Look, I've got other work to do, and don't want to scratch up any more references than I already have. When this first came up, I said that the terrorists had come up with a strategy to see that politicians they wanted in office got there.

What I got back was posts and references on why the Spanish voted the way they did for totally different reasons, why the withdrawal from Iraq had nothing to do with the bombing, and why my concerns were baseless.

The terrorists got the results they wanted. Spain out of Iraq and someone in office they could count on to do things like that in the future.

Their demands after London were basically, "leave Iraq and Afghanistan or else." That more than a few people readily agreed that Britain should comply is depressing, but not surprising. That a lot more British people did NOT agree was encouraging, and not surprising either.

I wonder how well the U.S. will deal with it when the time comes.