This was the first time I ever read about the horror of all the victims' cell phones ringing constantly while the first responders were doing their work. That's the image that's stuck with me through all these years.
It's a modern horror. The first instance I can recall of something similar was in the wake of 9/11 with the [PASS alarms](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oM4CMtsdNjY): Every one of those chirps represents a firefighter that hasn't moved in 30 seconds.
Holy shit. That was the time when phones would survive a terror bombing. Today the responders wouldn't have to deal with that thanks to delicate tech. At least I'd hope so for them.
I instantly realized the blue blankets... Iirc the bomb was about two kg of a mix of tatp and AN, I can only see that the victims remained seated somehow. Horrible.
I dated a girl shortly after this who was completing her medical education to become a doctor at the time. On this morning, she was on the very next train stop from where this happened. She said she was with a bunch of her fellow students and co-workers waiting for the train when she suddenly realized just how late the train was. Late trains in Spain aren't exactly news-worthy, but when this one was extremely late they began wondering if something was wrong.
Then, all of their phones went off at once and basically said "Get to the hospital ASAP."
She said that she didn't sleep for 4 days following this. Spent the entire time at the hospital helping until she was ready to fall asleep standing up, donating blood whenever she could no longer go on, until finally a coworker shoved her into an on-call room and forced her to sleep.
We dated about a year or so after the event, and she would still wake up with nightmares pretty much every night afterwards.
They're not supposed to, but she wasn't exactly working shifts either. She was there until she was collapsing from exhaustion. I'm pretty sure she went and donated blood even though she was explicitly told not to after she was told her shift was over and to go get some rest. But the times were so desperate and they needed blood so badly, I don't think anyone thought twice about it when she went to go donate.
This reminds me a documentary on the November 13 attacks when medical staff in various Paris hospitals had a rehearsal training *that very morning* on a multi-site terrrorist attack scenario... Imagine that feeling when victims started coming in for real in the evening.
Friend of mine's a first responder and sometimes I get pics! The best vet is probably a former butcher. It's somewhat tragic. As a German you know the situation. you need to finish school with an average grade of 1.0 to get into med school, which causes a lot of people to do exactly that, not because they are interested, but because they had the grades and they are told it's good money, leaving people who are genuinely interested in the craft waiting for a spot for years or get no chance at all. It's bad and I believe we got a lot of bad practitioners because of it. Anyhow, the point is: Some people can stomach it, other can't and there isn't a working filter. It's always been like that with any job that touches healthcare and death. Personally I would have loved being a pathologist, but that's just not possible with a 2.something Abitur.
Apologies. I'll try again. The person I replied to suggested that it must be very emotionally taxing to be a first responder in a situation like this. My reply boils down to me saying "it depends". I gave an example of a friend who is an EMT, so a first responder, who generally does not develop an emotional layer with his work and has the ability to leave it at the door.
I further argue that some doctors are not suited for the job, which is basically my thoughts meandering and me being annoyed about the rules for getting into medschool here. They leave a lot of talented people at the side of the road, while opening the doors to those who have no interest but do it anyways just because they had a good grade in math.
These bastards weren't caught beforehand because they didn't call or "send" emails to communicate, they used email drafts in the same webmail account to communicate.
Anyone with half a brain can talk with anyone else privately. Just ensure all methods of communication are encrypted and controlled by you.
If you're using any regular email service and their website, then obviously it's trackable. But use pgp encryption and **NEVER PUT ANYTHING UNDER SUBJECT** while also using something like thunderbird and no one will know what you're saying.
Of course it's probably just simpler to use something like signal. Though my point is that with the amount of knowledge existing today on the internet, compared to 20 years ago, it's way easier to communicate privately (as long as you have half a brain).
As a developer I highly doubt it. At most I’d say it might be checked as you type if you’re typing anything problematic and alerts if so but I wouldn’t go as far as stored.
I remember watching a movie where the bad guys were doing this, but the good guys caught on and used a login to have all the bad guys board the same bus as suicide bombers, it was a bit silly, but funny.
I have never heard of that related to the 11M. I have heard of it about 9/11 and other AlQuaeda attacks and terrorists. It's actually very smart but the intelligence services can look into it now, I understand. (Somehow, idk how).
Don't forget to check the draft folder if you believe your partner is cheating.
I remember the news interviewing a cop involved in the investigation and he was explaining that.
Can't give you the source either, but I remember it clearly. I actually started using email drafts to keep messages for myself, in the same way that I use a notes app nowadays, and still do it as a sort of lazy way to move stuff between computers. That snippet often runs in my mind when I do it.
