Basque Terror Group ETA Claims It's Ending Terror Campaign

After nearly 50 years of an unending terror campaign across Spain, the terror group ETA is claiming it's ending the use of violence to further its goals of Basque independence.

The group’s announcement of “the definite cessation of its military activity,” and its appeal for a “direct dialogue” with the governments in Madrid and Paris, came in the form of a written statement and an accompanying video posted online, which were sent to news organizations.

The renunciation of armed struggle went a step further than previous cease-fires the group has issued, and often broken, over the years. It was perhaps an acknowledgment that the group had been badly weakened by a crackdown by Spanish and French security forces.

Spanish leaders, facing a debt crisis and severe austerity measures, welcomed the rare bit of good news with relief and cautious optimism.

“The state of law today triumphs,” said Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero. “Our democracy will be one without terrorism, but not without memory,” he added, recalling the 829 people killed by ETA over more than four decades.

Mariana Rajoy, the leader of the Popular Party, called the announcement “good news,” with the caveat that “the tranquillity of Spaniards will only be complete when the full dismantling of ETA has occurred.”

In fact, the statement fails to meet many of Spain’s longtime demands — ETA did not say it would disarm, dissolve or renounce the goal of independence — and experts cautioned that many problems would have to be resolved before peace could be secured.

Far from dissolving, ETA, which is considered a terrorist group by the European Union and the United States, made it plain that it saw itself, and its political wing, as a major players in future negotiations on a tangle of complex issues arising from the prolonged violence.

Those issues include demands for the release of hundreds of Basque militants imprisoned in French and Spanish jails, including top-ranking figures from the leadership of ETA and Batasuna, a banned political party that has been closely associated with ETA. Just as thorny will be issues relating to the disarming of ETA and the decommissioning of its arms and explosives, the experts said, and the reintegration of former militants into everyday life.

This isn't the first time the group claimed that it was renouncing terrorism so I'm not entirely sure that the group can hold up its side of the bargain.

Spain's Solar Power Gold Rush Turns To Bust

Jobs never came. The Spanish government now expects that it has to subsidize solar power plants indefinitely.

This isn't the panacea that many environmentalists were claiming. It's turning out to be a horror show of its own in waste, mismanagement, and failed expectations.

Soon, Puertollano, home to the Museum of the Mining Industry, had two enormous solar power plants, factories making solar panels and silicon wafers, and clean energy research institutes. Half the solar power installed globally in 2008 was installed in Spain.

Farmers sold land for solar plants. Boutiques opened. And people from all over the world, seeing business opportunities, moved to the city, which had suffered from 20 percent unemployment and a population exodus.

But as low-quality, poorly designed solar plants sprang up on Spain’s plateaus, Spanish officials came to realize that they would have to subsidize many of them indefinitely, and that the industry they had created might never produce efficient green energy on its own.

In September the government abruptly changed course, cutting payments and capping solar construction. Puertollano’s brief boom turned bust. Factories and stores shut, thousands of workers lost jobs, foreign companies and banks abandoned contracts that had already been negotiated.

“We lost the opportunity to be at the vanguard of renewables — we were not only generating electricity, but also a strong economy,” said Joaquín Carlos Hermoso Murillo, Puertollano’s mayor since 2004. “Why are they limiting solar power, when the sun is unlimited?”

Puertollano’s wrenching fall points to the delicate policy calculations needed to stimulate nascent solar industries and create green jobs, and might serve as a cautionary tale for the United States, where a similar exercise is now under way.

For now, electricity generation from the sun’s rays needs to be subsidized because it requires the purchase of new equipment and investment in evolving technologies. But costs are rapidly dropping. And regulators are still learning how to structure stimulus payments so that they yield a stable green industry that supports itself, rather than just costly energy and an economic flash in the pan like Spain’s.

“The industry as a whole learned a lot from what happened in Spain,” said Cassidy DeLine, who analyzes the European solar market for Emerging Energy Research, a firm based in Cambridge, Mass. She noted that other countries had since set subsidies lower and issued stricter standards for solar plants.

Yet, despite the pain that Spain’s incentives ended up causing, in many ways they fulfilled their promise, Ms. DeLine said.

“Even though incentives can create bubbles and bursts, without them this industry won’t take off,” she said. “The U.S. is really behind Europe on this, and if we wait until solar is cost-competitive on its own, we may miss the boat and an opportunity to shape the market.”

