THE WHOLE NATION'S ABSENT:

Spaniards remember victims of train bombings (Chicago Sun-Times, March 12, 2005)

In rail stations, city streets and in the ''Forest of the Absent'' -- a grove of olive and cypress trees planted to remember the dead -- Spaniards fell silent for a five-minute vigil Friday on the one-year anniversary of the Madrid train bombings, in which 191 died at the hands of suspected al-Qaida militants.

How haunting must have been the sound of crickets as speakers took to the dais to tell the crowds what Spain is doing about al Qaeda.

Posted by Orrin Judd at March 12, 2005 12:54 PM