Harper Reed's Blog

Harper Reed's Blog

Musing from a normal person doing normal things

11 Mar 2004

the world.. E.T.A. etc. - nonsese

Please note: This post was written some time ago (20 years ago). My perspectives, knowledge, and opinions may have evolved significantly since then. While the content might still offer valuable insights, I encourage readers to consider it in the context of its publication date.

So today some terrorists in the basque region of spain blew up a bunch of commuter trains during rush hour. this is after the E.T.A. declared a cease fire on the caralina region of spain - so apparently the terrosist actions are now concentrated on madrid and the like.

i know so little about the france/spain/basque conflict that I am very confused. it is interesting to read the reactions of the internet to such a horrible terrorist act. I was specifically interested in what Russell Beattie would say - as he worked in spain for awhile doing tech stuff and has a seemingly good political stance. I also stumled upon a bunch of spanish blogs and newsfeeds that helped a lot. here are some links:

is revolution growing in basque country
a translated newsfeed of the attacks
an analysis of the internet traffic since the attacks - also translated
the basque party rejects the attacks
translated special edition of the “El Pais” newspaper that was published all over spain regarding the attack
caspa.tv - a blog that is demonstrating the graphic that a lot of spanish blogs and other websites are displaying currently.
ELPAIS.es article on the attacks - translated

It is hard to view this objectively or in a form that woudl understand the political or social motivatio nfor participating and executing such an attack. I really feel that terrorism obviously has its place in the path to revolution and change - but it is difficult to agree with that stance when you see the ramifications of terrorism effecting your daily life. we all witnessed this with sept. 11th and now spain is dealing with it on a scale new to them as well. so what should a group of people do when confronted with this situation. react back? react against whom though - the “E.T.A” has not claimed responsibility - we know from oklahoma city bombing that it could easily be a small malaligned group of people who have the same political motivations as the E.T.A. but are not associated. this sucks for the E.T.A. because it blows there attempts at gaining a cease fire or some assemblence of peace. and then conversely - if it were the E.T.A. why would they be doing this a week before the spanish elections - they probably won’t cause people to vote pro-basque out of fear. I suppose they coudl scare politicians into acting a certain way. but I don’t know.

i am interested in seeing how the world reacts to these very publicized atacks in this age of “anti-terror.” is the U.S. gunna come help? - hah. is bush going to react? I wonder.



this is awesome: Steve Martin’s Script Notes on “The Passion” haha.
i need to eat. I will eat now.