Is the US really behind the Europeans on this? I'm not so sure, given that the companies that are pushing solar power in the US have to tackle the cost issue head on, without the kinds of price supports and subsidies that helped create the boom and bust cycles in Spain.

It's wishful thinking to say that the Spanish experience with incentives was successful. The industry wouldn't take off because it isn't capable of making power in a cost-effective manner. Subsidies doesn't change that calculus and doesn't get the power-cost ratio down to a point where it is cost-effective. It rewards businesses that have inefficient technologies and reduces investment in areas that can lead to more efficient systems. Once again, it's the government picking and choosing winners and losers among technologies, rather than funding the research that goes into these technologies.

Bull Gores Participant in Annual Pamplona Event

The running of the bulls in Pamplona, Spain is an annual event, and I can't help but root for the bulls. The bulls run through the streets on the way to the bullfighting ring where they face matadors and their own demise. However, those streets are filled with thrill seekers who have thoughts of Hemmingway dancing in their heads.

Injuries to spectators and participants is a regular occurrence. Death is not.

Today was not one of those days.

Today, one of the bulls gored a man to death. It was the first since 2003 when a man was trampled and died after a month in a coma.

The San Fermin festival Web site said the unidentified man was gored in the neck and lung during a run in which a rogue bull named Cappuccino separated from the pack, which is among the worst things that can happen at Spain's most popular fiesta.

Isolated bulls are more likely to get disoriented and start charging at people.

Photographs showed the man lying on a stretcher moments after the goring, his face and neck stained with blood and his eyes only half-open. An emergency medical worker is leaning over him, applying what appears to be gauze to his neck wound.

Three other people were gored, and six people suffered bumps, bruises and other lesser injuries, said Fernando Boneta, director of Virgen del Camino Hospital. The festival ends Tuesday, and there was no indication that the remaining bull runs would be canceled because of the death.

The last fatal goring at the running of the bulls claimed the life of 22-year-old American Matthew Tassio in 1995. In 2003, a 63-year-old Spanish man, Fermin Etxeberri, was trampled in the head by a bull and died after spending months in a coma.

Spain Attempts To Bring War Crimes Charges Against Israeli Leaders

The Jerusalem Post is reporting that Spanish authorities are looking to bring war crimes charges against six Israeli leaders for actions relating to events in Gaza in 2002.

Late last month, Audiencia Nacional, the National Court of Spain (the highest Spanish judicial council), issued arrest warrants against the six - Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, Doron Almog, Moshe Ya'alon, Dan Halutz, Giora Eiland and Mike Herzog - accepting a petition from the Palestinian Center for Human Rights that suggested they were guilty of war crimes in the Gaza Strip during the summer of 2002.

At that time, Ben-Eliezer was serving as a defense minister; Ya'alon was IDF chief of General Staff; Eiland headed the National Security Council; Halutz was commander of the IAF, Almog was OC Southern Command and Herzog was a senior Defense Ministry official.

The plaintiffs claimed that Ben-Eliezer personally oversaw the killing of Hamas commander Salah Shehadeh, a Palestinian terror chief who was responsible for killing of dozens of Israelis, in which 14 civilians also died. Israel subsequently apologized for the civilian deaths.

The Foreign Ministry has said only that the matter is being taken care of. However, the Post has learned from a source in the Attorney-General's Office that active negotiations between Madrid and Jerusalem are taking place to overturn the warrants.

This is not the first time that PCHR has filed suit against high-ranking Israeli military commanders, but if the court's decision is not reversed it will set a disturbing precedent in international law, said Ofer Zalzberg, co-chairman of YIFC (Young Israeli Forum for Cooperation), an organization that promotes relations between Israel and the European Union.

Funny, but the same Spanish authorities aren't exactly concerned with war crimes and crimes against humanity perpetrated by Palestinian terrorists from 2000 onwards. Purposeful attacks against civilian targets. Bombarding Israeli cities with thousands of rockets and mortars - each with the intent to murder and maim Israelis. Infiltration attacks with the intent to kidnap and hold Israelis hostage in order to secure the release of hundreds of Palestinian terrorists from Israeli jails.