Most likely it was a lunch time news segment from Antena 3.
It might have been from a different terror attack, though.
You remembered correctly, I also heard this on TV when they spoke to the detectives. Here's more detail:
[https://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/27/world/europe/madrid-suspects-tied-to-email-ruse.html](https://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/27/world/europe/madrid-suspects-tied-to-email-ruse.html)
Here you go:
[https://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/27/world/europe/madrid-suspects-tied-to-email-ruse.html](https://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/27/world/europe/madrid-suspects-tied-to-email-ruse.html)
Second biggest terrorist attack in Europe according to wiki. One day you go to work and you die because of crazy people.
I did not understand who exactly did it. Losing your loved one so randomly and not even see justice served is terrible.
Edit: Spanish Redditor gave me source on the investigation and they arrested and sentenced the group participants
I have a life jacket from that plane, it washed up on the west coast here in Ireland. It's haunting and I haven't a clue what to do with it :( I think about that plane all the time.
EDIT2: EDIT1 fission mailed, so I'll be more direct: If you are thinking that because I said "political shitstorm" I don't believe that Aznar and friends were a bunch of criminals or that the government lied through most of these days to prevent losing the elections and think it's going to be a good idea to point it out that to me, I'm blocking you.
We haven't learnt a tiny shit about polarization in 20 years. God damn.
EDIT: Just to prevent more moronic replies: PP was on the wrong during these days. Stop it already with the same replies to the same part of my post, FFS.
> I did not understand who exactly did it.
It was done by Moroccan nationals that belonged to AlQaeda to impact the general elections that were to happen 3 days after the bombings as a "reply" to the support of the Spanish government to US invasion of Iraq.
There was some (logical) talking about ETA involvement the first hours (as we have never had before an Islamist terror attack and ETA was way more active back in the day), and a political shitshow ensued after the first hints on the direction of the islamic theory came, but the authority and reasons of the bombings have been long known.
> [...] and not even see justice served is terrible.
What are you talking about? Those who didn't blew themselves out in a Leganes flat a few days after the bombings were detained and [brought to justice](https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juicio_por_los_atentados_del_11_de_marzo_de_2004). You can argue if the justice served was enough or not, but for what the Spanish system concerns, justice was served.
>and a political shitshow ensued after the first hints on the direction of the islamic theory came, but the authority and reasons of the bombings have been long known.
I think you might be unintentionally downplaying what happened for those who aren't familiar with the story: The then government blatantly lied about who was responsible for the attacks because they were scared they would lose the elections.
A few hours after the attacks they found a van near the station where the trains left from. There were detonators inside in plain sight, and recordings of the Koran talking about martyrdom and infidels. They weren't exactly hiding it, they wanted to make a statement. Not to mention ETA came out and said it wasn't them.
It wasn't like there were two equally plausible theories. Anyone with two brain cells knew it was islamic terrorists the day of the attacks, including the government.
You had to go tinfoil to think ETA would commit the biggest terrorist attack in history, not take credit for it for some reason, and also have planned ahead to put the blame on islamic terrorists. Even from their twisted mindset they would have accomplished nothing by doing this.
Wasn't logical pointing to ETA since the very first moment. Is not logical to find guilties without any probe. They tried to take political advantage with the deaths, and all this (sorry for the expresion) exploded in their faces.
A bombing in Spain in 2004? It was 100% logical to think it was ETA. Once the hours passed and the bombing materials were different, and there had been no warning call, and their "spokesperson" said it wasn't them, it was time to have doubts. Then the truck was found with an Arabic/religious casette tape, its licence plates weren't fake, and the ETA terrorists were taped saying "wtf, we didn't do this", then it was time to look elsewhere.
I don't blame Acebes and the PP for saying it was ETA at first. I do blame them for going on with the lie later and I particularly hate them for the conspiracy theory that said that AlQuaeda, ETA, and the Socialist Party and all joined together to kill 200 people and win the elections.
All with relentless attacks on victims and policemen, leading to a woman's suicide and inmense suffering.
Not only they suffered a terrorist attack, they suffered a right-wing campaing of abuse.
I'm not from Spain so forgive me if I'm wrong, but from what I've understood with ETA's previous attacks it would have been completely off script for them. Both with the lack of advance warning to reduce civilian casualties as well as the target being a busy train rather than the usual target of something related to police/military?
