I don't know what that means but I'll take a stab in the dark. RIP.

I could probably use a translation...but I get the general idea.

I've always felt a lot of pain when I hear of bus bombings in Israel; perhaps because I'm a transit user, or because the spouse is a bus driver. I take a train every day to work, so this one hits home as well.

My prayers go out to the families of all those involved...

Close...but probably no cigar...

"Today all we are resident of madrid.

That our prison sentence of this massacre be heard. We despise eta, we despise every form of violence and of terrorism. We only wish to live in peace.

May peace prevails in the land."

I wish I had better words to use right now. I just saw all the terror and sadness and fear and confusion in Madrid, and it reminded me of how we all felt on 9/11.

The world came together, and let us know that we were not alone on that day, and I hope that we can come together again for Spain.

noticed that this attack happened on 3/11. if it proves to be an al queda deal, twice they have attacked on the eleventh day, in a month that is divisible by three.

dunno if there is any significance to that or not.

hopefully in time the wounds of all those affected by terrorist attacks will heal. it may be a loooong time.

My translation:

Hear our condemnation of this massacre. We despise it. We despise all forms of violence and terrorism. We only want to live in peace.

I don't know enough of the politics of the region to speak any more about this so I'll keep my mouth shut. All I will say is that Madrid is a wonderful city full of vibrant people and I hope they will recover from this in the best way they can.

Peace and patience,
Berj

If Dante's right...I think I'll stay home on June 11, just in case...

My translation attemp:

"Today we are all people of Madrid

That our sentence of this masacre is heard. We despise [this], we despise all forms of violence and terrorism. We want only to live in peace.

[May] peace prevail on earth."

My small attempt at translation is my small contribution to the alleviation of pain. I hope that families are comforted. I hope that peace, and no retaliation, comes to Spain and the world.

It broke my heart when I turned to CNN yesterday morning and saw what had happened. So many lives lost, so many friends and family members in mourning. Truly this was a tragedy to rival 9/11 in the US for Spain. My heart and love goes out to all who were affected by it, worldwide.

I wish peace was easier to create in our world.

To bad ETA might not have been to blame. Funny how the Spanish govt. has been finding stashes of explosives over the last few months and knee-jerk blaming ETA. Wouldn't it be sad if they missed clues of an al-Queda plot because they were insisting it had to be ETA.

Otherwise, if ETA is to blame, I hope those bastards burn in hell... and now, any support they had (the 5% of the Basque population that supported them) just went up with those bombs.
Terrorism is not a negogiating tool.

A displaced Basque in America

noticed that this attack happened on 3/11. if it proves to be an al queda deal, twice they have attacked on the eleventh day, in a month that is divisible by three.

Gotta love conspiracy theories. Here's a hint: given any two points, it's pretty easy to draw a connection. Al Qaeda (and it's still not clear that they are involved) has attacked on a NUMBER of occassions, not just twice, and you'll find it hard to draw any relation to them.

Of course, the other obvious thing is that Al Qaeda almost certainly follows the Arabic calendar, rather than the Gregorian calendar.

A more interesting factoid. The Muslim calendar is a solar-lunar calendar (as opposed to the Jewish calendar, which is purely lunar, or the standard calendar we all use, which is solar). In both cases, the attacks occured ten days before the solstice.

Juan

Hi

Long time lurker from Barcelona. We're 600 km away from Madrid, but all the country is shocked. Thanks for all the worldwide support. It means a lot.

It's not that sure it was ETA. It looks like more Al Qaeda. Spanish politics is a huge jigsaw and the implications are very different depending on who it was.

But I think that right now our thoughts are all with the victims.

PEACE

Any more question as to why we're at war with terrorists?

I cannot compare the loss.
I can only offer solace.
I cannot give answers.
I can only pray for peace.

Terror is a tool that was used before 9/11. Terror is something that affects the world, not just the US. There is no line that protects people from the insanity of terror, it touches every nation, whether Al Qaieda, IRA, KKK, or a South American dictator.

My love to my grandmother's country. May all that suffer find peace in their hearts and their lives. Madrid te quiero.

Here, try this!

Terrorism bites.

Why Spain? What did they do to get this kicking in? There's a lot of people there missing their kids, parents and friends. I hope Al Quaeda are bloody proud of themselves.

I don't think it was ETA, it doesn't sound like their MO at all. If there is to be some good to come out of this event, I hope it's that ETA re-evaluates their terrorist stance like the IRA did after 9/11.

We can but hope.

I lived in Spain for a year and never managed to wrap my brain around the political landscape there.