The Spaniards have no nexus with the events in Gaza, and I'm curious as to how they could even claim jurisdiction. If they somehow manage to go forward with this charade, it sets a real bad precedent for all nations - as anyone could proffer war crimes charges against anyone - and don't expect the focus to be on folks like the regime in Khartoum, Robert Mugabe, or other thugs and dictators around the world.

The Spanish efforts are a direct attempt to undermine Israel's capabilities to defend itself in the Palestinian war against Israel.

Some Interfaith Dialogue

The Saudi King decided to sponsor an interfaith dialogue, but had to choose Spain for the forum instead of Saudi Arabia since the Saudis greatly discourage non Muslims from setting foot in the country, and ban non Muslims from entering Mecca.

Now comes word that the United Arab Emirates has an issue with Jews.

But after a day's worth of speeches by Christian, Jewish, Muslim, and Hindu leaders, in the middle of the fourth two-hour conference session, a government official from the United Arab Emirates urged Muslim leaders to avoid the company of Zionists.

"We have to distinguish between Judaism and Zionism," the official, Izzeddin Mustafa Ibrahim, who is listed on the program as an adviser on cultural affairs to the president of the U.A.E., said. "Zionism is a political system. Judaism is a religion."

He continued: "I can speak to pacifists but not bellicists, who are in favor of war."

Mr. Ibrahim, a Muslim scholar of Christianity who said he has met with three popes in the interests of Christian-Muslim relations, then continued: "I have only one minute left," referring to the amount of speaking time allotted to him, and finished off his statements with a broad appeal to begin a "Judaic and Islamic dialogue."

"I believe it has to start," Mr. Ibrahim said, referring to such a dialogue.

A New York rabbi, Marc Schneier, then took the lectern but did not directly respond to Mr. Ibrahim's statements about Zionism. He spoke of outreach efforts in North America between imams and rabbis.

In an interview outside the conference room, however, another New York rabbi denounced Mr. Ibrahim's remarks "as the same old rhetoric that has led to more hatred and the building of a wall between the Jews and the Muslims for the last 60 years."

Let's remind the UAE that Israel came into existence after the Arabs (Muslims) rejected any accommodation of a two-state solution and have spent the subsequent 60 years seeking nothing less than the destruction of Israel.

Jews are restricted from going near the Temple Mount in Jerusalem to pray because the Israeli authorities have deemed it insensitive and could lead to riots from the al Aqsa mosque (which coincidentally appears to have been a meeting place for men plotting to kill President Bush when he paid a visit to Israel). Jews are prohibited from visiting Rachel's Tomb for similar concerns, and are restricted from going to the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron for the same reason. Israel bends over backwards to accommodate Muslim concerns, while limiting Jewish parishioners from going to these sacred locations.

It's also curious how the UAE tries to distinguish between Judaism and Zionism, when Islam is both a political and a religious movement. The Islamists repeatedly seek to impose Islamic law on all those who are under its dominion - as per Saudi law and the law in many parts of the world where Muslims make up a majority (Indonesia, Malaysia, Iran, etc.).

Verdicts Handed Down on Madrid Bombings

Verdicts have been handed down on the Madrid bombings. 21 of 28 defendants were found guilty.

Those convicted include one of the alleged surviving ringleaders, Jamal Zougam.

Four people have been convicted of murder, among other offences. Three were sentenced to 30 years in prison for each of the 191 victims and 20 years each for each of the 1,800 injured.

Spaniard Emilio Suarez Trashorras, found guilty of supplying explosives, is among them.

However, seven others were found not guilty, including one of the alleged ringleaders, Rabei Osman. He is also known as Mohammed The Egyptian. Have no fear, however, because not guilty in this case doesn't mean he skates. He's serving a 10-year sentence for terror offences in Italy.

MSNBC has more on who was found guilty:

The three convicted lead suspects were handed sentences that stretched into the tens of thousands of years. They include Jamal Zougam, a Moroccan convicted of placing at least one bomb on one of the trains; Emilio Suarez Trashorras, a Spaniard who is a former miner found guilty of supplying the explosives used in the attacks; and Osman Gnaoui, a Moroccan accused of being a right-hand man of the plot’s operational chief.

Compare this with the lenient sentences handed down in the Bali bombing cases, which were then further watered down by the courts there. The Spanish courts gave these terrorists no mercy at all.

