The idea that the Spanish people in fear voted to appease the terrorists is just silly for anyone who knows anything about Spain. Spain has been dealing with terrorists for decades and many people live under police protection. It is not like this is new. The mood in Spain regarding terrorism has never been soft or fear, it has been firm. Let’s start with that.
The American news makes it sound like the whole country went from one extreme to the other overnight wich is nonsense. The country was majorly against the war and against sending troops and that was from day one.
The votes were split quite evenly and while the PSOE won in the house the PP won in the senate. If there was any change in votes it was a very few percentage points. Some due to the lying and coverup about the terrorist attacks, but we will never know. the lying and coverup were serious and have had consequences later. Spain presented a letter of apology to the UN for misleading them. Check out http://www.dw-world.de/english/0,3367,1433_A_1146495_1_A,00.html
At any rate, Zapatero is the President - elect. As he has said, (a) withdrawing the troops is not a new idea, it was part of his program from day one and has nothing to do with the terrorist attacks and (b) it is conditional on the US staying in control. If the UN takes control then Spain will maintain the troops. Spain just does not want to be part of what it considers to be an illegal occupation but is willing to keep peace keeping forces in Iraq f control is passed to the UN or to an Iraqi government. This of course bites the US government in the ass because from day one they have been saying they wanted to return Iraq to its own government, hold elections etc. but it just ain’t happening.
The notion that Spain is “abandoning the Iraqi people” is, of course, bunk, they are abandoning George Bush and his occupation. They would stay under the UN or Iraqi control which the USA will not allow. If the USA wants to occupy the country then they can use their own troops but they want spain to supply troops which will be under US command. Gimme a break. George bush does not care about Spanish troops abandoning the Iraqis (all he has to do is turn the whole thing over to the UN). George Bush only cares about George Bush and how bad he is looking in Iraq and how this makes him look worse.
it seems this move by Spain might be the beginniong of a chain reaction because the premier of Poland has expressed his displeasure at having been mislead about WMD and this may lea to pulling their troops from Iraq earlier than planned. This would make Bush look even worse. Poland has some difficult deciding to do. On the one hand they have been siding with the US and against Europe on this matter but ultimately they are seeking admission in Europe, not the USA, and will have to come to terms with Europe. Now that Spain is returning to the European fold it may be more difficult for Poland to continue their support for the USA without risking consequences.
In any case, when Bush says to Spain “don’t abandon Iraq” he is really saying “don’t abandon me”. Spain has a small contingent there and the US could replace them and, in fact, it is the USA’s ultimate responsibility. The USA derives some semblance of international support by Spain’s participation and that is all they want. Zapatero has said Spain will not continue to be part of what they consider an illegal occupation but would go under the UN or Iraqi authority.