CNN just announced that the election in Spain is still to close to call, but indications are that that the Socialists have won. Before the bombings the ruling party had a comfortable lead.
Osama and crew are very good folks, they may have just pulled off "regime change" in Spain in one brillant stroke. Yesterday I called what they did "elegant" and got blasted for it. However, compare thier regime change to ours. They killed 200 people and wounded 1,300, and they do not have to occupy the country either. Some estimates place civilain casualties from "shock an awe" as high as 50,000 in the Iraq war. And look what has happened since, the country is in chaos, there are no jobs and no security. And this mess is costing us tons of money.
If the Government falls in Spain, AQ will be well on the way to isolating the US from its few remaining allies. Even countries whose toady governments supported Bush had populations who were overwhelmingly opposed to the Iraq war, 90% of the Spanish opposed it - so this task is not to hard. I have a feeling that a new Socialist government will not be friendly to us. It is amazing that such a small relatively powerless group of people could bring the USA to its knees, but they sure are doing a bang up job so far.
I know I will get blasted for this, but I am frankly in "awe" of thier masterful tactical abilities. And I think it is wise to not under estimate the other side. Diverting resourses to Iraq and squandering the goodwill of the world was a huge tactical mistake by Bush and co. - perhaps a fatal one. Hopefully, AQ will not repeat this trick here right before our election to insure Bush's re-election.