The Hindu : Spain: a vote to right a wrong

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Sunday, Mar 21, 2004

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Spain: a vote to right a wrong

The Spanish vote was not appeasement of terrorists. It was proof that Spain's democracy is vibrant and thriving, writes Vaiju Naravane.

The Aznar-Bush alliance was the target of protesters after the explosions in Madrid.

WHAT BURST forth through the ballot box in Spain's vote on March 14 was not fear but anger. Anger over lies and betrayal, over the behaviour of an autocratic government that showed scant respect for the people who elected it. To describe their decision to vote out a government that misled them as "appeasement of the terrorists," is to heap more insult and injury on a deeply wounded people.

Terrorism is a familiar demon to most Spaniards. They know it well, having lived with it for over three decades, even losing a Prime Minister to it — Luis Carrero Blanco, blown up in a car bomb attack in 1973. Spaniards have never allowed terrorism to cow them down. Instead, they have looked it in the eye with courage and determination.

Disbelief, shock, grief and, above all, rage, had some 12 million Spaniards on the streets 10 days ago in pouring rain to express their revulsion at the dastardly killings they were led to believe were the handiwork of ETA.

Jorge, a 70-year-old man who lost a grandchild in the horrific attacks of March 11 that killed 202 and injured 1,500, explodes with anger at the suggestion that Spain had caved in to terrorist pressure. "I buried a grandchild the day I went to vote. An old man like me, who or what can I fear now except God and my own past deeds? I voted with tears in my eyes and anger in my heart. I am a conservative. I have never had much sympathy for these bleeding heart socialists. But this time I voted against [Jose Maria] Aznar, — I shall not be lied to," he said.

Commentators such as Thomas Friedman, Edward Luttwak and David Brook in separate articles in the New York Times and elsewhere have suggested that the Spaniards were attempting to buy "a separate peace." While Mr. Luttwak claimed that the Prime Minister-elect, Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, "seems to be validating the crudest caricatures of "old European cowardly decadence", Mr. Brooks said "we can be pretty sure now this will not be the last of the election-eve massacres. Al Qaeda will regard Spain as a splendid triumph." New York Times editorialist Thomas Friedman on Thursday slammed Spain's plans to withdraw from Iraq as "appeasement" at the most dangerous moment since the September 11 attacks in New York.

The Spanish vote was not appeasement. It was proof that Spain's democracy is vibrant and thriving. The vote was an attempt by the Spanish people to set right an old wrong.

It must be remembered that in the weeks leading up to the invasion of Iraq, over 90 per cent of the population opposed the war. Recent polls indicate that an overwhelming majority in Spain continues to think the war was unjustified, that it was based on a falsehood and that it has augmented, rather than lessened, the threat of international terrorism.

With the promise of handing over sovereignty to the Iraqis by the end of June, Prime Minister Aznar, a fervent member of the United States-led coalition, had managed to push the war off the front pages. In the immediate aftermath of the bombings, the Spanish people re-examined the issue and decided to seize the opportunity to put an end to their participation in an unjust war.

"Either there is a profound change of the situation in Iraq or Spain cannot be called upon to maintain a situation that is the consequence of an unfair war," Mr. Zapatero said late Thursday.

In what appeared to be a direct challenge to the changed Spanish position, the U.S. President, George W. Bush, in a speech on Friday on the eve of the first anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion, said the Madrid bombings should galvanise the "civilised" world into a united front against terror. "There can be no separate peace with the terrorist enemy. Any sign of weakness or retreat simply validates terrorist violence and invites more violence for all nations," he said.

But incoming Spanish Foreign Minister, Miguel Angel Moratinos, commenting on Mr. Bush's speech, said that Spain's proposed withdrawal of troops from Iraq did not mean it was renouncing the war on terror. "Repatriating 1,300 soldiers does not mean that Spain is modifying its commitment to the struggle against terrorism," he said. "It is not going to change the future of Iraq. This is a false debate. What is up for debate is how we can reinforce the political and democratic process and security in Iraq."

Mr. Bush has lost much more than the support of his ardent acolyte, Mr. Aznar. The U.S.-led coalition is appearing increasingly shaky. The Poland Prime Minister, Leszek Miller, admitted that the change of Government in Spain "creates serious complications for Poland," while Poland's President, Aleksander Kwasniewski, said his country had been "misled" and "taken for a ride" about the existence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.

In Italy, the third country that was an active supporter of the U.S.-led war against Iraq, Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi maintained a stubborn silence. However, there is palpable fear in Rome with hyped-up security amid possible nightmarish scenarios of ruthless killings or attacks against some of Italy's most precious monuments. In Britain too, Tony Blair finds the quicksand shifting under his feet.

Could Europe use this opportunity to constrain American unilateralism to save the world from many more mistakes such as the war on Iraq? Will European leaders now be strong enough to challenge Washington's diktat convincingly?

Will they be able to demand answers to questions such as why the U.S. went after Saddam Hussein rather than Al-Qaeda? Why was trumped-up evidence used to invade a country?

And finally, will they have the political will to force Washington to find a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian question since it is evident that the continued occupation of Palestinian territory by Israel gives Al-Qaeda powerful arguments to continue its campaign of terror?

Europe has the power to impose its will on Washington if it chooses to do so. Both bilaterally and multilaterally, the Europeans have several tools at hand in order to make their voice heard. That voice has so far not been heard because it has been drowned in a cacophony of voices expressing conflicting self-interests.

The events of the past week have modified the balance of relations between Europe and the U.S. America had managed to divide Europe, weakening the power and influence of the Franco-German axis by sidelining the two main opponents to its war on Iraq. Now Spain's new rulers say they are willing and eager to return to the old alliances.

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Spain: a vote to right a wrong