UPDATE:
While the Spanish courts threw the book at the convicted terrorists, Spanish law took away most of the sting, because the maximum sentence that can be imposed is 40 years. [HT: Captain Ed] Captain Ed also notes:

That works out to 76 days per victim, a detestable result.

Even more detestable, Osman walks away from any responsibility for the Madrid attack. Apparently the Spanish court didn't take Osman's own word for his leadership in attacking Spanish civilians with bombs on 11-M. The lack of a conviction in this case will certainly do nothing to deter future attacks in Spain, especially for those who style themselves as terrorist leaders. Even wiretaps won't bother such people in the future, since the courts don't put any stock into the taped conversations captured by intel and law-enforcement agents.

I fear he's right. The terrorists will continue to plot against Spain. If Spaniards are outraged over the fact that these sentences were reduced to all of 40 years, then they ought to do something about capping sentences.

Barcelona's Blackout

Worry about blackouts isn't confined to the US. Europe and the rest of the world have them as well. A blackout in Barcelona shut down large parts of the city earlier today:

Fecsa attributed the outage to a failure of part of the high-tension network of Catalonia.

A power failure that affects since this morning a large part of Barcelona and the región of Baix Llobregat is causing large problems in the Barcelona area leaving without light numerous homes, businesses, hospitals, traffic lights and public transportation systems such as the Metro and the Ferrocarriles de la Generalitat.

According to information provided to Efe by Barcelona Town Hall, the outage coincided with fires at two electrical transformers in the city, situated on Paseo Maragall and Avenida Josep Tarradellas, where various fire departments responded.

For its part, a spokesman for the company Fecsa-Endesa confirmed that the outage affected various points of the city and the metropolitana area, although he affirmed that it still remains unknown the causes and the number affected.

The outage left without electricity a good part of the districts of Sants, Eixample, Gracia, Sant Andreu, Sarrià-Sant Gervasi and Ciutat Vella, as well as some neighborhoods of L'Hospitalet de Llobregat and de Esplugues, has provoked considerable road and train chaos, and has left without light a large number of businesses, stores and homes.

At its height, more than 300,000 customers were without power. Infrastructure woes aren't unique to the US. The rest of the world has to deal with systems that are getting older and limited efforts to modernize them.

Here in the New York metro area, Con Ed continues to get slammed for its response to the steam explosion. Longtime critic, NYC Councilman Michael Gianaris (D-Queens) wants the utility to face increased scrutiny and oversight. His district was hit hard by last summer's extended blackout when Con Ed's power grid suffered a major meltdown.

Gianaris said Con Ed should reimburse the dozens of businesses that have been affected by the blast for lost business - something he said was not done for the merchants in his district who were affected by the 2006 blackout.

"They covered nothing for lost business opportunity in that eight-, nine-day period, and it sounds to me like they're doing the same thing in midtown Manhattan, where they're covering clothes and cleanup and they're telling people to file their claims for lost business and their lawyers will review them on a case-by-case basis," he said.

Following last summer's blackout, which affected more than 100,000 people, Gianaris headed an Assembly task force that introduced legislation to force Con Ed to compete, to mandate independent audits of the utility and to increase reimbursements to merchants affected by outages.

"They have no reason to improve because there's not a damn thing we can do about it when they screw up," Gianaris said at a news conference in front of Con Ed headquarters near Union Square. "We can no longer sit by and coddle this company and pat them on the back every time disaster strikes."

Fiery Attack On Glasgow Airport Has Britain Worried

Are more attacks planned that bear the hallmarks of the two vehicles discovered in the heart of London? Those vehicles, packed with gasoline, gas canisters and nails, could have caused mass casualties and significant damage.

Well, there was another attack, this time at the airport in Glasgow, Scotland. A vehicle drove into the airport, and the driver set himself and his vehicle alight. Police are searching a home near the airport and it had been rented only a month ago to two Asian men (which is the usual word the Brits use to describe Muslims jihadis).

A number of men are currently being held in connection with the attacks. The attack at Glasgow's airport sent authorities scrambling and have raised the UK's terrorist warning to its highest level indicating that other attacks are imminent. The US has not raised its terror warning level, but US airports have increased security, including the three New York area airports.

