My heart goes out to Spain, especially to the victims and their families of this attack. As horrible as this attack was, it could've been even worse if reports of 3 unexploded bombs being found turn out to be true. I've heard that as many as 10 bombs did explode this morning. Those 3 additional bombs could've killed and wounded many additional people.

Early reports often turn out to be wrong (remember Oklahoma City), but <a href=
"http://www.upi.com/view.cfm?StoryID=20040311-112725-1601r">this UPI report points out some things to consider.

While all fingers in Spain are pointing at the Basque separatist movement ETA as the perpetrators of Thursday's atrocious train bombings that left some 186 dead and 600 wounded, the attacks carry all the markings of al-Qaida and its jihadi affiliates.

For starters the Brussels-based World Observatory of Terrorism, an independent think tank affiliated with the European Strategic Intelligence and Security Center, points to five major reasons that cast doubt on the involvement of ETA.

First, ETA generally warns Spanish authorities moments before launching their attacks in which civilians are likely to be harmed. This, obviously, was not the case on Thursday.

Second, ETA traditionally targets representatives of the government or the administration, such as policemen, the military, magistrates or even journalists who oppose them.

Third, ETA customarily selects "symbolic" targets, such as military barracks and administrative buildings. Although ETA's largest attack to date was in 1987 against a supermarket in Barcelona that killed 21 people, this was the exception rather than the norm.

Fourth, ETA always claims its attacks. Following any ETA bombing, ETA militants call in a claim to Spanish authorities. This failed to happen this time.

Fifth, ETA has never in the past carried out multiple attacks. According to some sources, at least 10 bombs were detonated almost simultaneously on Thursday.

On the other hand, these murderous attacks bear the traditional hallmark of al-Qaida: multiple bombs detonating a few seconds apart and programmed to cause the largest possible number of human casualties.

I'm listening to a radio news report that the Spanish police has found a van east of Madrin that contained bomb detonators and related materials along with Arabic materials.