The apparent confession by Al-Qaeda that it was responsible for Thursday’s bombings in Madrid puts a face to who was behind the carnage. The Spanish government has said it cannot yet confirm the authenticity of a tape purportedly made by Al-Qaeda which declares its “responsibility for what occurred in Madrid, just two-and-a-half years after the attacks in New York and Washington. It is a response to your collaboration with the criminals Bush and his allies. This is a response to the crimes that you have caused in the world and specifically in Iraq and in Afghanistan.”
It would be no great surprise if indeed Al-Qaeda is responsible. Spain has been a staunch ally of the United States in Bush’s “war on terror” and backed the US-led war on Iraq — including sending troops for security duties — despite domestic opposition. Many Al-Qaeda suspects have been captured in Spain or were believed to have operated from there.
The timing of the attack was suspiciously geared to the eve of Spanish national elections. Thousands of demonstrators have gathered at the headquarters of the ruling party accusing Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar of covering up the investigation of the attack. If the Basque ETA had been deemed responsible, that could have boosted support for Mariano Rajoy, Aznar’s handpicked successor. Both have supported a crackdown on the violent separatist group. But if the bombing is seen by voters as the work of Al-Qaeda, as is likely, that could draw attention to Aznar’s decision to support the war in Iraq. In the end, the attack could mean the difference between victory and defeat. Rajoy was only three to five percentage points ahead of Socialist candidate Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero in the last week of campaigning.
But Spaniards should rise above party politics at this time. For even though thousands of people have been rallying against the governing Popular Party, saying it should be thrown out of power for drawing Al-Qaeda’s wrath, it was not the Popular Party or any other Spanish party that was responsible for the terrorist attack; it was Al-Qaeda, and nothing justifies attacks on civilians,
But such attacks are launched all the same, so much so that terrorism was a key issue for voters even before Thursday’s bombings. Spanish authorities last month stopped a van carrying 500 kilograms of explosives on its way to Madrid and in December thwarted a similar attack involving multiple bombs that were to go off simultaneously on the commuter train system.
The chilling videotape claims that more such attacks lie ahead — meaning that Spaniards must cast aside political differences that originated as a result of last week’s attack and meet this ongoing, and perhaps oncoming, threat as one united force — as all future victims of terrorism must.
