# Damn! bombing in Madrid **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [March 11, 2004, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-bombing-in-madrid/233725 "2004-03-11T16:46:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Ale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@Ale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ale)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2004, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-bombing-in-madrid/233725/1 "2004-03-11T16:46:07Z")
[Train bombing](http://story.news.yahoo.com/fc?cid=34&tmpl=fc&in=World&cat=Spain) Find them, box them, forget them. ---
**Author:** ![CheekyMonkey613](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e480ec/32.png) [@CheekyMonkey613](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CheekyMonkey613)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2004, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-bombing-in-madrid/233725/2 "2004-03-11T16:51:17Z")
Thank G-d Quebec separatists spend their money on the Language Police. Keeps 'em busy. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2004, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-bombing-in-madrid/233725/3 "2004-03-11T16:59:01Z")
I’ve seen blame placed on the ETA, but has anyone taken credit yet? ---
**Author:** ![Ale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@Ale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ale)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2004, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-bombing-in-madrid/233725/4 "2004-03-11T17:20:25Z")
Noone yet, bloody cowards. ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2004, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-bombing-in-madrid/233725/5 "2004-03-11T17:23:32Z")
> [@CheekyMonkey613](#): > > Thank G-d Quebec separatists spend their money on the Language Police. Keeps 'em busy. :rolleyes: I’m probably going to regret asking, but what the hell is this supposed to mean, and what relevance does it have to this thread? ---
**Author:** ![Eleusis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Eleusis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleusis)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2004, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-bombing-in-madrid/233725/6 "2004-03-11T19:21:16Z")
> [@matt\_mcl](#): > > I’m probably going to regret asking, but what the hell is this supposed to mean, and what relevance does it have to this thread? The bombing is being blamed on separatists in Spain. People who want to break away and form another country. Quebec has people like that too, close to half of them. But they don’t kill innocent people randomly to demonstrate their will. ---
**Author:** ![CheekyMonkey613](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e480ec/32.png) [@CheekyMonkey613](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CheekyMonkey613)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2004, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-bombing-in-madrid/233725/7 "2004-03-11T19:32:54Z")
Yeah, Eleusis had it right. Thanks Eleusis. Hey Matt (Fellow Montrealer here) … Funnily enough, I thought if anyone would come along and question the meaning of my post, I figured, “Matt mcl will come along to set them straight!” LOL … Joke’s on me. I was just thinking about the Basque separatists and how much worse we could be in Quebec. (Though it’s far from peachy-keen as far as I’m concerned). Flashbacks to FLQ and Pierre Elliot Trudeau. “Just watch me” and all. ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2004, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-bombing-in-madrid/233725/8 "2004-03-11T19:36:20Z")
Thanks for the clarification. Your post could have been misinterpreted as meaning “If it weren’t for ‘busying themselves’ with the OQLF, Quebec sovereignists would be bombing trains, instead of engaging in the democratic debate that’s characterized this issue for the last thirty years.” Which, of course, would have been grossly insulting. ---
**Author:** ![furt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/439d5e/32.png) [@furt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furt)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2004, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-bombing-in-madrid/233725/9 "2004-03-11T20:05:16Z")
ETA is denying responsibility, which is not their M.O. ---
**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2004, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-bombing-in-madrid/233725/10 "2004-03-11T20:23:19Z")
From CNN: > [@](#): > > Spain’s interior minister said authorities are investigating a van found with eight detonators and an Arabic tape with Koranic teachings to determine if it is related to the bombings on commuter trains in Madrid that killed at least 190 people. Sounds suspiciously easy to me, but our ol’ buddies in al Qaeda might be back in bidness. ---
**Author:** ![ruadh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d2c977/32.png) [@ruadh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ruadh)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2004, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-bombing-in-madrid/233725/11 "2004-03-11T20:24:39Z")
> [@furt](#): > > ETA is denying responsibility Do you have a link? Several posters (here and elsewhere) have said this, but the closest I’ve found in the news is a Batasuna spokesperson saying he didn’t believe ETA were responsible. It wouldn’t be out of the ordinary for them simply not to own up to it for a while, BTW. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2004, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-bombing-in-madrid/233725/12 "2004-03-11T20:34:04Z")
