*Madrid, March 11, 2004

Five years ago today, ten Moslem terrorist bombs -- which is to say, ten bombs -- blew up four rush-hour commuter trains, crippled Madrid's light rail system, paralyzed the nation, injured 2,000 people, killed almost 200 more. There was some confusion as to the number of dead ... misidentified body parts and so on. Forty million Spaniards grieved. We grieved with them. Because we knew.

The terrorist Basque separatist group, ETA, was blamed at first. The usual suspects. But a spokesman denied all responsibility. Why would a terrorist group go out of its way to deny responsibility for a successful bombing? Is it some sort of integrity? It's true I'm a bastard, but I'm not a son of a bitch. Well, turns out, we now know, the sons of bitches were islamists. (A logical formula: not all sons of bitches are islamists, but all islamists are sons of bitches.) When surrounded by police, some of the sons of bitches sent themselves to Hell by exploding a few spare bombs that just happened to be lying around in their apartment among the pornographic magazines. Time weighs heavily on their hands while these islamist Mohammads are waiting to explode.

The Norwegians -- of all people -- had known for two months of a planned attack against some nation during its election season. They had intercepted documents outlining a strategy to break up the alliance in Iraq by attacking its members ... starting with the one with the least resolve. Spanish opinion was ninety percent in favor of Iraqi oppression (you may rephrase that statement, if you find it biased), so with hindsight we see that Spain must have been the intended target.

In the days following the bombings, over 11 million Spaniards -- nearly 30% of the population -- flooded the streets of various cities, vowing to the dead that "we will never forget you." Such a vow of fealty. As a direct consequence of the bombings, the Socialist Party upset expectation and was swept into power in the March 14 elections -- unquestionably because of the terrorist action. The new leftist government promised to remove all 1,300 Spanish troops from Iraq. And did. Some campaign promises are sincere.

Outcome of terrorism? The Socialists and terrorists won. Even dead terrorists can win.

The monstrous Madrid bombings occurred 912 days after 9/11, on 3/11. The inhuman Jordan bombings occurred 11/9 of 2005. The horrific Bali bombing occurred one year, one month and one day after 9/11. This is how the adolescent mind works. Hmm. The leftist PM Zapatero pulled thirteen hundred Spanish troops out of Iraq -- the last 260 on April 28, 2004. Let's see ... 1,300 is six and half times the number of dead in Madrid ... six point five ... six and five are eleven! Let's see ... the digits in the date 4/28/2004 add up to 20 -- one hundredth of the 2000 injured.... Urgh. Um, the digits of 260 and 28 add up to 18, and one plus eight are nine! Ha! This must, somehow, be significant. If only I were adolescent enough to see precisely how.

But the exploding Mohamed of 9-11 (Flight 11), and the exploding Mohammad of the London Metro bombings (the Edgware Road train), and the exploding Mohammeds of the Jordan bombings (Days Inn and Grand Hyatt), and the exploding Mohameds of the Madrid bombings, and the exploding Mohammad who financed the Bali bombing -- I do seem to notice some ready connections, here.

Spain promised never to forget its dead. As to this, I cannot say. But the dead were killed by Moslem terrorists to get Spain out of Iraq, and that aim was achieved. The way I see it, the dead have been dishonored. Spain was once a nation consumed with the idea of honor -- or is that just a fiction of novelists and historians? I believe there is such a thing as a national character -- a sort of demographic mean of the psyche. I could get very complex here, with references to the Romans and the Moors and whatnot. Why bother. I'll keep it simple, by pointing out that it took a certain character to drive the Moors out of Spain and back into Morocco -- the Reconquista. Just so, if the Spanish character allows itself to be driven by fear out of Iraq, it can be driven out of Spain -- a Re-reconquista. Oh ... did I mention that the Moslem terrorist islamist Madrid bombers were Moroccan? This must, somehow, be significant.


J