However, this was a devastating attack on a lovely city and I hope the Spanish authorities can bring down the culprits, be they ETA or Al Quaeda or whoever.

Hear our condemnation of this massacre.
We despise all forms of violence and terrorism.
We only want to live in peace.

Good sentiment.

Before 9/11, when I would see these types of attacks on the news, I would think "Jeez, what a shame!" and then I would go on with my life. After watching this on the news for the first time, I knew it was linked to Al Queda. I felt the same way when I watched the second plane fly into the WTC. Now when I see these attacks I FEEL such sadness, as if it was an attack on my country all over again.

I, too, am at a loss as to why they chose Spain. Was this the only country that didn't have tight enough security, to allow them to get away with killing for the sake of killing? My heart and prayers go out to the victims and their families and friends. May God be with you all. :(

GAH! I screwed up the italics. Sorry about that.

What is our world coming to? Honestly, it is a depressing thought. The whole Noah's ark idea isn't looking so bad right now. If only we could flush out the evil within the world and the evil within each one of us. Sigh. I have hope that the future is brighter- it has to be.

Thanks for reminding me how badly I failed spanish class wil! lol

there is no cause righteous enough to justify the indiscrimnate killing that these terrorists have done.

To all those affected by this horrific tragedy, our thoughts and prayers are with you. It is important to bring those responsible to justice, but it is equally important to help those affected recover from such a terrible attack. Peace may not come quickly or easily, but it will come.

Well, it is discriminate killing based on the targeted country, if it was Al Qaeda. They did say that they would go after any countries supporting the US in Iraq.

Somehow I feel like things would have been different if it had've been the entire UN going into Iraq instead of a select few.

Of course these new attacks show that terrorism should be fought, but it is unfortunately also proof that the "war on terrorism" isn't working. Clearly the offensive approach is not service the US or its allies well at the moment. Violence begets violence.

My prayers go out to the Spanish, who made me feel so welcome when I lived there for a year after college.

Thanks for the link Wil.

I'm a caucasian American currently living in China. We're all shocked by what's happened in Spain. Lots of my students have asked me why it would happen in Spain of all places.

The best answer I can come up with is this: if it was done by a Muslim terrorist group like Al Qaida, the answer is simple. Spain has been one of the USA's best supporters since 9/11. Only England, Israel and Japan have a higher political and economic advantage over Spain... I'm not saying that Spain is weak. I'm just saying that Spain's voice isn't heard as loudly as the others. We're listening now, aren't we?

Let's try not to forget that there are terrorist groups that don't hail to Islam too. They're all a threat.

PEACE.

el partido popular only wants it to be Euskadi ta Askatasuna to win votes. but it's just as likely to be muslim's. the last few ETA stikes have been clearly less violent than this one. i doubt it was them.
Si a la paz, no al terrorismo, viva espana libre!

I am at a loss for words. Spain is a beautiful country, peopled with, in my experience, wonderful and friendly folk.

My condolences indeed.

i would agree with nicci. if it was terrorist planned and executed, i am inclined to believe it was because spain is a major supporter of the u.s.

it also makes you wonder. if this turns out to be al-queda, why didn't we have information about it prior? i thought we were supposed to be monitoring terrorist activity a lot closer.

or is it activity only on u.s. soil that we are so concerned with?

This is a great piece of artwork, and it it for a nobel cause. I'd like to know for sure what the caption says, but props to Wil for posting this. Hearing about the attacks in spain reminded me exactly how i felt in 2001 when the world trade centers were attacked. I can't even imagine this kind of loss, and my heart goes out to those who lost loved ones. This reminds me again of what a nonsensical world we live in.

The theory is this. When 9/11 went down the place that the instigators grouped before the attack and planned the attack was Spain, that's right they made their little script in the place, once the Spanish Government found out that this was how it had been they became ultra-sensative to any person who possibly was connected to al-Qaeda, by race not by evidence. The only problem with this attitude is you become anti-Islam, remember al-Qaeda does not account for every Islamic individual on the planet.

The problem with this is that it mirrors what happened after the First World War, the Allies blamed Germany for everything and then gave a certain dictator a means to get to a wider audience, by showing the people of Germany how much everyone hated them.

So, what al-Qaeda is possibliy doing is trying to show Islam that the war on terror is more a war on Islam. You only have to see the statement posted in an Arabic paper over here in the UK. 'A message purportedly from the Abu Hafs al-Masri Brigades was also sent to a UK-based Arabic newspaper saying it had attacked "America's ally in its war against Islam" on behalf of al-Qaeda.' (BBC News Report 12/3/04)

The sorry fact of the matter is this, where there are large amounts of people congregated, there is a target for terrorism.

