Spain: A nation of appeasers?

By Paul Tate


THE EXTENT to the Bushites'' simplistic view of the world really knows no bounds. When Bush said, "if you are not with us then you are against us", effectively deeming everyone who does not agree with the neo-cons'' twisted view of the world as a potential terrorist, many people simply shrugged and thought "here we go again" (with the exception of UK Premier Tony Blair perhaps).
However, it has come as quite a shock to realise that Bush and his cronies in the right-wing media do actually see the world in these crude terms. Anyone who does not agree with the Bush administration is immediately subjected to a barrage of abuse and ridicule. Only two days after the Madrid bombings, the very same people who fiercely attacked some of the European reaction to Sept. 11 began a barrage of insults and abuse against the Spaniards, merely because they exercised their democratic right, kicked out the Aznar government and signalled their intent to pull Spanish troops
out of Iraq.
Since the terrible events in Spain, right-wing America has been quick to flood the media with cries of appeasement. The McArthyite lexicon has swung into action. "Neville Chamberlain, en Espanol" was the title of the editorial page of Wednesday''s "Wall Street Journal". David Brooks, The "New York Times" columnist, in his bi-weekly Tuesday column, asked: "What is the Spanish word for appeasement?" Tony Blankley, editorial page editor for "The Washington Times" called the "policy of appeasement": "the Spanish disease". Not to be left out, David Frum, Bush''s former
speech writer, the man who enlightened the world with the term "axis of evil", saw fit to patronise the Spanish. Frum lamented the weakness of the Spaniards and characterised the election result as a sign of a people indulging in "false hopes and appeasement".
I guess what all this adds up to is that Spain has now lost its "new Europe" status and is now firmly back in "old Europe" with Germany and France. After all, the Bushite pundits really had it in for the French. The French were subjected to a barrage of abuse because they wouldn''t "sign up on the dotted line". A mass boycott was initiated by the right-wing media of French products. Legislation was proposed to keep French companies from getting contracts in Iraq. Fox news led the campaign to present French President Jacques Chirac and Saddam Hussein as "bosom buddies" (the fact that the footage was shot in the 70s was never mentioned). The point here
is that any government that seeks to democratically represent the will of its people is for the Bushites at best misguided, at worst in league with the enemy.
It seems slightly incongruous that the very same people who constantly remind us that their mission in Iraq is a purely selfless endeavour to bring democracy to the Arab world do not appear to be that keen on democracy in Europe. Democracy, it seems, is only valid when it is the "right kind of democracy". To suggest that by electing the Socialist Party the Spanish people somehow cast a vote for Al Qaeda is not only an insult to an entire nation it is also an attempt to undermine the democratic processes the Bushites claim to be so vigorously defending.
It should be clear: the Spaniards were never against fighting terrorism. They have lived for 34 years with the consequences of terrorism and one could hardly categorise them as appeasers of ETA. Millions of people took to the streets of Spain in the days following the attacks to show their support for combating terror and their revulsion to terrorism. What the Spaniards were against (a huge 90 per cent of them) was the war on Iraq. Once again, the American right is seeking to blur the distinction between
the war on terror and the war on Iraq.
Regardless of the amount of times that CNN, ABC, Fox media and Co. spend in their attempt to convince us otherwise, there was no proven link prior to the "coalition" invasion between Al Qaeda and Saddam Hussein''s Iraq.
If Al Qaeda is operating in Iraq today, this will be as a direct consequence of the American presence and not in any way related to Saddam.
Far from being a nation of appeasers, the Spaniards have demonstrated their courage in the face of adversity. They have renewed their determination to combat terrorism and reminded the rest of the world that this struggle is separate from what is now taking place in Iraq. The new Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero''s pledge to refocus the war against Al Qaeda can hardly be deemed a victory for Ben Laden. It is not weakness that they have demonstrated, but strength. The real weakness is to be found in the Republican right who, raised on John Wayne and the Alamo, continues
to see the world in terms of good and evil - black and white. Although this simplistic view of things may bring a certain amount of comfort to the believer, it certainly will not help solve the problem.By Paul Tate


