Madrid hit by five ETA bombs

[RonOnGuitar]

You give in to one gang of terrorist thugs and that sends a message to other terrorist groups:

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(Frrom the New Zealand Herald)

Madrid hit by five ETA bombs





04.12.04 10.30am



MADRID - The Basque separatist group ETA has set off five bombs at petrol stations around Madrid, putting a stranglehold on the city at the start of a long holiday weekend.



Two police officers were slightly wounded, officials said.



The attacks mark a significant return to violence after months of relative inactivity for ETA, severely weakened by a police crackdown that has netted more than 100 suspects this year.



They also dashed hopes of Christmas truce after the guerrillas had offered to enter talks with Spain - an offer that was roundly rejected by the mainstream political class.



"They want to send a message of ‘Here we are. We wanted to talk’," said Gorka Knorr, a senior Basque politician.



The blasts forced police to seal off major highways leading from the capital amid a massive exodus for a long holiday weekend. Highways were choked with traffic and bomb squads and emergency services stood by in case they were needed.



"Five small artefacts have exploded. They were not powerful bombs. There is hardly any material damage," an Interior Ministry spokeswoman said.



But witnesses were impressed by the force of the blasts.



"I heard a very loud noise and saw smoke ... if that’s a small explosion, my God," a woman who had been washing her car at the station told Telemadrid television.



Casualties from the blasts were limited as the service stations had been evacuated in time.



ETA forewarned of the attacks in a telephone call to the Basque newspaper Gara, a method which ETA regularly uses to announce impending attacks.



HISTORY OF VIOLENCE



ETA has killed nearly 850 people since 1968 in a bombing and shooting campaign for an independent Basque state in northern Spain and southwestern France.



But it has been relatively inactive since the March 11 train bombings - carried out by Islamic militants - killed 191 people in Madrid.



ETA has not carried out a fatal attack in 18 months amid a fierce police crackdown in Spain and France. Among those rounded up recently were the group’s top leadership in France.



Monday’s holiday celebrates the 1978 constitution, a source of pride to most Spaniards marking the return to democracy after the four-decade dictatorship of General Francisco Franco.



But Basque radicals loathe the constitution for reconfirming that the three provinces of the Basque Country, home to some 2 million people, are part of Spain.



- REUTERS

[MIKE BURN]

You have to learn a bit about Spanish history to understand what this is all about.



Then you also understand why ETA calls and warns in advance of most attacks and can't be compared with muslim extremists or American terror.



I'd really like to see Bush coming up and sending troops and missiles to 'help' Spain and bringing 'democracy and freedom' to this part of the world. HAHA!

[MIKE BURN]

The world is whacked and so is ETA, but please 'clean' northern Ireland first



Also make sure that England straightens out their tensions with the Scotsmen LOL

[DreamTone7]

"American terror"







...I was thinking of putting 50 of these guys...one for every state in the Union. But, I figured I'd spare everyone.

Melody and Instruments for the soul...

[RonOnGuitar]

Quote:

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You have to learn a bit about Spanish history to understand what this is all about. Then you also understand why ETA calls and warns in advance of most attacks

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Hi Mike - I'm a student of world history and I think I'm well informed about the Basque seperatists, as well as the IRA - and not to mention the Dutch problems with Moluccan terrorists. So my view is a long term one. (And I'm not sure the people of Spain enjoy being bombed by one gang of terrorists more other terrorists!)



But I don't believe you can disagree with what I said: that when you give in to one gang of thugs, it sends the wrong signal to other terrorist thugs.



If a bank allows one gang to succesfully rob it, then that encourages other robbers to have a go at it!



Back to the "big view" of history. Islamists once ruled Spain and it was under a Caliphate. It took the Spainards hundreds of years of war to kick them out. The finally acheived freedom in what Bin Laden and his al-Qaida lieutenant Ayman al-Zawahiri calls "the tragedy of

al-Andalus" - when Spain won the last battle. The Islamists still do not accept that defeat. In getting Spain to follow their demands they not only got some "revenge", but also a got a good start on their goal of re-gaining total of Spain.



The Islamists know to strike the countries that won't put up any real fight against them. If they had attacked England - a country much stronger in the war on terrorism, the Islamists know the British response wouldn be to give in to their demands. The Brits know would go out and kick some Islamist thug butt! And the thugs know they would be hit hard, too.