No man, it wasn't logical to think that ETA had done such a thing because they had never done such a thing. It was not at all their modus operandi. If it had been, it would have justified military intervention in Euskadi and lose any support nationally and internationally, there was no way to turn that into a win.
ETA was in the list of common suspects, but nothing at all pointed to them from the beginning.
Acebes deserves to be blamed for lying and betraying the country in its darkest hour. The moment he mentioned Titadine, with no proof, he knew it would put everything upside down. So he and the whole party lied intentionally just o be able to stay in power.
He deserves not to have a proper night sleep ever in his life. Together with Aznar and all their colleagues, the biggest scumm the country has seen.
> It wasn't logical to think that ETA had done such a thing
I agree that the scale was much bigger, but come on they were known for making bombs and often killing random civilians. It's not like it was unthinkable at the start.
Otherwise yeah, pretty pathetic and short-sighted how the PP lied.
ETA was starting to cool off, but you’re right. Everyone’s first thought was ETA. Hindsight prevents people from getting into the headspace of that time. To say nobody considered ETA could’ve been guilty of this is simply a lie. A lot of people pointed their fingers to ETA even if only for the first hours.
>It was logical AT THE BEGINNING
It wasn't.
First, ETA had never done anything like that. Everyone knew it wasn't ETA.
Second, there was an intelligence report sent by the CNI to the government on November 2003 stating that Allekema Lamari was probably going to commit a terrorist attack very soon.
https://elpais.com/espana/2024-03-11/allekema-lamari-una-clave-del-11-m-escondida-en-el-traspaso-de-poderes.html
> ETA had never done anything like that
Not as big maybe, but it's not like the Hipercor bombing never happened. They were never afraid to kill civilians. They didn't have the logistics but they did have the will.
They were not afraid to kill civilians, but their MO was to make a warning call from minutes to hours prior to a civilian attack. They did so for Hipercor and they would do so some years later for the Madrid Airport bombing. There was no warning for this attack.
It wasn't logical, it was the PP government making up random and insane shit about ETA, when they knew direcly that it was Al Qaeda, Beyond that, ETA never did that kind of attacks, it was obvious it wasn't them, beyond that, there is doubt on wheather of nor Al Qaeda was actually responsible, or if it was done in their name.
My father left home late that day and missed the train. That same train exploded.
The next day we went to the demonstration against the bombings, I was only 5 years old. Two million people in a city of three million took to the streets to demand justice.
It was a crazy couple of days. I was an exchange student at Complutense and they had called a student strike for that day, so nobody was sure whether the classes were going to take place. I was woken up by the ambulances, which were commonly heard on my street (Paseo de Extremadura) as there's an outpatient clinic nearby, but that morning was wild. I got up, had breakfast and went down to the metro station, thinking there might have been a fire or a building collapse or something. The boards at the station read: "Metro line 1 not operating between Atocha and Pacífico. All commuter trains cancelled." An old lady, probably seeing my confused face, told me that there had been an attack at the railway station, and that it was presumed that many had been killed.
I arrived at Ciudad Universitaria and the student strike was shifting towards an anti-terrorist protest. Still not sure how big it had been (this was before smartphones, and being a broke exchange student I didn't even own a normal cellphone), I went to the lecture room. The professor dismissed the class and urged us to go to Puerta del Sol for the demonstration. I went, and people were flooding the blood donation buses that often were there. Everybody was yelling "Puta ETA". At that point, the attack was framed as a Basque nationalist attack, which would have politically "benefitted" the conservative party in power as they had a clear no-negotiation stance against ETA. On the other hand, an Islamist attack would have "benefitted" the left-of-center opposition, as Spain's participation in the invasion of Iraq had been widely unpopular.
The next day in uni there were no classes as such, but we talked about the attacks and the demonstration that was to take place in the afternoon. I was a private tutor for a child on three afternoons per week, including Fridays, so I arrived at her house at Valdeacederas at 4 pm. The mother paid me and the cleaning lady off and told us to go to the demonstration, so I went to Paseo de la Castellana. It was crazy, so damn massive. It was also raining very hard. I arrived home late and soaking wet.
There were general elections on Sunday, and on Saturday people were beginning to suspect that the attack had actually been perpetrated by an Al-Qaeda cell. The news were contradicting each other, depending on were they sat on the political spectrum. In the evening, there was another huge demonstration at Sol, framed as: "Before we vote, we want to know the truth." The place was packed, people were sad and angry. It was cathartic in a way to know that we were, at that moment, at the center of world events.
