type bombs ripped through trains and train stations in Spain today, killing at last count over 170 people and injuring upwards of 600. The Spanish government, days away from elections, was quick to blame the bombings on Basque separatist group ETA, which has never used such force in a coordinated way before. But multiple bombings with this type of coordination, without a warning being provided in advance and credit being taken isn’t the modus operandi of ETA. Others in Spain feel this is the work possibly of Al Qaeda, and given the Aznar government’s support of Bush and the Iraq war and their stationing of troops there, there is a motivation why the government would rather pin this on ETA than Al Qaeda.

I have feared for many months that Al Qaeda would eventually extend their activities into those countries that support us in Iraq, like Great Britain and Spain. But when I saw that Bush and the GOP would politicize 9/11 by staging their convention in New York days in advance of the three-year anniversary of 9/11, I thought it was a sure thing that another attack in this country would occur in advance of the election. With these attacks this morning in Spain before their elections this weekend, my fears are on the upswing.

It could be that this is the work of ETA, or ETA working with the help of Al Qaeda. The government officials quoted in the AP story provide evidence of recent ETA attempts at similar attacks. Yet, again, this attack in terms of its scale and coordination, and the lack of advance notice and claims of credit, doesn’t fit the ETA profile.

I guess I shouldn’t be worried though. Our president tells us that his efforts in Iraq have made Al Qaeda focus all their efforts there and a result things should be safer elsewhere, including this country. And with such an effective war time leader and such an effective strategy of toppling a country instead of going after terrorists tooth-and-nail until we kill or capture those that perpetrated 9/11, I’m sure my fears are unfounded and that Bush and his high-caliber national security team have in all under control, right?

Right?

Update: Sure enough, here come the signs that it may not have been ETA after all.