# Horror in Madrid - Commuter train bombing **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 11, 2004, 8:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horror-in-madrid-commuter-train-bombing/233668 "2004-03-11T08:25:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![spittingkitten](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e495f1/32.png) [@spittingkitten](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spittingkitten)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2004, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horror-in-madrid-commuter-train-bombing/233668/61 "2004-03-12T01:03:14Z")
I apologize, I didn’t mean to take the focus on the subject at hand. I just saw that and thought it was worth mentioning. My thoughts and prayers are with you, Spain. Stay strong. ---
**Author:** ![TwistofFate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cdc98d/32.png) [@TwistofFate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TwistofFate)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2004, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horror-in-madrid-commuter-train-bombing/233668/62 "2004-03-12T01:08:41Z")
> [@Iteki](#): > > ETA could well have had help from AQ, god knows these fuckers all help eachother out. > They caught a group if IRA explosives experts in Columbia a few years back. not quite MO for Al quaida to get help from anyone not Muslim, not really MO for ETA to get involved with anoyoine else of a job. as for the Columbia 3, there is no proof they are IRA explosives experts, but thats a debate for another day 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![TwistofFate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cdc98d/32.png) [@TwistofFate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TwistofFate)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2004, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horror-in-madrid-commuter-train-bombing/233668/63 "2004-03-12T01:10:44Z")
and of course, it goes without saying I think that the incidents today were utterly deplorable and should be condemned by all rigt thinking individuals. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2004, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horror-in-madrid-commuter-train-bombing/233668/64 "2004-03-12T01:19:18Z")
Absolutely terrible. And as mentioned, it’ll hardly accomplish anything, so all it seems to be is just lashing out to make the point they can’t be 100% stopped. If it’s ETA, they’ll _wish_ they were the ones penned in wire kennels in Guantanamo, no matter who wins the election he’ll be on them like white on rice. If it was Al-Q they may well have caused Spain to _keep_ troops in Iraq – if PSOE, who had promised to bring them home, wins they’ll be under extreme pressure to not be seen “in retreat”. If the Populares do, they’ll probably participate even closer with the USA. Not to mention, life was already hard enough for the North African immigrants in Spain, if this was “islamic” terror the heat’s gonna be really on… Of course, nothing prevents any of the people who normally “work” for/with either ETA or Al-Qaeda from “freelancing” with other criminal organizations. Not everyone in the chain-of-death of the organization is a full-time studio player, so to speak. ETA central command has been on the receiving end of bad crackdowns lately, there may be some splinter cells sitting around looking for something BIG to do. However, the mass scale, multisite coordination, and the choice of targets as to bring a country’s main city to a standstill does remind us more of 9-11 and the '93 WTC bombing and thus more Al-Q than ETA, who tend to aim more modestly. As to the Black Death upon America… I hope that’s just bluster, added in for flavor’s sake in the taunts. May be a “signal”? Well in that case we’ll be at “Orange” by morning, won’t we? ---
**Author:** ![SmackFu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/53a042/32.png) [@SmackFu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmackFu)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2004, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horror-in-madrid-commuter-train-bombing/233668/65 "2004-03-12T01:54:52Z")
Does AQ normally claim responsibility for their attacks? ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2004, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horror-in-madrid-commuter-train-bombing/233668/66 "2004-03-12T02:10:48Z")
I’m not sure how much the AQ letter really tells us. One, to them, it’s a great event to claim responsibility for, no matter who did it or how tenuous the connection to them: high profile, lots of casualties, against an U.S. ally, etc. Secondly, as for the “black wind of death” thing, no matter what their plans are, how far along they are, and how complex/simple it is, 90% is a terrific number to toss out: they aren’t saying it’ll happen now, so they can take as long as they want, but it’s close enough to completion to make people freak. Plus, note that all they say is that the strike is “against America,” not “on American soil” (which they would probably have specified if they could, to add to the paranoia), so whichever one of their plots succeeds next, whether it’s here or against interests abroad (like the much more accessible Afghanistan or Iraq), they can just say, “that was it; fear us!” It seems to me an obvious case of hedging their bets, and obscuring their plans as much as possible. If they were that confident of pulling off another 9/11, I think we’d hear it. ---
