Spain's Newfound Respectability

Spain's exclusion from a new European accord on terrorism brought sharp criticism of the new Socialist government … with opposition leaders calling it an embarrassing snub for a country struck by terrorist bombings less than three months ago

a Reuters piece states in the International Herald Tribune (no link).

Ministers of Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Austria and Luxembourg agreed … in Brussels to the principles of the accord, which spells out new ways to intensify the fight against terrorism and other crimes by sharing DNA profiles, fingerprints and personal data on suspects. …

But Spain, which lost 191 people in the March 11 bombings blamed on Islamic terrorists, was not among the initial signatories. … Prime Minister José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero … dodged the issue when asked about it at a news conference.

[El afrancesado] said it was not his policy to criticize other EU members …

Nor is it the el caniche de Chiraque's policy to criticize the Ivory Coast. And Sudan. And Somalia. And Iran. And North Korea. Etc…

But Uncle Sam? And America's allies?

Oh. That's a different historia altogether.

(When the American flag passed by during last October's Columbus Day military parade, Zap made a point of sitting down, saying "It's not my flag".)

A month ago, John Vinocur wrote in the IHT that Bambi had gotten mostly nothing from returning Spain to the EU rank and file. Seems like his lucky streak is continuing…

Meanwhile, the last word belongs to Jaime Mayor Oreja, who effectively turned the Socialists' charge of "lying" on its head. "If this is what returning to Europe is," the Popular Party's leading candidate in the European Parliament elections said, "it is a fraud and a lie."