I am too fuckin' angry for words at the moment (obviously not, as I wouldn't be writing this post, would I??). I caught sight of a book today that I knew would raise my blood pressure and, sure enough, it most definitely has. Why don't I leave these things alone??? The root cause of this anger is a book called 'While Europe Slept: How Radical Islam Is Destroying the West from Within' by Bruce Bawer. Now, I should have known with a title like that it was going to be full of lies and distortions and it didn't disappoint. The thing that really wound me up was the analysis of the Madrid bombing, an analysis that has proven very popular with Western media (despite his presentation of it as being somewhat under-represented). For sometime now I have wanted to put the truth out there, as there has been so much bullshit spoken of this event in the media. This is a subject very close to my heart and I would like to explain his position and why he is so totally wrong.
Bawer begins his assault on the Spanish people with the following statement:
That illusion lasted a good two days - until Sunday, Election Day. The verdict was clear soon after the polls closed: the terrorists had won. Spain's voters had caved. On that day, the message sent around the world was that in Western Europe, terrorism pays.
If ever a paragraph exemplified the control the elites have over modern mass media, this is it. Another fine example of how the establishment closes ranks to protect one another. Allow me to explain why this statement is so wrong. I was in Spain on the day of the attack. My Spanish wife and I had gone to Spain to visit her family and celebrate her birthday. The attacks themselves, just so happened to fall on my sister-in-law's birthday. Consequently, the events of that day are etched into my memory with particular vividness. Throughout the day, we received updates via the radio of the death toll. Of course, we all realised the enormity of the events in Madrid pretty quickly. You could sense the shock and anger in the Spanish, who have for so long suffered from tyranny and terrorism over the decades. As the day drew to a close it became clear that the ruling party were holding ETA responsible for the atrocity. It seemed strange at the time that they could be so certain of who was responsible at such an early stage. However, it seemed plausible to the Spanish people and marches were planned for the following day to protest against ETA's terrorist campaign.
The next day, March 12th, people poured onto the streets of Madrid, Valencia, Barcelona and Seville. We too joined the demonstration in Seville in protest at ETA. I have to admit I felt a little nervy about going on the demo, after all ETA had shown no mercy in killing over 200 hundred people the day before, what would stop them doing the same again? The atmosphere was very moving. People were chanting anti-ETA slogans and demonstrating there anger at the mass murder committed the previous day. It was a truly moving experience. I was touched by the way that the Spanish people came together to show that they would not be defeated by terrorists. This was an impressive show of 'people power'. The atmosphere was angry, and yet it was a peaceful demonstration with a very clear message to the terrorists: We will not be beaten.
Things started to change quite dramatically in the following days. As we were about to leave Spain, it began to emerge that the government had lied about the perpetrators of these attacks. It wasn't ETA after all, it was a group of Islamic terrorists. The shock waves were felt throughout the country. How could the government lie about something as serious as this? Why would they point the finger at ETA, when it was quite clear that it did not follow ETAs usual pattern? Of course, this all goes back to the Iraq war. When the invasion began, public opinion in Spain went as high as 90% against the war. It proved immensely unpopular to the people of Spain. However, their democratic representatives failed in their task to represent the Spanish people, and went along with the US adventure regardless. The Socialists, on the other hand, were keen to support the view of the population in general. They called for Spain to remove their troops from Iraq and revoke their support for the US invasion.
These revelations proved too much for the Spanish people to take. Demonstrations were made outside the offices of the ruling party (actually illegal the day before an election in Spain) and there was a widespread belief that the PP had used the situation for political gain. After all, if they blamed ETA, the population would support the government (as was proved in the demonstrations). When the people went to the polls the next day they exercised their democratic rights and kicked out a party that had deceived them about the deaths of their compatriots (not seen since the days of Franco - of which the PP has some roots). Having seen the public reaction myself, I shudder to think what would have happened had the PP won the election, particularly with the memory of the Civil War still fresh in the memory. The backlash would have been severe to say the least.
After the election, the Western media were quick to pour scorn over the Spanish people. What cowards they are, how easily they capitulate before the terrorists. Nevermind the fact that 11 million people took to the streets the day after the attacks (showing immense bravery) and that they have been fighting terrorism for many, many years. No, the Spanish people were incredibly brave to stand up to a government that lied about the death of Spaniards for political expediency. The government had behaved in a repulsive manner and had got what they deserved, a very rare thing in this age of political apathy. Yet Bower and his ilk, continue to lie and deceive about the events that led to the fall of the PP from power. Once again, history is being rewritten by those on the right to further their rather dubious agenda. As long as the elites wield their power in politics and the media, the lies will continue to be told and the truth will be obscured from the masses. After all, look what happens when the masses discover the truth, governments collapse and the will of the people is enacted. The people of Spain know the truth about the election, Mr Bawer certainly does not.
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