Spanish troops to
return from Iraq
BY BERTHA
TAMAYO, Prensa Latina
WITH the announcement that Spanish
troops are to return from Iraq next June, Spanish
socialist leader José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero has
begun to fulfill one of the promises made during his
electoral campaign, and one that probably secured
his victory in yesterday’s general elections.
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In an interview with the Sur channel,
Rodríguez Zapatero said that one cannot bomb a
nation "just in case" and that wars should not be
organized on the basis of lies.
He was referring to the
justification of Iraq possessing weapons of mass
destruction used by London and Washington to invade
the country, despite the fact that although their
troops invaded this Persian Gulf nation almost one
year ago, have still not appeared.
He also urged U.S. President George
W. Bush and his ally, British Prime Minister Tony
Blair to reflect on the subject in order to never
again embark on actions of that kind in such a way.
The leader of the Spanish Workers’
Socialist Party (PSOE) reiterated the commitment he
made prior to the attacks last Thursday and recalled
that he had stated on several previous occasions
that the war in Iraq is a disaster and the
occupation will continue to generate more hatred.
Rodríguez Zapatero – who yesterday
dealt a spectacular defeat to the outgoing Popular
Party (PP) of outgoing prime minister José María
Aznar, also referred to what he called the
consequences of that war: the election results and
the return of 1,300 Spanish troops based in Iraqi
territory.
The deployment of troops in the Arab
country and the unconditional support offered to the
United States became an Achilles heel for Aznar.
From before the invasion on March 20
last year, the Spanish people’s demands for peace –
expressed in mass demonstrations and the results of
widespread surveys – fell on deaf ears within Aznar’s
government.
