THE GUARDIAN?!?:

Political fallout likely to embolden al-Qaida: Armed guards are planned for Olympic athletes, but the US presidential election campaign is seen as prime target for attack (Ewen MacAskill, Helena Smith in Athens and Giles Tremlett in Madrid, March 16, 2004, The Guardian)

Al-Qaida and its sympathisers will be emboldened by the impact of what is now assumed to be its first attack in western Europe. The governing party has lost the election and Spain is planning to pull its troops out of Iraq.

If it was al-Qaida, Spain will have become the first country "to have a prime minister owing his position to Bin Laden," said Jonathan Eyal, the director of studies at the London-based Royal United Services Institute. [...]

Although al-Qaida or one of its allied groups are unlikely to have realised that the bombings would have as speedy an impact as they had, the strategy had already been rehearsed on the internet.

Spain's La Razón newspaper reported yesterday that a document on Iraqi jihad, drawn up by the self-styled Institute of Information in Support of the Iraqi People and published on the internet in December, analysed the effects that attacks on Spanish troops posted in Iraq might have.

The Arabic language document suggested attacks in Iraq rather than in Spain, but predicted accurately what the outcome on the Spanish elections would be. "We believe that the Spanish government will not be able to resist more than two or three attacks, after which they would be obliged to withdraw as a result of popular pressure," it said.

"If their troops remain in Iraq after the attacks, a Socialist victory is practically guaranteed and withdrawal of the troops will feature in its election manifesto."

It added ominously: "The withdrawal of Spanish or Italian forces from Iraq would produce tremendous pressure on the British presence [in Iraq], a pressure that Tony Blair would not be able to withstand."

Man, when even The Guardian is willing to pin the blame on you for "emboldening al Qaeda" you've really biffed.

Posted by Orrin Judd at March 15, 2004 11:41 PM