**Author:** ![Mehitabel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8797f3/32.png) [@Mehitabel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mehitabel)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2004, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horror-in-madrid-commuter-train-bombing/233668/67 "2004-03-12T06:02:39Z")
Actually, I heard someone say on NIGHTLINE that the letter is from the same organization, calling itself an offshoot of AQ, that claimed responsibility for the big blackout in the Northeast last summer, so while AQ itself is still a worry, the London letter is nothing to get upset about. ---
**Author:** ![Kizarvexius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/da6949/32.png) [@Kizarvexius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kizarvexius)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2004, 6:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horror-in-madrid-commuter-train-bombing/233668/68 "2004-03-12T06:55:05Z")
It is my sincere hope that the people of America reach out to Spain and show them even a tenth of the support that so many other countries showed us after 9-11. Our failure to do so would prove that we are as shallow and self-absorbed as so many other people of the world take us to be. I’d be looking out for ways to make some kind of contribution, monetary or otherwise, and would urge others to do the same. **To our soldiers in harm’s way – American, Spanish, British, Japanese, whatever your nationality:** Cover yours, kick theirs! ---
**Author:** ![Martha\_Medea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/43a26b/32.png) [@Martha\_Medea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martha_Medea)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2004, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horror-in-madrid-commuter-train-bombing/233668/69 "2004-03-12T22:40:38Z")
Just heard my relatives are OK. Still waiting to hear from some friends though. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2004, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horror-in-madrid-commuter-train-bombing/233668/70 "2004-03-13T00:20:41Z")
I can get the TVE satellite channel on my cable feed – they have been on continuous coverage since yesterday. Intense images. Today, barely the next day after a major terror attack, the Spanish are having massive marches in the streets in mourning and denunciation of the violence. TVE says two million are said to have participated in rallies in Madrid, under pouring rain. That’s right, two _million_. Another million in Barcelona. Maybe over ten million altogether across the country. Out of a population of 40 million. I don’t think that was what whoever it was had in mind would happen… ---
**Author:** ![Blonde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@Blonde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blonde)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2004, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horror-in-madrid-commuter-train-bombing/233668/71 "2004-03-13T00:36:09Z")
> [@ivylass](#): > > **Grey** , I wasn’t trying any convoluted adding of numbers. I was just making an observation about the coincidence of the date and the time it happened. > > Spain is still blaming Eta, and who knows what the significance of the Koran and audiotapes with Koran verses in Arabic will be. I think it is **very** odd that there were exactly 911 days between 9/11 and yesterday’s bombing. Whoever did this is just f-ing evil beyond words. ---
**Author:** ![Marvel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/779978/32.png) [@Marvel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marvel)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2004, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horror-in-madrid-commuter-train-bombing/233668/72 "2004-03-13T01:07:08Z")
One of the newspapers in Spain called the bombing “Our 9/11.” My thoughts exactly. I wish I knew what to say, other than I feel like I’m somehow cheating the people of Spain. I remember seeing pictures of people all over the world mourning the 9/11 attacks, but I don’t have the impression that we (the US) or many others are doing the same for Spain. Someone please prove me wrong. Patty ---
**Author:** ![Mehitabel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8797f3/32.png) [@Mehitabel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mehitabel)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2004, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horror-in-madrid-commuter-train-bombing/233668/73 "2004-03-13T03:57:05Z")
Well, I’ve seen pictures of people leaving flowers at the consulates here in New York, but they seem to have the situation a bit more under control over there–the trains are even running again a couple of tracks over from the destroyed ones, and they don’t have square miles of the city blocked off, under martial law, everyone’s been evacuated or rescued, etc. Nobody lost their homes or businesses so there’s no need for blankets, shelter, etc. Of course, the lives are what count. And I’m sure there’ll be charities set up for people who lost their main wage-earners and all. But other than the horrible loss of life, I don’t see exact parallels to the financial and infrastructure damage of 9/11. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horror-in-madrid-commuter-train-bombing/233668.md?page=3)