The Spaniards were slammed by many in this country for "appeasing" the terrorists last week by voting in the Socialists after the Madrid bombings.
The "cowardly vote" of Spanish citizens would "embolden" the terrorists, many argued, by sending a signal that an act of terrorism can swing an election.
Never had there been so much hand-wringing over a democratic election (okay, forgetting Florida).
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Today, Israel blows up the Hamas spiritual leader, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin... rightly or wrongly.
(Note: I do not wish to debate whether or not the Israeli's assassination of Yasin was justified in this diary. Rather, I want to point out the hypocritical nature of the both this administration and the attacks on Spanish democracy.)
Hamas and Al Qaeda vow revenge on the U.S. beause of Yassin's death.
And what is the (delayed) response from the Bush administration?
White House Says It Is Troubled By Yassin Attack.
There we go again... appeasing the terrorists.
Wasn't the argument last week that we should do the opposite of what the terrorists want? Isn't that what we demanded of the Spanish citizenry as we denigrated their democratic election process? (Nevermind the irony of mocking democracy in Spain while beating our chests about "bringing democracy to the Middle East" in Iraq.)
And in this administration's view, hasn't Hamas been designated a terrorist organization? So by questioning Israel's actions in slaying a leader of Hamas, are we not appeasing the terrorists?
The shear hypocrisy evident in the bashing of Spain and the reaction to Yassin's slaying are sadly comic.
And they lead to this question: What is more likely to embolden Al Qaeda (or other terrorist organizations) to attack the U.S. or other targets? The Spanish vote or the slaying of Yassin?
Next time a Republican utters the phrase, "Kerry waffles," be sure and point out that when it comes to terrorism, perhaps the most critical issue facing our nation, the Bush administration has baked enough waffles to feed every wrong-headed, cowardly voter in Spain.