Britain’s threat level is now at “critical,” meaning another attack is considered imminent. The threat has not been as high since last year, after authorities discovered what they called a plot to attack trans-Atlantic airliners with liquid explosives.

A British security official, who like many other officials who disclosed information insisted on anonymity, said Saturday that the heightened level reflected an assessment that the London and Glasgow cases were “linked in some ways and, therefore, there are clearly individuals who have the capability and intent to carry out further attacks.”

The links relate to the way the London car bombs and Glasgow airport attack were planned, using vehicles and gasoline, the official said.

In the United States, the Department of Homeland Security issued a statement from Secretary Michael Chertoff saying there were no plans to raise the national threat level because there was “no specific, credible information” suggesting any threat to the United States.

But the federal government took a number of steps, given the events in Britain and the approaching July 4 holiday, to elevate security.

Homeland Security officials said they included additional bomb detection canine teams at airports and behavior-detection squads.

The New York City police said they were monitoring events in London and Scotland and were maintaining the heightened security that began after the discovery of the car bombs in London.

The measures include sending officers into parking garages with sensors that detect the presence of chemical, biological and radiological agents, and closely monitoring tourist areas, including nightclubs, said the department’s chief spokesman, Paul J. Browne.

Although there were questions throughout the day about whether the Glasgow vehicle crashed intentionally, by Saturday night, Sir William Rae, the chief constable of the Strathclyde area around Glasgow, said it was an act of terrorism.

Mr. Rae said one of the two men was found to be wearing a “suspicious device” at the hospital where he was being treated, and the hospital was evacuated. Mr. Rae declined to comment on reporters’ suggestions that the assailant — said to be in critical condition — had been wearing an explosive belt. A person with knowledge of the investigation, however, said that the device was a suicide belt, and also that the car contained propane canisters.

Mr. Rae said the attack at the airport, Scotland’s largest, was linked to the car bombs in London, but he did not elaborate.

Some are wondering why this group of bombers was able to evade detection. Well, there are too many jihadis and too few intel officers to track all the threats and possible threats. Officials concede that they may have had this particular group in their sights at some point, but can't say for sure.

London Mayor Red Ken Livingston goes out of his way to defend Muslims and ignores that the recent bombings and terrorist attacks in the City have been committed by jihadists, not by the IRA or other groups:

London Mayor Ken Livingstone called on Britons Saturday not to demonize Muslims after a double car bomb plot was foiled in the capital, amid fears of a Islamist terror threat.

At the same time he criticized Britain over its ties with Saudi Arabia, which he said had fuelled intolerance in the past through its Wahhabist form of Islam, creating a "major problem."

"In this city, Muslims are more likely to be law-abiding than non-Muslims and less likely to support the use of violence to achieve political ends than non-Muslims," he told BBC Radio.

"They have played a good and active and growing role in creating a multi-cultural society," he added.

He noted that terrorist acts had been carried out in London over the years by various groups including for example far-right groups. For years the British capital was wracked by violence by the Irish Republican Army (IRA).

"All I am interested in as mayor is that we try to prevent all acts of violence whether it is by a disaffected young member of the (far-right) BNP (British National Party), whether it is by an Islamist or a Wahhabist supporter," he said.

That Red Ken can say the part in bold with a straight face tells you all you need to know. That said, the British government's ties to Saudi Arabia are troubling (just as US relations are similarly troubling). The Saudi regime is as corrupt as they come and their religious views helped spur the al Qaeda movement worldwide.

The fact is that these attacks are likely spurred by the changeover from the Blair government to the Brown government. The jihadis are hoping to replicate the Spanish example. After terrorists blew up multiple bombs on Spanish trains killing 200+ people, the Spanish government withdrew its troops from Iraq.

The terrorists may have timed the attacks hoping that enough spectacular attacks could force the British to reconsider their part in the war on terror.

As usual, check Hot Air frequently for updates.

UPDATE:
Michelle Malkin also takes Red Ken to task for his comments. She also comments that Tony Blair noted that Tony Blair called the civil liberty absolutists loony as jihadis continue running around the UK preparing to commit mass murder. A fifth person has been arrested in connection with the attacks.

Thus far, no comment from Keith Olbermann and Larry Johnson, who pooh poohed the discovery of the two gas-laden vehicles on Friday. The attackers at Glasgow screamed out "Allah Allah" when being apprehended, but the media chooses to deemphasize that aspect. This conflict continues to be poorly covered by a media that refrains from shedding light on the enemy's true intentions.