My heart goes out to all those that died in the train bombings in Madrid. May their souls rest in peace, I only hope those left on Earth can eventually find that same intangible state. Peace.

Wil,

Thanks for posting this. I grew up in Madrid and still have family and friends there. Yesterday was devastating for me and brought back the 9/11 feelings but with the addition of it being more personal. Luckily everyone is fine as far as we know.

Odile

The Madrid bombings happened 911 days after september 11th.

Though I doubt they planned it to be 911 days after 9/11, it's a weird coincidence, nonetheless.

Otra tragedia que me da pasar el corazon. Que sean Vascos, Muselmanes, no importa quein son. Madrid le falta un gran pedaso de vida. Lo siento....

ok, so there seem to be quite a few "coincidences."

911 days after 9/11. (rick)

each attack was ten days away from solstice.(juan)

both attacks happened on the 11th day of a month divisible by 3. (myself)

what do these all mean?

(actually, if i did my own math double-checking correct, since this year is a leap-year it makes it 912 days. who knows? my math skillz = teh sux. still eerily close though)

Oh yeah, i forgot about the leap year.

912 days.

D'oh.

or is it activity only on u.s. soil that we are so concerned with?

Of course we are concerned with terrorism on US soil, but we can't monitor everyone. It is up to each country to monitor themselves, lest we be accused of trying to take over the world. But you do bring up an excellent question: Why did no one hear of this before-hand? I still believe Al Queda had a hand in this.

I don't know if I believe this attack was carried out by ETA, but regardless, what's happened is atrocious.. what's the world coming to?

My heart goes out to the people of Madrid, the people of Spain, and the rest of the world. These sick, brutal attacks have to end.

I'm surprised noone mentioned the Local6.com article (found on Fark yesterday) about there being (thanks to the leap year) 911 days between the Madrid attacks and our own 9-11 tragedy. More fuel for the conspiracy theorists, I guess.

912 days, actually. Leap year.

It's exactly 30 months after the 9/11 attacks, too.

the killing is indiscriminate in that it targeted sites that are used by the public...killing innocent men, women and children as the end result...such killing s cannot and must not be justified by the national governments alliances or percieved alliances...accepting this violence as an expected result if a country is allied with the perpetrators enemy is the first step toward institutionalizing mass murder as a mainstream political tool.

I don't know what it means but the attack happen on 3-11-04. It also happen 7 months before the 3th anniversary of 9-11-01.

I was reading in the NY Times that the ruling government WANTS this to be an ETA attack because it will help them win the election tomorrow. If it's Al Queda, and there is more evidence going in that direction, we in the U.S. have to worry. This may be step one in a master attack with Americans next.

Everybody watch yourselves!

La paz sea con vosotros, Madrid!

hey wil... i didnt understand a word you just said... i kno a little french and the only word i know in spanish is hola and muy caliente... i watched best week ever last night... "liquid ice... also known as water"... funny stuff... but 2 bad u werent on more....

"When I despair, I remember that all through history the way of Truth and Love has always won. There have been tyrants and murderers and, for a time they seem invincible, but in the end they always fall. Think of it--always."

Mahatma Gandhi

Sorry, know I've posted it before, but it is a more appropriate response to this tragedy than any I might make.

wisdom like that of GANDHI can never be repeated too much.

As an Australian who's country suffered a similar attack, through which we lost hundreds of innocent lives, my thoughts and sympathies are with those that were affected by this heinous act.

Terrorism sux.

I work in the shadows of the slanted towers on the right-hand side of the cartton. Since Sept. 11th, we've 'joked' that if somebody wanted to crash a plane into something in Madrid, this would be the place. I/We never dreamed it would be something so mundane as a morning commuter train.

At this time of day, trains into Atocha are packed - standing room only. The platforms inside station are packed. The commuter rail terminal connects to long-distance train services and an extremely crowded subway line. If the trains had not been delayed, the tragedy would have been unimaginably worse.

I don't know that I can conceive of what minds are able to contemplate these acts. After nine years in Madrid, I've still always basically considered myself a Seattlite who lived in Spain. Now, I agree whole-heartedly with the sentiment: "Todos somos Madrileños hoy". Humanity has been attacked, and we are all wounded. Al-Qaeda or ETA, our world needs some serious fixing.

I am still greatly distressed over the events in Madrid. I am still greatly distressed over The Twin Towers, the attacks on the WTC in 1993, The USS Cole the bus bombings in Israel. I am distressed everytime I hear of a terror attack.
My signafigant other is a retired US Marine and I come from a long line of US Sailors. I want to see terror, no matter what kind snuffed out. We must free the world of the likes of the KKK, ETA, Al Qaeda, etc etc. We must all work together, politics asside so that our children won't have to grow up and raise their children in fear.