THE EXTENT to the Bushites'' simplistic view of the world really knows no bounds. When Bush said, "if you are not with us then you are against us", effectively deeming everyone who does not agree with the neo-cons'' twisted view of the world as a potential terrorist, many people simply shrugged and thought "here we go again" (with the exception of UK Premier Tony Blair perhaps).
However, it has come as quite a shock to realise that Bush and his cronies in the right-wing media do actually see the world in these crude terms. Anyone who does not agree with the Bush administration is immediately subjected to a barrage of abuse and ridicule. Only two days after the Madrid bombings, the very same people who fiercely attacked some of the European reaction to Sept. 11 began a barrage of insults and abuse against the Spaniards, merely because they exercised their democratic right, kicked out the Aznar government and signalled their intent to pull Spanish troops
out of Iraq.
Since the terrible events in Spain, right-wing America has been quick to flood the media with cries of appeasement. The McArthyite lexicon has swung into action. "Neville Chamberlain, en Espanol" was the title of the editorial page of Wednesday''s "Wall Street Journal". David Brooks, The "New York Times" columnist, in his bi-weekly Tuesday column, asked: "What is the Spanish word for appeasement?" Tony Blankley, editorial page editor for "The Washington Times" called the "policy of appeasement": "the Spanish disease". Not to be left out, David Frum, Bush''s former
speech writer, the man who enlightened the world with the term "axis of evil", saw fit to patronise the Spanish. Frum lamented the weakness of the Spaniards and characterised the election result as a sign of a people indulging in "false hopes and appeasement".
I guess what all this adds up to is that Spain has now lost its "new Europe" status and is now firmly back in "old Europe" with Germany and France. After all, the Bushite pundits really had it in for the French. The French were subjected to a barrage of abuse because they wouldn''t "sign up on the dotted line". A mass boycott was initiated by the right-wing media of French products. Legislation was proposed to keep French companies from getting contracts in Iraq. Fox news led the campaign to present French President Jacques Chirac and Saddam Hussein as "bosom buddies" (the fact that the footage was shot in the 70s was never mentioned). The point here
is that any government that seeks to democratically represent the will of its people is for the Bushites at best misguided, at worst in league with the enemy.
It seems slightly incongruous that the very same people who constantly remind us that their mission in Iraq is a purely selfless endeavour to bring democracy to the Arab world do not appear to be that keen on democracy in Europe. Democracy, it seems, is only valid when it is the "right kind of democracy". To suggest that by electing the Socialist Party the Spanish people somehow cast a vote for Al Qaeda is not only an insult to an entire nation it is also an attempt to undermine the democratic processes the Bushites claim to be so vigorously defending.
It should be clear: the Spaniards were never against fighting terrorism. They have lived for 34 years with the consequences of terrorism and one could hardly categorise them as appeasers of ETA. Millions of people took to the streets of Spain in the days following the attacks to show their support for combating terror and their revulsion to terrorism. What the Spaniards were against (a huge 90 per cent of them) was the war on Iraq. Once again, the American right is seeking to blur the distinction between
the war on terror and the war on Iraq.
Regardless of the amount of times that CNN, ABC, Fox media and Co. spend in their attempt to convince us otherwise, there was no proven link prior to the "coalition" invasion between Al Qaeda and Saddam Hussein''s Iraq.
If Al Qaeda is operating in Iraq today, this will be as a direct consequence of the American presence and not in any way related to Saddam.
Far from being a nation of appeasers, the Spaniards have demonstrated their courage in the face of adversity. They have renewed their determination to combat terrorism and reminded the rest of the world that this struggle is separate from what is now taking place in Iraq. The new Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero''s pledge to refocus the war against Al Qaeda can hardly be deemed a victory for Ben Laden. It is not weakness that they have demonstrated, but strength. The real weakness is to be found in the Republican right who, raised on John Wayne and the Alamo, continues
to see the world in terms of good and evil - black and white. Although this simplistic view of things may bring a certain amount of comfort to the believer, it certainly will not help solve the problem.