Spain Unseats France As Top U.S. Critic

[onedomino]

Spain’s behavior since the election of Socialist terrorist appeasers has been impressively maladaptive. Zapatero, Spanish Socialist PM, set a new European speed record for capitulation (eclipsing the six week French “resistance” against the Nazis) when he announced Spain’s withdrawal from Iraq two days after his election.

Spain Unseats France As Top U.S. Critic
By ELIZABETH BRYANT

http://interestalert.com/brand/siteia.shtml?Story=st/sn/10180000aaa02760.upi&Sys=siteia&Fid=WORLDNEW&Type=News&Filter=World%20News

MADRID, Oct. 18 (UPI) -- Farewell freedom fries. Hello, maybe, to the freedom omelet?
So far, there are no indications Spain's signature dish is paying the price on Capitol Hill for the latest transatlantic discord. But six months after Socialist Prime Minister Jose Luis Zapatero swept to power, Madrid has switched from being one of Washington's staunchest allies to arguably its sharpest critic in Western Europe.
Gone are pre-Iraq war snapshots of Spain's former conservative leader Jose Maria Aznar grinning alongside U.S. President George W. Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair.
In their place are more recent images of Zapatero flanked by leaders of the antiwar camp -- French President Jacques Chirac and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder -- at a September summit in Madrid.
"Old Europe is alive and well," Zapatero declared last month, rebutting the famous dismissal of Paris and Berlin by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.
So badly have relations deteriorated that the U.S. ambassador to Spain, George Argyros, opted to go hunting last week instead of attending national day celebrations in Madrid -- where French troops pointedly marched in a morning parade instead of American ones.
The incident sparked a flurry of counter-snubs and accusations, barely papered under official protests that bilateral relations were fundamentally solid.
Spanish Foreign Minister Angel Moratinos denounced the ambassador's no-show as discourteous. Defense Minister Jose Bono -- who previously called Blair "an imbecile" on national television -- declared Madrid had no intention of "falling on its knees" to any foreign government, including the one in Washington.
For its part, the Bush administration has shown it has a long memory when it comes to diplomatic slights. Even as he acknowledged that "mistakes can get made," Ambassador Argyros criticized Zapatero's refusal to honor the American flag in protesting the Iraq war.
"It was a real insult to the American people," Argyros told El Pais newspaper in an interview published Saturday, referring to last year's Columbus Day celebrations when Zapatero, then an opposition leader, declined to stand as U.S. soldiers marched past.
The frayed transatlantic relations are one fallout of a profound social and political upheaval underway since Spain's young leftist government came to office. From plans to relax antiabortion restrictions, fast-track divorces and legalize gay marriage, to withdrawing Spanish troops from Iraq and renewing traditional ties in Europe, North Africa and Latin America, Zapatero and his ministers have wasted no time in dismantling Aznar's conservative legacy.
But redefining Spain's relationship with the United States has been a leitmotif of the leftist administration that was catapulted into power after the March 11 Madrid terrorist bombings -- which many voters blamed on Aznar's support for the deeply unpopular, U.S.-led war on Iraq.
Less than 48 hours after taking office in mid-April, Zapatero announced the withdrawal of Spanish forces from Iraq. Then in Tunis last month, he suggested all foreign troops should follow suit, a remark that prompted U.S. demands for clarification.
Ordinary Spaniards, however, are far from displeased with their new prime minister. The constellation of social changes promised by his staunchly secular government has drawn widespread public approval, albeit the ire of Spain's Roman Catholic church.
Nor do Spaniards like Lourdes Pinyol Marti mind seeing their leader standing up to Washington -- just as the French did.
"I completely agree with Zapatero," said the 48-year-old Barcelona high school teacher. "The American government is very self-centered, very reactionary. Zapatero is much more liberal, much more aligned with Europe."
Indeed, Spanish perceptions of the United States and the Bush administration ranked lowest in a 10-country opinion survey published by foreign newspapers last week. Only 47 percent of Spaniards said they viewed the United States favorably, and just 13 percent supported Bush. By contrast, 72 percent of French saw the United States in a positive light, and one in five backed the Republican President.
"Spanish anti-Americanism has always been pretty powerful," said Charles Powell, senior analyst at the Elcano Royal Institute, a Madrid-based think tank. While many French and Germans remember America as a World War II liberator, he said, many Spaniards are still bitter about U.S. support of Spanish dictator Francisco Franco.
"If you add the Bush factor to the strong base of latent anti-American feeling," Powell added, "the result is indeed that Spain is now probably the most anti-American country in Western Europe."
The present discord marks a sharp departure from eight years under Aznar -- who shared much in common with Bush besides Iraq.
A devout Catholic, the Popular Party leader took a tough stance against gay marriage and abortion. His conservative government passed a law making Catholic classes mandatory in public schools, and fought to include the mention of Christianity in the European Constitution. And like Bush, Aznar made the fight against terror a central tenet of his administration.
"In a way, Aznar was probably closer to President Bush than Prime Minister Tony Blair has ever been," Powell said, "partly because of their shared values, as Christian believers. But more broadly because of their shared views of contemporary world history and of America's role in the world."
Before his election to office, Zapatero publicly endorsed democratic presidential nominee John Kerry. Today, he is pursuing Aznar's antiterrorist policies but rejects the concept of a "war" on terror, calling instead for a dialogue between the West and the Muslim world.
If Bush is reelected in November, some analysts believe Zapatero will have to work hard mending fences.
But just as Aznar reaped few economic windfalls for his close ties to Washington -- not a single Spanish company, for example, cinched a major postwar contract in Iraq -- the new transatlantic divide may not necessarily lead to U.S. boycotts of Rioja wine and Spanish ham.
"The Zapatero government hasn't been very delicate in its handling of U.S. relations," said Antonio Remiro, an international relations professor at the University of Madrid. "But France is much more present on the international landscape, so it's much more interesting for the Bush administration to aim its cannons against France."
"Spain" he added, "is just a secondary actor in this story."

 

[Avatar4321]

Im not to worried about this. The socialist government in Spain is unstable. The second this PM says something wrong his coalition will fall apart and spain might have some real leadership.

 

[onedomino]

Im not to worried about this. The socialist government in Spain is unstable. The second this PM says something wrong his coalition will fall apart and spain might have some real leadership.

I think it is worrisome that Spain has joined the anti-American Franco-German coalition.

 

[NATO AIR]

its temporary at best...

and i love spanish girls so so so so much more than french broads

we also have to be realistic, we need to work harder to mend fences with spain on our atrocious past deeds of supporting franco and his ilk

 

[Merlin1047]

This is the result of decades of spineless State Department ass kissing of the European governments. They begrudgingly tolerated us so long as American money, troops and technology stood between them and the Soviet Union. But now that that threat has evaporated, the Umpa-Lumpas think they're full sized.

Now more than ever we need a government that does not cave in to European jingoism. Because if we do, we will be getting the short end once again.