Airstrip One

Feet to the Fire

Don't be fooled by the idea that Spain's vote to withdraw from the American coalition was pointless because of the new bombs that have been found. Now the reasoning is coming in:

Also Monday, the conservative newspaper ABC said that just hours before the terrorists killed themselves in Leganes, it received a fax from the same group that had claimed blame for the March 11 bombings. This time, it warned it would turn Spain "into an inferno" unless the country halted its support for the United States and withdrew its troops from Iraq and Afghanistan, ABC said.

Or "the Americans and Brits may offer you anything to get you back into the coalition, but we've still got plenty of capability".

The Spaniards, like the Brits, have endured domestic terrorism in order to maintain the democratic and territorial integrity of their own countries - but they are unwilling to risk terrorism merely for their leaders' egos. The difference is the Spanish were asked.