"PAST SPANISH LIES on Iraq exposed", writes the Cuban press service Prensa Latina quoting an information from El País (link in Spanish here), the Madrid newspaper which is virtually the house organ of the Socialist party. The gist of both articles is to say that, contrary to what the previous Aznar administration claimed, the Spanish troops were not in Iraq for humanitarian reasons, but to wage a real war. The evidence they provide is that the Spanish base was constantly attacked -at least 40 times- and the Spanish forces, while repelling the attacks, killed 9 Iraqis; there were also 9 Spanish soldiers wounded too. Another pro-Socialist publication, Interviu magazine, had a couple of reports about this a few days ago; they even have a video on their website that you can see here.

The problem with these informations is that they provide a date when the attacks started: "in the 48 days, from April 4, 2004 to the moment the last of the 1,300 soldiers crossed the border of Kuwait, the Spanish Army took part in 40 combat actions, with at least 11 Spanish soldiers wounded in the said period."

Note the date, and then remember when the general elections were held: on March 14. The attacks started after Zapatero won, saying he'd pull out the Spanish troops from Iraq. Prensa Latina goes on: "Even on April 17, 2004, when Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero was inaugurated as President of the Spanish Government, 19 mortar shells hit Spain´s base." (emphasis mine)

I'd have written "precisely", not "even"; the attacks started after it was known that the troops would be withdrawn sooner or later because of the change in administration. Something that Rep. Murtha, Nancy Pelosi or Howard Dean should think about.


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