The Monstrous Acts in Madrid

Spain is a country that has always been in my heart if not my ethnic background. Mércia and I spent an unforgettable three weeks ago three years ago. We have friends in Barcelona and look forward to returning to Spain.

We were horrified to hear of the attacks today. We came into Atocha station on our way back to Madrid from Córdoba and thought it a lovely peace. The fact that it is now the site of so much carnage is unconscionable and unimaginable.

I would not, however, write off ETA as a suspect just yet. Several articles and accounts I have read in recent years, indicate a more young and radical element in ETA has been on the rise as some of the older members of ETA are captured. I would not be surprised if Al Qaeda was behind this, but no one benefits by a rush to judgment.

By the way, I noticed in some of the comments sections of other blogs that some people presumably writing from the US such things as this in the comments to this post at Tacitus:

9/10/2001 I was an 'extremist'

yesterday I was 'exaggerating the threat'

today I'm sorrowfully wise...

I'm sorry innocents pay the price for the fact that some of us are ignored.

or this:

This is Spain (and, maybe, Europe's) 9/11. Remember them in your prayers.

I'll certainly remember them in my prayers, but acts of terrorism are hardly new in Europe. Here are a list of some of the terrorist organizations that Eurpe has had to deal with over the years:

Germany - Red Army Faction (aka Baader-Meinhof)

France - Action Directe

Italy - Red Brigades on the left, Avanguardia Nazionale on the right.

United Kingdom - IRA

Greece - 17th of November

Turkey - PKK

Some of the horrific acts that took place by these groups include the Birmingham Pub Bombing in 1974, the Bologna Train Station Bombing of 1980, Omagh bombing of 1998 and this is just with home grown terrorists. Consider also the numerous plane hijackings and foreign terrorist activities such as the massacres at the Vienna and Rome Airports in December 1985.

No one in the world wil forget September 11, 2001. However, we should not be so wrapped up in ourselves that we forgot the fact that terrorism in Europe is hardly new. Europeans have most assuredly been through a number of September 11th's if not in terms of scale, certainly far exceeding our experiences in terms of frequency.

Hoy somos todos los españoles. Abrazos muy fuertes para mis amigos que están sufriendo.

Comments

[JR]

Gracias, Randy.

We had a day of pain and broken hearts. I think most Spaniards had something to do with such horrible bombings because either we have several relatives working and living there or we ourselves may have been in Atocha when traveling to any other place in Spain. You know, transports and communications here are very centralized, and whenever you want to go you must cross the Madrid stations. So... we Spaniards feel as if that could have happened to anyone.

Terrible. And unforgettable.