I WOULDN'T READ too much -well, anything at all- into the March 11 precedent regarding yesterday's car bomb in Madrid's airport, as James Joyner and PoliBlog do. There's no way it could be the first manifestation of the 'payback' for Saddam's hanging, only a couple or three hours after. The modus operandi was clearly ETA's, particularly for the fact that the culprits warned in advance by telephone, something that Islamic terrorists never do. Second, because this attack was something waiting to happen after a botched 'peace process' by Zapatero: ETA terrorists had been robbing guns, and digging explosives; they also had been tsk-tsking Zapatero because the negotiation wasn't going fast enough for their tastes.



Also, Spanish press is reporting that the car -a van, actually- that carried the explosives had been stolen in France and its owner briefly kidnapped while the 'action' took place (link in Spanish).



Meanwhile, the two Ecuadorean men are still missing; it's very unlikely they will be found alive at this point.