Log24

Madrid Bombs
Shook Voters
Anger at U.S. Fueled Upset
In Wake of Terror Attacks
By Glenn Frankel
Washington Post Foreign Service
Tuesday, March 16, 2004

MADRID, March 15 — The hand-lettered sign at the sidewalk memorial for the 200 victims of last week’s deadly train bombings starkly summed up a sentiment of many who came to pay respects Monday afternoon. It read: “They Died to Support Bush.”

Sunday’s stunning electoral defeat for the ruling party of Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar, one of President Bush’s closest European allies, reflected a late surge of public anger over the government’s support for the U.S.-led war in Iraq triggered both by the attacks and by the sense the government had sought to exploit the bombings for political gain, according to political analysts and voters.

Several added that it also reflected a sense of alarm and despair that seems to cut across the political spectrum over the way the United States is wielding power in the world.

“We love America — Faulkner, Hemingway, Coca-Cola and Marilyn Monroe — but we have something against your government,” said Luis Gonzales, 56, a high school Spanish literature teacher, as he stopped to view the rows of candles, flowers and makeshift signs at the central Puerta del Sol. “Aznar took us into a war that wasn’t our war but only for the benefit of the extreme right and the American companies.”