Jose Maria Aznar's support of the US war in Iraq cost him his job as Prime Minister.

Results of the Spanish election have been now confirmed: the Socialist Party is the big winner and Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero is the new Prime Minister. As soon as his victory was announced, he confirmed taking the Spanish troops out of Iraq by June 30th (CNN).

If al Qaeda links to the bombings prove to be true, it will show Bin Laden's terrorist organization has found a way to effectively alter a country's political stability.

Just before the elections, Jose Maria Aznar's Partido Popular was a sure winner, analysts suggesting the government's largely successful crackdown on ETA (The Age) was the cause.

But the bombings, which occurred on Thursday - three days before the Sunday election - was felt as payback by the Spanish people. With polls showing 90% of the population opposed to the war in Iraq, this is not surprising. Furthermore, the attempts made by the government to undermine al-Qaeda's involvement in the attacks, fueled the voters' anger.

Sunday, just before the voting polls opened, al-Qaeda finally claimed responsibility for the bombings. It was impossible for any government not to be dramatically shaken by the effects of such an action.

Al-Qaeda has warned that terrorist actions were scheduled in Italy and in the US. If carried out, political victims will almost certainly be added to the death toll.

A post regarding the political consequences of terrorist actions can be read on Benoit Bisson's blog: Terror and fear as political tools.

Categorie(s)/Catégorie(s): World

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