James Carafano wonders whether American politicians and law enforcement will draw the wrong conclusions from the British incidents, opting to install thousands of cameras to provide surveillance throughout the country, but have shown their utility only in documenting who committed the acts after the fact. Banning stuff is another option that people will consider, but terrorists determined to carry out evil acts will find ways to obtain those materials or use alternative methods that were previously not considered threatening.

UPDATE:
Authorities have used controlled demolition to blow up a vehicle parked at the hospital where one of the terrorists is being treated for his injuries after he set himself alight.

UPDATE:
Paramedics tell of the discovery of the first bomb-laden vehicle and how their actions may have saved scores of lives:

A two-man ambulance crew, one aged 27 and the other 37, alerted police after smelling gas coming from the vehicle.

The 37-year-old, who was not named, said: "As we pulled up outside Tiger Tiger, we came to a stop behind a Mercedes car, which was parked rather badly, about three feet from the kerb.

"We thought it was a bit odd and that led my crewmate, who was driving, to pull around the car and park just in front of it.

"As we got out and walked past the car we realised it had its lights on but the engine was off.

"I thought I saw a jet of smoke coming out from between the front seats and my crewmate also noticed there was a funny smell of gas.

"At that stage our priority was to find and help the patient we had been called to.

"Once inside, we treated a man who had suffered minor head injuries after a fall. He did not need to go to hospital so we sorted him out quite quickly and headed back outside to our ambulance.

"We can't have been inside for more than a few minutes and as soon as we got outside we smelt gas again.

"Then we saw the jet of smoke was still there so we got straight on the radio to our control room and asked them to call the police and the fire brigade.

"We just did what any ambulance crew would have done - we noticed something we thought was odd and we acted on it. I am just glad that we managed to do that before it was too late."

US intel appears to have had some warning of an attack on the Glasgow airport.

Meanwhile, back in the US, while security has been tightened at NYC area airports, a suspicious package has led to the evacuation of a JFK airport terminal. The American Airlines terminal has since reopened, but this wont be the last of these kinds of incidents.

UPDATE:
Via EC Marm at LGF, the creepy image of the bomber at Glasgow as authorities raced to put out the flames.

UPDATE:
As usual, check out Hot Air for running updates. They've got some interesting angles worth checking out.

What's more important, however, is the fact that we've once again found that the Islamic terrorists behind the latest attacks in Britain are not the poor and wretched, but rather doctors and middle class folks. The 9/11 hijackers were all from middle class upbringings and poverty didn't even enter into their equation.

Two more doctors are being held in connection with the ongoing investigations. As Charles at LGF wonders whether it is time to cross poverty off the list of root causes behind Islamic jihad.

So, when will the obligatory whining and seething story from British Muslims come out? I give it another six hours.

UPDATE:
Well, it would seem that the terrorists planned on using the second bomb to kill and maim those responding to the carnage due to the first bomb. They were going after the rescuers.

"Whilst Haymarket itself is quite a wide street, the position of the car, which was parked directly in front of the entrance to Tiger Tiger and an alleyway, meant the blast would have been funnelled right into the club and all the people coming out. Make no mistake, these people knew what they were doing."

The second car bomb had been left on Park Lane, a busy thoroughfare around the clock. The expert said: "The car was parked far enough away not to immediately raise suspicion but close enough to be in the vicinity of ambulance, fire engines and police cars attending the first blast.

"Also, because it is a main road, there would have been a very strong possibility that other passers-by would have been caught up in the chaos too when that one detonated.

"It is only by the grace of God that both of these devices were discovered but the authorities know that there will almost certainly be others."

UPDATE:
Flopping Aces (and here) has some interesting schematics and other information about the bombs, the plot, and related information.


A photo of one of the jihadis who set himself alight at Glasgow Airport (more photos of the carnage and related investigation here)

As noted above, some folks are going to try and use this failed plot to push for greater surveillance in the US. Joe Lieberman is among them. Redstate has more.

Others blogging the ongoing developments: AJ Strata, Noblesse Oblige, and Jammie Wearing Fool.

UPDATE:
The US is increasing the number of air marshals on overseas flights.