In Madrid, a new look at terror

SPAIN remembers today the first anniversary of the  deadly bombings that killed 200 and wounded 1,500 commuters in Madrid on March 11, 2004.  The Madrid attack sent a chilling message to countries that openly backed the US in the war on Iraq:  Those that sent troops to Iraq—among them the United Kingdom, Australia and Poland—face the risk of retaliatory terrorist action.

The message should not be lost on the Philippines. Although the country did not send troops, it dispatched a 95-man peacekeeping unit after the invasion of Iraq.  President Arroyo withdrew the peacekeepers at the instance of Iraqi terrorists who kidnapped a Filipino worker. The country is reeling from the series of bombings that jolted the country on Valentine’s Day.