Thursday, March 11, 2004

The most recent figures are 175 dead and 898 wounded in Madrid. Prime Minister Aznar just spoke to the country, encouraging calm and security and emphasizing that the terrorists would be defeated through legal means. There will be no military coup. If this had happened in 1979, say, there might have been at the very least a declaration of martial law. Aznar emphasized that he is in control here, as Al Haig once wisely said. Aznar, in his speech, made a reference to Franklin Roosevelt's Pearl Harbor speech, saying that March 11 was a day of infamy. Aznar explicitly referred to the "international struggle against terrorism", and made all of our feelings very clear when he said, "We will defeat them".

I suppose that the elections scheduled for Sunday, March 14, will be held; we can't let the terrorists dictate the timing of the most basic process in our democracy.

Some of the film is really, really awful. Antena 3 showed a very badly damaged human torso, and there is apparently a good deal of film that is being held back, at least for now, and I certainly undestand why.

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