perfidy

One of my bosses is a native of Spain, and his sister, a nurse, spent yesterday treating victims of the Madrid terrorist attack. Everyone he knows is okay, thank God, but for thousands more that is not true. Spain has now faced its turning point, its "M-11" as they're calling it. If the perpetrators are possibly Basque seperatists, the tactics reek of Islamofascist groups, and it wouldn't surprise me if they had worked together. After all, if the strongly Catholic IRA could train with al Qaeda, why not the Basques, who, Christians though they may be, are also an irritant to the perfidious Spanish "occupiers" of the ostensibly Muslim Iberian Peninsula?

After 2001, I accepted the fact that life was never going to be as easy as it had been before. The confident assumption of insularity-- even of invulnerability on our own soil-- that Americans had taken almost for granted, was shattered. Another random attack of similar kind has since then been a constant possibility. Now, after Madrid, I'm starting to deal with the fact that another attack is a constant probability.

Sometimes it amazes me that humanity has survived this long with such obvious flaws as rampant stupidity and gullibility. What amazes me more is that the stupid and gullible-- such as terrorist fanatics-- are also the most dangerous ones among us.

[wik] Glenn Reynolds suggests sending flowers to the nearest Spanish Consulate General. A fine idea.

[alsø wik] There's some very good analysis of the Madrid bombings from people who actually live in Spain over at Iberian Notes, starting with this post.