> [@ruadh](#): > > Do you have a link? Several posters (here and elsewhere) have said this, but the closest I’ve found in the news is a Batasuna spokesperson saying he didn’t believe ETA were responsible. [Spain looking at link to Islamic militants](http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/europe/03/11/spain.blasts/index.html). > [@](#): > > Spanish Interior Ministry officials said Thursday they are investigating the new angle in the deadly series of Madrid blasts after the discovery of a van containing eight detonators and an Arabic tape with Koranic teachings. > > A citizen’s tip Thursday led to the van found near the commuter line. The tape is commercially available and contained no threats. ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Tan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/charlie_tan/32/12582_2.png) [@Charlie\_Tan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Tan)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2004, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-bombing-in-madrid/233725/13 "2004-03-11T20:36:21Z")
When I first heard about this, my initial reaction was “Fucking ETA bastards”, but on reflection, it doesn’t look like them at all. ETA has two way of bombing. Either they call ahead and say that a bomb will blow in ´hotell at this or that resort at such and such hour. Basically, they’re just stirring things up. Or, they don’t announce it beforehand, and then the target is almost always a politician, a high law enforcement officer, a judge or some such. Innocent bystanders have died in these bombings, as they are prone to do when car bombs go off in urban areas, but this sort of blind destruction is not the way of ETA. I’m just speculating here, but the sympathy for the former separationists and freedom fighters is very low in Spain. Pedro six pack will not be too bothered if a chief of police in another part of the country is blown away, but a bombing like this is sure to hurt ETA a lot, should they be responsible. ETA doesn’t have a _raison d’etre_ anymore. Basically, they just keep going, because it’s all they know how to do. Spain is in no way oppressing Basque country, the way it did 30 years ago. Their language has official status and the borders of Europe are down. No, this bombing smells of something else. Remember that Spain was one of the few countries in EU that not only supported the Iraq war, they sent troups too. ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2004, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-bombing-in-madrid/233725/14 "2004-03-11T20:36:27Z")
> [@Ogre](#): > > From CNN: > Sounds suspiciously easy to me, but our ol’ buddies in al Qaeda might be back in bidness. Just in from BBC: > [@](#): > > Arnalda Otegi, the leader of the outlawed Basque separatist party, Batasuna, denied Eta’s involvement blaming instead what he called the Arab resistance. > > An Arabic tape and seven detonators have been found in a van just outside Madrid - this now raises serious doubts concerning Eta’s involvement. Well, the Spanish Gov’t won’t be able to spin this as ETA pre-election. They’ll be seen by the Spanish people as Spin Doctoring too, which won’t help in the polls. The people will blame the Spanish Gov’t for getting into Iraq w/o asking them people as well. ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2004, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-bombing-in-madrid/233725/15 "2004-03-11T20:38:35Z")
I hate hitting the button before I’m done editing. Delete the world ‘People’ in last sentance. ---
**Author:** ![ruadh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d2c977/32.png) [@ruadh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ruadh)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2004, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-bombing-in-madrid/233725/16 "2004-03-11T20:44:11Z")
> [@adam yax](#): > > [Spain looking at link to Islamic militants](http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/europe/03/11/spain.blasts/index.html). Thanks, but that still doesn’t say that ETA themselves have denied responsibility. ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Tan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/charlie_tan/32/12582_2.png) [@Charlie\_Tan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Tan)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2004, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-bombing-in-madrid/233725/17 "2004-03-11T21:05:31Z")
**ruadh** > [@](#): > > MADRID (AFP) - Arnaldo Otegi, dirigente de Batasuna, el partido independentista vasco ilegalizado en razón de sus lazos con ETA, condenó en nombre de la izquierda independentista los atentados en los trenes madrileños, añadiendo que no quiere “ni contemplar la hipótesis” de que sean obra de la organización separatista vasca y los atribuyó a la “resistencia árabe”. from www.yahoo.es Rough translation: "Arnalodo Otegi, leader of Batasuna, the independent Basque party, outlawed for its connections with ETA, condemned, in the name of the independent left, the bombings on the Madrid commuter trains, adding that he didn’t want to “even contemplate the hyothesis” that it was the work of the Basque separatist organisation, and put blame on hte “Arab resistence.” If someone speaks officially for Batasuna, you can be sure that the person is speaking for ETA. ---
**Author:** ![ruadh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d2c977/32.png) [@ruadh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ruadh)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2004, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-bombing-in-madrid/233725/18 "2004-03-11T21:16:45Z")
I’m familiar with the relationship between Batasuna and ETA, and you might have noticed that I already said I’d seen the quote from the Batasuna spokesperson. Thanks anyway, though. ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2004, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-bombing-in-madrid/233725/19 "2004-03-11T21:34:35Z")
[Al-Qaida strikes again.](http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=4550469§ion=news) Looks like I may be getting a job again, sooner than expected. Fuckers. ---
**Author:** ![Ale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@Ale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ale)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2004, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-bombing-in-madrid/233725/20 "2004-03-11T21:37:04Z")
If Al Qaeda did this, Aznar is toast. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-bombing-in-madrid/233725.md?page=2)