So they seek to attack the European countries that are weakest against terrorism first in the attempt to establish a Caliphate that has all Europe under it and that is ruled by Sharia law. When that happens, the sweet little girl in that picture won't be allowed to go to school in a Euro-Deutsch Caliphate.



But they haven't finished their job in Spain just yet:



13 Islamic radicals arrested for bomb plot



29 October 2004



MADRID - Spanish police have arrested 13 more suspected Islamic extremists in connection with an alleged plot to bomb the country's national court.



Full story HERE



There's a good article in an American publication - The New Yorker - that is hard on President Bush, but it explains much of this probably better than I have here. Not a long article, but it would make this post even more lengthy than it already is, lol! Your English is just fine, but you can also run it through an English-Deutsch translator page, if you want:



After Madrid

Quote:

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I'd really like to see Bush coming up and sending troops and missiles to 'help' Spain and bringing 'democracy and freedom' to this part of the world. HAHA!

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Already been done, Mike! Twice - by US Presidents Wilson and Roosevelt in the last century alone. Let's hope we don't need to re-bring freedom and democracy to your "part of the world" ever again!

[garbage detector]

"I'm a student of world history and I think I'm well informed"

[MIKE BURN]

Quote:

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7 bombs explode after ETA warnings



Monday, December 6, 2004 Posted: 9:31 AM EST (1431 GMT)



MADRID, Spain (CNN) -- Five people were slightly wounded when seven bombs exploded in as many Spanish cities following warnings by Basque separatist group ETA, according to officials.



Monday's blasts came just three days after a similar warning was issued about five bombs in Madrid that later exploded.



A spokeswoman for Spanish Interior Ministry said two of the wounded people were police officers who were evacuating a cafeteria in the southern city of Ciudad Real when a bomb exploded.



One other person was wounded in Ciudad Real, and two more were wounded in the northern city of Santillana del Mar.



Other bombs exploded in Avila, Valladolid, Leon, Malaga and Alacante, all at about 1.30 p.m. (1230 GMT) on Monday, the time indicated by phone calls to the Basque newspaper Gara.



After the phone calls, police dispatched officers to the locations indicated to minimize casualities.



ETA stands for Euskadi ta Askatasuna, which means Basque Homeland and Freedom in Euskara, the Basque language.



About 2.5 million Basques live in Spain, the Pyrenees mountain region along the border between Spain and France -- where they have lived for 5,000 years. Another half million live in France.



While Spain officially recognizes three Basque Provinces, separatists want another Spanish province, Navarra, to be included as well as part of southern France to create a homeland.

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[The Master68]

Why is Spain such a target?



I thought we americans wielded the "hate torch" from the world...

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When you argue with a fool, be sure he isn't similarly occupied...

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Music - Organismo Cibernetico (Cybernetic Organism)

[MIKE BURN]

Quote:

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About 2.5 million Basques live in Spain, the Pyrenees mountain region along the border between Spain and France -- where they have lived for 5,000 years. Another half million live in France.

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It's a civil war which is going on for 5,000 years in Spain AND France.



Spain is "no target".



Being "target" is Bush-terminology.

[The Master68]

Oh..

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When you argue with a fool, be sure he isn't similarly occupied...

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Music - Organismo Cibernetico (Cybernetic Organism)

[Rev9Volts]

seems like "they" said if you do not remove your soldires from iraq we will bomb you.... seems like another example of "apeasement does not work"

[DreamTone7]

Bingo, rev9...but it seems those European types can't seem to learn that lesson...so, here we go again.

Melody and Instruments for the soul...

[Rev9Volts]

HA HA! Do you reckon they will figure it out when there is no more Europe?

[russky joe]

Listen, man, lemme ask you a question.



Why do you keep this board running?



I mean, bar one or two the only intelligent people have been run off.



What you have left here is a little gaggle of crazy fundies and half-civilized southern-fried jackasses. Some of these guys might be sitting in frickin' mental wards or retirement homes or something.



What do you get out of this? Are you just trying to show us Americans up or something by giving an outlet to the worst examples you can find? Is that your game?

[DreamTone7]

rev9 - "Do you reckon they will figure it out when there is no more Europe?"



They didn't learn it with Hitler in WWII...why would they learn it now?

Melody and Instruments for the soul...