Dean’s Foot… Dean’s Mouth… Reunited.
It appears that once again the foot of Howard Dean has been inserted firmly into his mouth. While the last instance (yeeeargh!) was certainly not a big deal to myself, it inevitably ruined his presidential campaign. However this time, his implication that George Bush was responsible for the tragedy in Spain may prove to hurt Kerry’s campaign. I understand that Dean has qualified his statement by implying that he was merely repeating what was said by suspects (be they Salafia Jihadia, the Moroccan Islamic Combatant Group, Ansar al-Islam, or TBD) of the perpetrators, however, that explanation will NEVER fly for the majority of Americans. Howard Dean repeating an implication is just as good as Howard Dean devising it himself. He is viewed as a fervent anti-Bush extremist thanks to some pointed (and brilliant, I must admit) spin from the right. I feel that Dean’s endorsement of John Kerry is going to wind up sour in the end, and it’s ashamed. I hope that I am incorrect.


In any case, this topic brings up an interesting web of historical context that I managed to dig up thanks to a pointer from an extremely bright coworker. It is certainly possible, in fact likely, that Spain’s participation in the Iraq campaign was at least a partial motivation for the bombing occurring just a few days ago. However, there is a more sinister angle that others have yet to explore. That is, the bombing in Spain CAN be tied back to Al-Qaeda and OBL. That is, one need hearken back to a very famous speech given by OBL around October 7, 2001. In that speech he was quoted as saying the following, “Let the whole world know that we shall never accept that the tragedy of Andalusia.” Andalusia is a section of southern Spain that was once occupied for centuries by Muslims, but was captured for good by Christians in 1492. Also within that famous speech, OBL draws a parallel with the taking of Grenada with the current struggles between Jews and Palestinians in Israel. That is, while Andalusia was consumed by the Christian state, so too is Palestine in danger of being consumed by the Israel. This is wholly unacceptable to OBL. As Israel must currently be punished for its indiscretion on Palestine, so too must Spain be punished for its own on the Muslims in the south. Let us go further back in time to October 12, 2000. On that day the USS Cole was bombed and many US soldiers died thanks to Al-Queda and OBL. If one were to look at a typical American calendar, they would notice that October 12 is the celebration of Columbus day. Columbus discovered American in 1492. The infidels conquered the Spanish Muslims in 1492. Coincidence? Perhaps. The line between the recent attacks in Spain, Al-Queda, Andalusia, the USS Cole, and OBL is fuzzy to say the least, but I do not think that it should be dismissed out of hand. On the contrary it would be interesting to explore this thread intensely to see if it bears some credence. Certainly, such a thread may explain some underlying motivation for the bombings in Spain, outside of imprudent notions that Bush and Spain’s involvement in Iraq alone are to blame for the attacks. In fact, based on my initial readings, it seems as if there is a deeper motivation for such attacks which is centuries old.
-m