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Spain Rocks
The leading playing behind the country's remarkable surge. [Mar. 15, 2004] |
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Jihad's Spread
al-Qaeda's frightening new methods and message. [Dec. 1, 2003] |
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| PEDRO ARMESTRE/AFP-GETTY |
| AFTERMATH: A medic comforts the relative of a victim of the bombings. |
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We Are All Spaniards |
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On 3/11, Madrid suffered the deadliest terrorist attack the Continent has seen in years. Spanish authorities are probing al-Qaeda links. And Europe is wondering who'll be next |
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By JOSH TYRANGIEL |
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Posted Sunday, March 14, 2004; 16.37GMT
It was not a failure of imagination that led so many people to label last Thursday the Spanish Sept. 11. Before a single arrest had been made, when most Spaniards were still blaming Basque terrorists for the carnage, 3/11 was already the unmistakable offspring of 9/11. Forget that the canvas of disaster in Madrid was not two towers but four commuter trains, or that the body count was not in the thousands but a ghastly 200. The killers in Madrid had obviously learned from those above Manhattan. Both attacks were impeccably timed to kill ordinary people on their way to work, and both left an unforgettable tableau of pain and destruction, the kind terrorists regard as spectacular. After the first explosion at Atocha station one of 10 bombs that detonated around Madrid within 15 minutes those who could run from the scalding train had little choice but to trample those who could not. Some survivors were so disoriented that they fled into active tunnels; others stood in stunned silence until police announced they had found three more unexploded bombs and the stampede began anew. When the area was finally secured, human remains were scattered everywhere. Cell phones rang unanswered, many from the pockets of the dead.
On Saturday, as funerals were taking place across the city, the Interior Ministry confirmed that three Moroccans and two Indians had been arrested in connection with the attacks. Hours later, the ministry announced the discovery of a videotape on which a man claiming to be al-Qaeda's military spokesman in Europe takes responsibility and the link between 3/11 and 9/11 seemed even clearer. It was too soon to know whether al-Qaeda had in fact organized the deadliest terrorist strike in Europe since Pan Am 103 was blown out of the sky in 1988, but that awful possibility now seemed more likely. After two days spent insisting that the Basque separatists of ETA were behind the atrocities, Spanish officials conceded that they were looking at links between the Madrid attacks and five suicide-bomb strikes in Casablanca last year, which killed 33 innocents. French and Moroccan officials told Time that the Casablanca
attacks, mounted by a shadowy Moroccan group called Salafia Jihadia, were inspired, assisted and financed if not directed by extremists who trained in al-Qaeda's camps.
Across Europe, people did the inevitable calculus about what the bombs in Madrid might mean for the rest of the Continent. "We hope it's ETA," said Beatrice Ivaldi, 30, a Madrileña who has lived in Rome for the past 10 years. "In the end, ETA is just our problem. The real fear is that it's Islamic terrorists, which would be like the drop of oil destined to spread and spread. If they hit Madrid, it will only move on from there."
If those fears come true, the place in Europe that got hit hard first will have shown everyone else how to bear the pain. Because 3/11 will be remembered as a day when Madrileños were at their best. Many of the 1,500 injured were taken to area hospitals by average citizens in private cars, while municipal employees turned buses and street-cleaning trucks into ambulances. An appeal for blood was made, but quickly called off since so many people simply lined up at mobile donation centers.
World leaders from George W. Bush to Vladimir Putin called to ask what they could give, while also inquiring about the status of their nationals. (Victims of the attacks came from at least 12 countries.) Across Europe, there were somber displays of solidarity. On Friday, 1,500 people marched from Berlin's Brandenburg Gate to the Spanish embassy. "They hit us in the heart," said Ralf Pilgrim, a doctor at Berlin's Jewish Hospital, "just as they did the Americans." In Rome, a small crowd gathered near Piazza di Spagna to light white candles. And in Spain, more than 11 million people filled the streets on Friday night to share their grief and express their fearlessness in the face of whatever may come. In Seville, 700,000 came out to demonstrate. In the Basque city of Bilbao, tens of thousands lined the banks of the Nervión River, some carrying banners that said: Madrid, the Basque people are with you. As many as 2.3 million Madrileños gathered around the main Plaza de Colón chanting "No to terrorism!" At 7 p.m., the city's church bells pealed in unison and the throng joined a procession behind European leaders, including Aznar, French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and, for the first time in Spanish history, members of the royal family, who insisted on joining the sea of pain and resolve. Among the marchers were two young men, who held aloft a placard that read: who and why?
Reported by William Boston/Berlin, Bruce Crumley/Paris, James Graff, Samuel Loewenberg and Jane Walker/Madrid and Jeff Israely/Rome
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Fight Over Federalism [Mar 15, 2004]
The power struggle between regions and central government shakes up the election [en español]
The Contenders [Mar 15, 2004]
After Aznar Leaves the Stage[ en español]
Divide And Conquer [Mar 8, 2004]
Basque terrorist group ETA throws a "message bomb" into the Spanish general-election campaign
Blaming The Messenger [March 11, 2003]
Spain's heavy-handed attempt to fight Basque terrorism by closing a Basque newspaper is only spreading rage and fear
The Next Terror Nexus? [Feb. 16, 2003]
Colombia fears that the I.R.A. and ETA may be using the country as a base for weapons testing and training
Uncle Osama Wants You [Mar. 16, 2003]
A journalist infiltrates a radical network in Paris, and gets a rare glimpse of a terror recruiter in action
Living With Fear [Dec. 08, 2002]
Bali, Mombasa — and where next? Terror is the new reality. Here's what the allies will do to prevent even more devastating strikes
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