REPORT: Aznar's Loss Stern Warning To Bush, Blair

Monday, March 15, 2004
IslamOnline.net & News Agencies

"The military intervention was a political error for the international order, for the search for cooperation, for the defense of the United States," Zapatero said.

MADRID -- IO
The socialists' stunning victory in Spain's general election dealt a heavy blow to the United States and Britain, with the loss of a staunch supporter for the invasion of Iraq and the controversial war against terrorism, press reports said Monday, March 15.

The conservative Popular Party (PP) of former Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar, which was ahead in the polls only a week ago, apparently took a pasting because of its support for the U.S. invasion and occupation of Iraq.

People booed Aznar when he voted in separate Madrid polling stations, branding him a "liar and manipulator", a few days after more than 200 people dead and 1,500 others injured initially in railway attacks blamed either local separatist group ETA or Al-Qaeda.

Blaming the bombings on their government's support for the U.S. invasion of Iraq, Spanish voters ousted the ruling party in an angry, dramatic upset, Los Angeles Times reported.

Numerous voters said they believed Spain's support for the Bush administration had put it in the cross hairs of terrorists, the paper said.

The overwhelming majority of Spaniards opposed the Iraq invasion, but Aznar ignored that sentiment and gave his full support to President Bush and sent 1,300 troops to Iraq.

Aznar oversaw a period of steady economic growth, reducing inflation, creating jobs and balancing the budget. He held firm against the Basque separatist group ETA and is credited with whipping his once-divided party into shape and raising Spain's profile in the world.

But opponents said Aznar's devotion to Bush alienated Spain from its traditional European allies, said the Washington Post.

"It divided more than it united, there were no reasons for it, time has shown that the arguments for it lacked credibility and the occupation has been managed badly," said next Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero after winning the election.

Zapatero called the invasion of Iraq a "disaster".

When France and Germany balked at supporting the Iraq offensive, Aznar, stood publicly by Bush at a summit meeting in the Azores a year ago this week, and just days before the war began, reported New York Times.

The Bush administration must now fight the perception, accurate or not, that acts of terror against America's allies can sway nations into rethinking the wisdom of standing too closely with Bush, the paper added.

* Bush, Blair Affected

* Consultations

* Boosted

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Dan