Spainâs prime minister-elect, Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, vowed to withdraw troops from Iraq and criticised US President George W. Bush after Spanish voters ousted the government that dragged their country into the controversial war. "The war in Iraq was a disaster, the occupation of Iraq is a disaster," Zapatero, 43, told Cadena Ser radio Monday.
Chuck U. Farley...
His Socialist Party on Sunday dealt the conservative Popular Party (PP) of outgoing Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar a surprise defeat in general elections coloured by last Thursdayâs bombings of crowded Madrid commuter trains that killed 200 people and wounded 1,500. An ongoing investigation into the attacks has found growing evidence they were carried out by Islamic extremists linked to Al-Qaeda as punishment for Spainâs help in the invasion and occupation of Iraq. An undersecretary in the US Department of Homeland Security, Asa Hutchinson, told NBC television Monday: "Iâm satisfied that there is an Al-Qaeda connection."
Spainâs Socialists won 43 percent of the ballots to 38 percent for the PP, largely because of the near-total public opposition to the war, Zapatero said. Turnout was a high 77 percent, reflecting the strong emotions in the aftermath of the attacks. Many voters had expressed anger at Aznar, who had previously announced he was retiring after the elections. He was jostled and booed at Sunday while some protesters shouted "Aznar: your war, our dead."
Brain-dead protestors: Your face, my ass.
Zapatero, making good on an pre-election pledge, said that barring new developments in Iraq before June 30 -- the date the United States has promised to hand power over to an Iraqi provisional government -- Spainâs 1,300 troops in Iraq "will return home". The other occupying states will be contacted for consultations on withdrawing the soldiers, he said.
| "Us Spaniards are leaving. You should, too." |
The announcement sparked alarm among other countries which had contributed troops to the US occupation.
Then theyâre too easily alarmed. Spanish troops are nice to have, but hardly essential.
A spokesman for British Prime Minister Tony Blair said in London Blair had phoned Zapatero for a "warm and friendly" chat that covered "a wide range of topics". The two agreed to meet in about six weeksâ time, when Zapatero takes office. Blair, like Aznar, saw public support evaporate after he committed his country to the US war on Iraq in defiance of widespread public opposition. US President George W. Bush also made a congratulatory phone call.
Never hurts to be polite, even if you know itâs pointless.
An analyst at Londonâs Royal Institute of International Affairs, Chris Wright, said that, though Spainâs contingent was only a fraction of the occupying forces, the pressure would now be on other contributing nations. The pull-out could be "an indication perhaps that the coalition is beginning to weaken, possibly unravel."
Asshat.
Zapatero firmly aligned himself with France and Germany, which opposed the war from the start, in calling the invasion an "error".
Error...Error...Must STERILIZE!....
Spainâs contingent, the sixth-largest in Iraq, has suffered 11 deaths, including those of seven intelligence agents ambushed in November. Bush and Blair, both of whom are facing elections in coming months, need to engage in "self-criticism," Zapatero said.
Besa me assmo, chingador.. 
|
