Not sure if we have any Spanish members, but if we do my sympathies lie with you today.
I know what it's like to live under the shadow of terrorism.

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1993 320TE M104
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past:

1983 230E W123 M102
1994 E300D S124 OM606 (x2)
1967 250SE W108 M129
1972 280se 3.5 W108 M116
1980 280SE W116 M110
1980 350SE W116 M116
1992 300E W124 M103
1994 E280 W124 M104
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"music and women I cannot but give way to, whatever my business" -Pepys

Just under 200 dead and over 1000 injured, at time of posting. 13 bombs detonated simultaneously. Spain are blaming ETA (Basque seperatists) but apparently the UK gov thinks it is Islamic terrorists.

Anyone got any bright ideas?

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'79 280SE
'87 560SEL
'83 280CE
'01 Nissan Micra
'98 VW Passat
'83 911 turbo

When I heard about this bombing this morning, my first thought was that it could have been the Basque group. But with the way things are around the world... who knows. A tragedy the least

This is aweful and I hope heads roll for it.

they're saying it bears hallmarks of Al Qeada, but then again they always say that these days.

JJL- how's Aberdeen? I was in Scotland about this time last year on a whistlestop tour and the weather was bloody lovely!

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1993 320TE M104
---------------------------------------------------
past:

1983 230E W123 M102
1994 E300D S124 OM606 (x2)
1967 250SE W108 M129
1972 280se 3.5 W108 M116
1980 280SE W116 M110
1980 350SE W116 M116
1992 300E W124 M103
1994 E280 W124 M104
----------------------------------------------
"music and women I cannot but give way to, whatever my business" -Pepys

I haven't read the story on this. Doesn't ETA usually choose political targets like mayors or gov't officials?

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1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13

If it does prove to be Al Qaida, there could be an electoral backlash at the Spanish polls next week. The overwhelming majority of the Spanish population thinks Aznar's decision to toady up to the Necons was wrong wrong wrong. Blowback is a real ***** at election time. As usual, the innocent end up paying the price for failed policies. It make me sick to my stomach...

It makes me sick as well, but the real failure is the demons that blow civilians up are still alive:

Solution kill them all, their not the negotiating type.l

...I agree, I'm not condoning those dispicable actions, but just like when confronted by a cougar, bear or hornet's nest, your actions should be both strategic and thoughtful, lest ye provoke an unfortunate angry and violent reaction. It's not technically "your fault" if those creatures attack, but you can and should do everything you can to avoid such situations. Aznar voluntarily put his nation at risk by his actions. These monstrous attacks obviously aren't the moral equivalent to Aznar's support for the war, but you can't deny that he's somewhat culpable for bringing this sort of demon home for dinner.

Obviously the US, Spain, Turkey, Panama, Uganda, et al have better technology than the C-4 and box cutter wielding gang in Al Qaeda. Hypothetical: Do you choose to voluntarily step onto the crosswalk cuz pedestrian's have 'right of way' despite the prevailing high speed traffic patterns? Pick yer battles wisely and carry a 'big stick' as a back up, but don't go poking hornet's nests cuz you've got might on your side--how's that for mixing metaphors? It's silly to suggest that the only alternative to preemptive strikes is to do nothing. Kinda like the current debate over outsourcing jobs--if the mainstream media had their way, we'd all think that the only alternative to sending jobs overseas, would be to have no trade at all--false dichotomy, classic rhetorical tool of the unimaginative.

Z, you really have a knack for weaving topics together. But isn't the problem one of guessing who to go after rather than having a more lethal weapon at your disposal? You just know that there will be lots of added security at all bus stations, train depots. Not just in Spain.

Next they, who ever “they” are, may use fuel hauling trucks or quarter mile long tankers. And then there will be security at every truck stop, fuel transfer point, harbor. Then maybe power plants, military air ports.....bridges, and even sports arenas as future targets. Can these gruesome acts ever really be stopped or even slowed down given current approaches? I shudder at the possibilities.

Part of how the USA beat the former USSR was to spend them into the ground. This tactic simply isn’t gonna work because there is no one to compete against on that front. Because of the US war on terror we appear to have taken on more debt than in recent past. Will a continuation of this approach do anything but spend US into the ground? Of course, what is even more lethal is if we do nothing.

It’s not a case of having a bigger gun, boldly and arrogantly going on someone else's turf, or even some bone-head students going on a field trip to lend a soft hand. The solution, like the problem, needs to change the rules – perhaps include top down cooperation between nation states..............

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...Tracy

'00 ML320 "Casper"
'92 400E "Stella"

It should be about root causes. Iraq clearly wasn't even remotely a root cause, but now it's become a rallying cry for extremists throughout the globe. Bad strategy + bad policy=blowback.

The law of unintended consequences reaps its own kind of justice--mostly injustice.

Spanish government is doing their best to blame ETA. The bombing doesn't look typical Al Queada as they usually pick targets that have some US/UK symbolism: WTC, Pentagon, UK Embassy Istanbul, Mariott Indonesia. How do trains fit into this? On the otherhand, ETA usually assasins political figures, they are/were not into massmurder. Whichever, somebody has changed its tactics.

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2011 Prius

A group called 'Abu Hafs al-Masri-brigades', claiming to be a part of Al Qaeda, has taken responsibility of the bombings..

Authorities has still not left ETA out of the picture but more and more things are pointing towards Al Qaeda.

If it is ETA, the bombings are 'just' part of their internal fight i Spain. But if it turns out to be Al Qaeda, then this was just the first strike against Europe.. What will be next? My hometown?

May all sorts of misery and dispair hit them and their familys and their familys familys.. and hit them HARD!

Freestyler

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Never criticize someone until you've walked a mile in his shoes. That way, when you do, you're a mile away -and you have his shoes!


'86 300E optically converted to '95 E300 (Sold)
-Blauschwarz on silver
-Black leather
-17" AMG & 15" AMG for winter

If I ever see a cougar or bear holding gun or flying a jet I would freak out, plain and simple.

Al - Ursus Horribilus