God bless Madrid and all of the citizens of Spain, God Bless all of us. God Bless the allies and God Bless America

Wil,

Peace be to you and your household. We all want to live in peace. But terrorism cannot go unanswered; we cannot just "turn the other cheek."
The Jewish philosophy is "an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth." Maybe that's the only answer.

"On 9/11 the terrorists declared war on the United States and war is what they got." (W)
They know that if they attack us again we are going to hit them in Iran, Syria, Lybia, etc.
Damn I'm pissed. Sorry.

I pray for peace in Spain, peace in the world.
Pax, Paz, Peace!

Freeman.

"an eye for an eye" is older than Judaism. It goes back to the code of Hammurapi. When and where have we been "turning the other cheek" anyway? We bombed the hell out of Afganistan, killed Canadians and Brits in 'friendly fire' and didn't hardly apologize and blazed a trail for fighting a war against Iraq with no solid evidence of atrocities worthy of the world interfering with in a warlike manner. That's NOT turning a cheek! That's NOT giving a man your tunic when he asks only for your cloak. Turning the other cheek would be building the WTC in NYC bigger and better than before, hailing it as sign of our determination to not let the Man get us down. Why build two towers? why not rebuild all the towers that fell in the area, just as tall as the two biggest that fell? That'd show'em and that'd be turning a cheek. It'd be continuing our vulnerability in the face of threat and it'd be showing our boldness to keep going where we planned to in the beginning. Turning the other cheek would be reaching out to those countries with high numbers of terrorist groups and asking them what we can do to improve ties, not shaking a finger and threatening to attack them and rip up their governments.

Sarz,

"As an Australian who's country suffered a similar attack, through which we lost hundreds of innocent lives, my thoughts and sympathies are with those that were affected by this heinous act."

The Bali bombings (October 12, 2002) did not occur on Australian soil as your statement infers, nor did we lose hundreds of lives, the official count was 88 Australian dead out of a confirmed total of 202 lives lost. We certainly had the highest total of lives lost but we were by no means the only ones affected by this act, there were people of all nations who were left irrevocably damaged, be it physical, psychological or emotional. That is the intention of terrorists, there is no conspiricy, no rhyme or reason, just their desire to bring everyone else to their collective knees and hurt them anyway they can.

I appologise if I sound cold and clinical (I am anything and everything but cold and clinical, ask Kleenex), I just don't like things to be exagerated for the sake of drama. Pain is pain anyway you look at it, but blowing it out of proportion helps no one, just makes it harder to pick yourself and those around you back up off the floor and find a solution (not a bandaid) to the problem.

This is just my opinion, I realise not everyone is going to agree with me and that's fine. I grieve for all who have suffered from the actions and fallout (so to speak) of the terrorists (Not just Madrid, but all terrorist atrocities). One day there will be light at the end of the tunnel we are currently traveling through, this I believe.

Nicci,

Never said the attack happened on Australian soil.
Was not exaggerating for the sake of drama.
Never said Australia was the only country affected by the attack.
Did not know that of the 202 confirmed dead, 'just' 88 were Australian.
You psycho analyse my post which was less than 50 words in total, and I'm the one who's over dramatising?

Just realised my post was addressed to the wrong person. Nicci, I apologise. I meant to address it to Brodye.

Sarz,

Your right, you didn't say it happened on Australian soil, but the way it reads it infers it. As for the figures, I was giving you (and anyone else interested) the facts. As for phycho analysing your comment, I wasn't, I was addressing the present situation as well as your comment. If you felt I was attacking you, I appologise. That wasn't my intention, I merely wished to address the figures and the present situation.

I wrote something similar in my journal also. Indeed, we all are Mdrilenos now - and citizens of the world, all equally vulnerable to madmen and terror.

Peace.

Sarz,

No harm no foul. I know I said some pretty big stuff on this comment list, but I haven't tried to criticise any country but my own, and that's the U.S.A. ;)

I'm from Lleida, a little village 450 km far from Madrid. I'm very sad because of the victims but I'm really angry because of the way the government has treated them: here in Spain we didn't know who was the responsible of the crime since international pressure made the presindent tell the truth. Now we are afraid of new attacks. One year ago we told we didn't want the war but they didn't listen to us. Now we are suffering its consequences.
Thanks everybody for the support and solidarity.

texas hold'em http://www.texasholdem-pok.us http://www.texasholdem-pok.us