Antiwar.com Blog

Pretty good short take on the Spanish elections by Jerry Brito over at the America’s Future Foundation. AFF is a mixed bag, some gold, some guano–see the revolting comment by AFF regular James Markels just beneath the essay–but Brito gets major props for recognizing a simple truth lost on the “appeasement”-screechers:

There is no excuse for the barbarous attack in Madrid or terrorism anywhere; terrorists must be dealt with harshly. However, Spaniards who opposed the war understood that their country had no real national security interest in effecting regime change in Iraq, while involvement would make them a target of international terrorism. Seeking a noninterventionist foreign policy is not cowardly, but simply the pursuit of an intelligently selfish realpolitik.

Read the whole thing.

After reading my last post, alert reader Jake Avery sent me the following correction re Lawrence Henry’s American Spectator piece:

Not only is this over-the-top hysterical, it’s factually wrong. The Spanish
conquered the Moorish kingdom of Granada in 1492, which was in no way a part of
the Ottoman Empire (the Ottomans never expanded west of present-day Algeria, and
that wasn’t until the early 1500s.) Of course, all those towel heads probably
look alike to Henry. Besides it’s time to “go kill those people.”

Thanks, Jake. Wish I’d caught that–as do my buddies over at the American Spectator, I’m sure.

Better to be thought a fool…

Than to blog something really stupid and remove all doubt.

Johnathan Pearce at Samizdata asks:

Well, if it were the case that no link existed[between Saddam and Al Qaeda], why did the statement purporting to be from al-Qaeda after the Madrid atrocities make such a big deal of Spain’s involvement in the Iraq liberation, when, according to the naysayers, Iraq had nothing to do with al-Qaeda? In fact, the Islamo-fascists seem more convinced of a common cause with the fate of Saddam and his regime than antiwar types seem to do. Curious.

As difficult as it is to take anyone who uses the word “Islamofascist” seriously, I offer for educational purposes the words of the alleged leader of al Qaeda: Continue reading “OBL and the Caliphate”

I was reading Jim Henley last night when I came across this—

The Socialists have apparently won the Spanish elections. So! How many of those who were falling all over themselves with solidarity and compassion yesterday will suddenly discover, and unburden themselves on, deep weaknesses in the national character of our Spanish brethren? I haven’t felt savage enough to start looking yet. Maybe it’s already begun.

—and I immediately thought “Instapundit!” Sure enough, District Attorney Reynolds was already building the prosecution’s case, replete with all the obligatory amicus briefs from Jeff Jarvis, Andrew Sullivan, Mark Steyn, Tacitus, etc. And from National Review, here’s Denis Boyles and Canadian David Frum. The most hysterical–and strangely exultant– comment I’ve come across so far is this passage from the American Spectator:

The people of Europe are determined not to learn a thing. Spain was targeted by Al Qaeda long before the Madrid bombings, long before Iraq, indeed, long before 9/11. (See the many statements of Osama bin Laden.) The Islamic thugs still smart from the Ottoman expulsion from Grenada in 1492. Negotiation and appeasement will not change a thing, if Europe doesn’t realize it’s time to go kill those people.

…

[W]e had better visit Europe soon, and imprint on our minds and eyes and hearts the images of those gorgeous cathedrals and museums and public works of art, so vulnerable in a civilization that will not defend itself. The whole fabulous mosaic of Western civilization has moved a step closer to the fate of the Bamiyan Buddhas. These 1500-year-old giant statues, carved into a mountain in Afghanistan, were dynamited by the Taliban — in March, 2001.

There’s more than a little anticipatory schadenfreude in that, no? Continue reading “Spain: The New France”

Tonight on the Simpson’s, Homer is looking through the attic for something, but all he can find is a copy of Newsweek from 1986 with the cover story: “Why America Loves Saddam Hussein.”

I was reading Jim Henley last night when I came across this—

The Socialists have apparently won the Spanish elections. So! How many of those who were falling all over themselves with solidarity and compassion yesterday will suddenly discover, and unburden themselves on, deep weaknesses in the national character of our Spanish brethren? I haven't felt savage enough to start looking yet. Maybe it's already begun.

—and I immediately thought “Instapundit!” Sure enough, District Attorney Reyonolds was already building the prosecution’s case, replete with all the obligatory amicus briefs from Jeff Jarvis, Andrew Sullivan, Mark Steyn, Tacitus, etc. And from National Review, here’s Denis Boyles and Canadian David Frum. The most hysterical–and strangely exultant– comment I’ve come across so far is this passage from the American Spectator:

[W]e had better visit Europe soon, and imprint on our minds and eyes and hearts the images of those gorgeous cathedrals and museums and public works of art, so vulnerable in a civilization that will not defend itself. The whole fabulous mosaic of Western civilization has moved a step closer to the fate of the Bamiyan Buddhas. These 1500-year-old giant statues, carved into a mountain in Afghanistan, were dynamited by the Taliban -- in March, 2001.

Continue reading “Spain: The New France”