Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

DATE=4/20/04

TYPE=U-S OPINION ROUNDUP

TITLE=SPAIN WITHDRAWS

NUMBER=6-130347

BYLINE=ANDREW GUTHRIE

DATELINE=WASHINGTON

CONTENT=

INTRO: Even though the new prime minister of Spain, Socialist Jose Luis Zapatero, had promised to withdraw his nation's troops from Iraq if elected, he announced it faster than expected, within a day of his confirmation. The withdrawal is one more headache for the Bush administration, as the transfer of authority date in Iraq looms closer. For a U-S press reaction, we turn to V-O-A's __________ and today's U-S Opinion Roundup.

TEXT: The withdrawal is more troubling to some U-S papers because Spain's parliamentary election is seen as having been turned around by the Madrid train bombings, which killed almost 200 people. Until then, the conservative government of Jose Maria Aznar was ahead in the polls, despite significant anti-war sentiment among the public. Three days later, the anti-war Socialists won. Now some American papers fear terrorists will be encouraged to commit more such acts to sway public opinion. In Utah, Salt Lake City's Deseret Morning News is upset.

VOICE: If Spain had had only one soldier in Iraq, the consequences would have been the same. The fact Spain recalled its soldiers out of fear -- not principle -- is troubling. And the time will come that Spain will be forced to dig in its heels and make a stand against terror.

TEXT: Seattle's [Washington State] Post-Intelligencer sees it quite differently:

VOICE: Spain's decision to withdraw should do little if any damage to efforts to stabilize Iraq. The bigger issue is whether Spain sticks to or increases its commitment to combating terrorism.... While it's fair to worry that the withdrawal might be seen as rewarding terrorism, there's reason for a bit more confidence. Some of [those] ... troops will be rotated into Afghanistan, as Spain doubles its force there to 250 troops.

TEXT: None of that argument sways New York's Albany Times-Union, which concludes:

VOICE: It's true that Mr. Zapatero made his withdrawal pledge well before the March 11 terrorist bombings ... in Madrid. Thus, he could legitimately claim that the terrorists did not influence his policy. But that was then. Now, in his hurry to get the troops home, Mr. Zapatero is sending a very different, and disquieting, message.

TEXT: Even though, as Florida's Palm Beach Post points out, the Spanish commitment was only "one-one-hundredth of the U-S force in the country," its decision to leave is, in the Post's view "more than a public-relations setback." The paper writes:

VOICE: Spanish troops patrolled the area near Najaf, a major trouble spot. With the Pentagon extending tours of duty to unprecedented lengths, U-S soldiers and Marines will feel the effects of new Prime Minister Zapatero's move. A thin coalition just got thinner.

TEXT: On Long Island, [New York] Newsday considers the move "an almost craven accommodation to terrorists," while Tennessee's Memphis Commercial Appeal complains:

VOICE: Already Muqtada al-Sadr, the vehemently anti-American mullah holed up in Najaf, is urging the insurgents to "maintain the safety of the Spanish forces until their return home," in hopes that other governments in the coalition will "follow the Spanish government's example."

TEXT: But Portland's Oregonian warns Madrid: "For Spain, and other countries, leaving Iraq doesn't mean leaving danger. Terror still follows you home."

And that concludes this sampling of U-S press reaction to Spain's precipitous decision to withdraw troops from Iraq.

NEB/ANG/KL