The fourth anniversary of the war in Iraq has been used - and massively - by the Socialist party and their leftist allies as a smoke screen to hide a great deal of things they’d rather not talk about such as the mounting casualties in Afghanistan and the situation over the Basque terror group ETA. The Partido Popular on the other hand is avoiding this subject, not because it considers it embarrassing - after all it was the PP Government that got Spain involved in Iraq - but for the very reason that one of the first things undertaken by the Socialist Prime Minister once he was inside the Moncloa was to order the Spanish troops to immediately pull out of Iraq, and as a result, the PP considers any comment on this today to be highly irrelevant.
However, despite this, the PP itself is also committing errors, as it really does not have any real attitude towards the Socialist party, whose Prime Minister is absolutely without any scruples whatsoever other than to try and either isolate or better yet exterminate the leading opposition party. In the light of this the PP is merely plodding on like a determined bull, which may not really be the best attitude to take considering the agile aggression with which the PSOE is fuelled.
You see, in actual fact, the Partido Popular has got absolutely nothing to be ashamed of in its attitude over Iraq. The decision to become involved was made by Jose Maria Aznar in the belief that it would strengthen the national resolve, improve the overall image of Spain and at the same time enable Spain to become a major player on the international stage. After all, no one in Spain wanted to see dictator Saddam Hussein cling onto power. However, the interesting point for debate now is this: imagine that there had been no intervention in Iraq, and that Saddam was still holding onto power. Would Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero have invited him to join his much vaunted Alliance of Civilizations? If the Socialist Prime Minister goes about seeking peace internationally in much the same way as he has gone about seeking peace with ETA, then the answer would probably have been yes.
Also, don’t forget that Spanish troops went to Iraq fully supported under international agreements in a humanitarian mission that was totally agreed to and demanded by the United Nations. The only thing in fact that should cause a sense of shame is the dreadful way Mr Zapatero organized their retreat, and awarded medals to those involved. I ask you, can you remember any instance in military history when soldiers and their ministers have been awarded medals for retreating? I think not. No, the PP can hold its head high for having politically contributed to ridding the planet of one of the worst dictators, and in the process freed the Iraqi people from the tyranny of Saddam Hussein, whilst the Socialist party should hang its head in shame (which of course it never will) for having abandoned the Iraqi people in their hour of need and caused a considerable strain on the forces already in the country as the retreat was carried out so quickly. Then, to complement their actions, the Socialists started to make public the fact that they were interested in getting into bed with an organization that has killed almost a thousand people.
What is very evident is that the PP must start asking the Socialists in Parliament for some clear explanations for the pacifist stance of Mr Zapatero - for whilst removing Spanish troops from Iraq, he has doubled the troop presence in Afghanistan, and lied to Parliament once again as the mission there is now becoming far more dangerous that the Spanish military presence in Iraq ever was. He should also respond to some other serious questions over his stated intention of dragging Mr Aznar, Tony Blair and George W. Bush before the International Tribunal in The Hague and accuse them of ordering genocide!
Pamplona: Too many bulls
After the recent autonomous elections, the main thorn in the flesh for the government is Navarra. Here, the UPN (the local version of the PP) won. However, they failed to get a sufficient majority to govern alone. The local PSOE (the PSN), together with the nationalist ‘bring us back to the Basque Country’ Nafarroa Bai (it means ‘Navarra Yes’ in Basque) had planned to pact in another tail-wags-the-dog coalition, however, Madrid, mindful of the national elections of next May, has put the kybosh on that plan. An alternative from the local Socialists was to try an ‘all-party government’, but this would have put the power in the hands of the ‘centrist’ PSN. As it appears now, there will probably be fresh elections called for the province/autonomy of Navarra, although the parties have agreed to give it until August 18th to see if they can come to some arrangement. As Mariano Rajoy has said in his party’s program, the party most voted must lead any and all governments, town halls, juntas and troikas.
Rodrigo Rato
The pressure appears to be piling on to the Prime Minister as Rodrigo Rato, the brilliant Finance Minister under Jose Maria Aznar, announced that he was resigning his Presidency of the International Monetary Fund after its convention this September and was returning to Madrid for personal reasons. This is interesting for two reasons: firstly, Mr Rato in his current position as head of the body that oversees the world economy has obviously observed closely what Socialist Finance minister Pedro Solbes has done with the Spanish economy since he left and is not best pleased. Secondly, and a far more intriguing question is what exactly is Mr Rato going to do when he returns to Madrid? This has raised a number of questions inside the Partido Popular, as to what part he is going to play as the PP prepares for the next elections. Others see Mr Rato as the shining light that will guide the PP to victory. Either way, politically, there are uncertain times ahead, made all the more tense by the obvious fact that somewhere out there ETA cells are running around planning to plant bombs, and it seems evident that if the Basque groups even kills one more person with its bombings, then the career of Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero will be sunk forever.
