I agree that such acts are despicable, but our reaction must be wise. Rather than going for their leaders, we must seek them out for punishment and we must take away their motives. There has not been another Columbine for years, before that there was one every spring. Although these are different people, it is possible to change the situation, so that this form of terrorism is no longer effective. Those who fight with the sword, die with the sword.

How dare someone blow up innocent people going about their business? I think the Spaniards should attack someone. The French come to mind. Then after that, maybe the rest of the civilized world will realize that maybe terrorism is a little thorn in our side. And to rebut Sherye, he who has the most toys wins.

I was very shocked by what happened today, but I noticed that at my company no one spoke of the events. Did this happen to anyone else? It appears to be at the top of every news cast and web site, but are people in this country reacting with the same compassion and concern as the rest of the world did after September 11? I hope more people are thinking and feeling the same things as Mr. Kuperman, because I haven't seen much of that today.

One more thing...Where is president Bush's response to these attacks? I have not seen any mention in the media of his sorrow or condolences. Spain (and the rest of the world) supported the U.S. after September 11th. The world expressed their grief and sympathy, but now our president is saying nothing.

I'm writing from Madrid, happily me, my family and workmates are OK. I do know some people who were supposed to be in one of the trains, but didn't take it that day, and at least one who wasn't so lucky. I got a work appointment cancelled today by a customer, one of whose workmates had died.

The death toll is 199 as I write this since the last victim, a 7 month baby has just died in the hospital. 200 people seem few when you think of the 4 M people in Madrid, but they are enough to feel some absences.

I don't think it was Al Quaeda but ETA. It seems that lefties need it to be from Al Quaeda since that would give them the chance to blame Aznar for his support to US in Irak.

You might be interested in this link
http://timblair.spleenville.com/archives/006177.php

Spain, Germany, France, almost all of Europe became a stable home for terrorists in the 1990's, mainly because organizations like Hamas were considered to be "relief organizations". They feel betrayed now that they are being hunted in those countries

I find it hard to believe that this is ETA. The van being found with the detonators and Islamic material, the fact that the attack was exactly 911 days after 9/11, on the 11th of march, etc. Also, the ETA are very political aren't they? Have they ever made mass-casualty attacks against civilians, as opposed to car bombs and the like aimed at political figures and sympathisers?

Maybe there is a splinter group, maybe they had outside help, but my own, admittedly non-expert, reaction is that this has more to do with Spain's global politics than local Spanish politics.

"The causes do not matter, setting off bombs in crowded public places is murder."

I believe that to a point, but I think the people who donate to these organizations need to be enlightened to the *real* reason they do these things. It is tolerated by many because of the causes. I think if we could show the average supporter or wealthy patron of terrorist organizations the kind of rank-and-file filth they donate to, the money would dry up. They see the politics and relief, not the organized crime structure that they are perpetuating. As long as they think they are getting a 1:1 ratio of donation:political effect, they'll keep donating.

We need desperately to cut off the billions of dollars these people use to undertake this sort of enterprise.

Andy Corson, I don't know where you are but Bush's response the the attack has been all over the place. He gave them our sympathies and our support for tracking down the terrorists. He spoke of Spain being one of our greatest allies in the war on terror.

Javier, 200 doesn't seem few to me for any single attack. I am glad to hear you and your family were uninjured.

Who calculated that it was exactly 911 days post 9/11?

Heard it on the news earlier. Haven't done the math, but after hearing it a few times I just assumed. I guess I should double check.

3/10/04 minus 9/11/01 equals 911. Just checked via Excel.

As of today, the Basque separtist group ETA has denied responsibility and a militant Islamic group has claimed that they commited the act. While we investigate, I am willing to accept these claims at face value. It is not hard to establish that terrorist organizations support each other.

Sherye, I do not believe that it is possible to take away hate. Poverty is not a root cause for terrorism, never has been. Bin Laden's family is among the richest in the world.
"There has not been another Columbine for years" is true in the sense that there has not been a successful act of school terrorism, but there have been numerous incidents of guns, knives and even bombs being brought into schools. Let me agree that establishing and combatting the root causes of terrorism should be a goal, but I fear that you will find that those root causes are not simple. People often point out poverty as a major cause, but many terrorists, now and throughout history, have been middle-class. Fidel was a lawyer, Che a dentist and Mao was born into a wealthier than average family.

Bakerstreet is correct in pointing out that we, the West, have created fertile conditions for terrorism. We have either given funds to the terrorists directly or through phony "charitable" organizations, ostensibly dedicated to Middle East economic relief but in fact funding terrorists. We have supported the murderers morally, saying they were wronged first and that justifies any actions they take. This must stop. The West has watched the growth of Hamas, Al Queda, Islamic Jihad. As long as their actions were confined to the Middle East (and specifically anti-Israeli), we in the West supported them. This must stop.

I would be very surprised if a single voice said "You know I supported Hamas, but now that I see what the terrorists are capable of, I can no longer do so."

We, and again I mean the West, continue to assume that the rest of the world plays by the same rules that we do. That is just not the case. Those that perpetrated this attack have denied their very humanity. Tonight my dreams will be haunted by the death of a 7-month old child. Will theirs?

Some terrorist groups compete in claiming responsibility for terrorist attacks to spread paranoia among people. Nevertheless, all these members of the terrorist network must be wiped out of the planet whether or not they were principally involved in the recent bombing in Spain. It's such a shame that they're figthing for irrational fanaticism (and using Allah's name) on the wrong front.

"I would be very surprised if a single voice said "You know I supported Hamas, but now that I see what the terrorists are capable of, I can no longer do so.""

I would agree, but I think they might be surprised at all the other stuff these people do. The "jihad" is the least of their criminal activities, and the rest of the time they are irreligious, corrupt criminals no better than the infidels they rant against. The private college I went to was very popular with Jordanian, Yemeni, and other Arab families, even some royalty. The most vocal proponents of "jihad" spent their spare time coked up and screwing every available American girl. I can't say that they were representative, but they were the ones screaming for blood and always citing some pet terrorist organization.

It was during the first Gulf War and I heard a lot of stuff about "jihad" come from the mouths of people who I had never seen pray or touch a Qu'ran. I knew only a few Islamic students that actually practiced their beliefs. Probably the same ratio as Christians. None of the truly religious Arabs seemed interested in terrorism, they seemed saddened by the whole mess like the rest of us.

My point is, if the people who donate to these organizations saw how irreligious, uncouth, and completely self-serving these rank-and-file activists can be, i think they would rethink the movement as a whole. For that matter, I think if the people who strap bombs onto themselves knew what kind of filth was sending them to die, they'd never go. The only people blinded by cause are the people who support these organizations, imho.

In order to stoop to this kind of violence, there has to be some rotten flaw in your character. I think they camouflage the rot with "cause".