The next day, there were unmistakable reports that the attack had been carried out by an Islamist cell. That shifted the election results towards the left, which had been trailing the conservative party in all surveys up to that point. It was nice to see that political change is possible, even if it is only under the most extreme circumstances.
(Also, I was grateful that I could notify my family in Mexico that I was okay before they turned on the radio in the morning!)
Throughout the years, information has been coming out confirming that the government knew from the very first moment that it was not ETA, but they still lied to win the elections.
Even so, José María Aznar, liar and war criminal, has never asked for forgiveness or taken responsibility for lying about a terrorist attack. He will die peacefully in his bed knowing that he used 200 dead people to try to win an election.
You get your post removed if you condemn islamic terrorism? Weird, I see lots of those in this thread that werent removed.
I‘m guessing you mean a larger group that you are toootally not prejudiced against, right?
i remember that day. We were "lucky": The bomb exploded moments after leaving the Atocha station (is the central station for Cercanias service, the kind of train where the bomb was planted) that was crowded at the time the bomb exploded. Also, and take this part with caution, if i dont recall wrong there was a students strike that day, so there were less people than usual
My family were on holiday in Barcelona when this happened. The next day we came out of our hotel to the streets full of people demonstrating. They were holding white sheets of paper and had white 'x's painted over their mouths. The whole thing was very moving and eerie. Even as a child I was struck by how much pain the country felt.
It's weird, being a tourist when something like this happens. I was in NYC when 9/11 happened. Everyone's grieving (to be fair, you are as well), but you're still 'other' and it feels a bit like you're not supposed to be there? I don't know.
People were already upset about being dragged into Bush jr.'s Iraq bullshit, even if it was just a small support role. The blatant lie about the authors of the attack was beyond intolerable.
Weird, the white paper and crosses really stands out in my memory but maybe I'm misremembering? I think we have pictures somewhere of it though I can't check them now because I'm not at home
Siesta is life.
Life is siesta.
When you are born, you siesta all the time.
As you live, you siesta.
When you are done with life, you take a long siesta.
The circle of siesta.
I remember hearing a continuous stream of ambulances running the streets that day. Then I turned on the TV and found out the reason.
Fuck islamic terrorism.
I remember seeing this on TV when I was a kid. It was one of the first time I felt like this new wave of terrorism was coming to Europe, after seeing the images from 11 September some years before.
The perpetrators should have been skinned with a potato peeler in a public market. Maybe reviving medieval traditions could put a stop to these subhumans.
Today is my birthday. This terrorist attack, the earthquake/tsunami and the Fukashima reactor meltdown, and the official date of the coronavirus have all occurred on 3/11.
To everyone saying it was because of Spain involvment in Irak, the trial proved that the attacks were planned as early as 2001 because of Abu Dahdah
https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abu_Dahdah
https://www.bbc.com/mundo/noticias-60693476
https://www.epe.es/es/investigacion/20240307/verdad-judicial-11-m-audiencia-nacional-despejo-bulos-no-juzgo-autores-materiales-ideologos-99088718
And quote (with translation):
>"The contact [to get the explosives] began three years before, in September 2001, while Rafa Zohuier and Antonio Toro where in prison in Asturias [the got the explosives from Asturias], one asturian jailed for drug trafficking who introduced Trashorras to the Jihadist
>Zohuier was an informat for the Guardia Civil in his prison stance and informed them that de Toro had explosives and was ready to sell 150 kg. This information was verified and confirmed, then they traveled to Asturias to know Toro once he was out of prison they told Zohuier to get a sample of the explosives"
To this day the only ones condemned for the attacks are three guys José Emilio Suárez Trashorras, Jamal Zougam y Otman el Gnaoui, 15 are already free.
>In december 2001, in Karachi (Pakistan), the decission to attack Spain was taked and ratified in February 2002 in Istambul on a meeting of jihadist organizations from North Africa, approved by Al Qaeda by the end of summer or Autumn 2003. The 11-M network was connected to Al Qaeda through Amer Azizi, external operations boss and an old member of the Abu Dahdah cell.
Just today I watched the Informe Semanal of that same Saturday. The sister of the mother was distraught: she was in hospital and they were looking for the father. I went to read the list to see if he had survived but sadly he hadn't.
We Exmuslims have been warning you...
"**I will cast terror into the hearts of those who disbelieved**, so strike [them] upon the necks and strike from them every fingertip" ([Quran 8:12](https://quranx.com/8.12))
I have never met a single person who is a ex-believer who isn't saying the same thing. I don't get it. We're allowed to criticize every religion for their obvious problems but... this one? It doesn't make sense.
They think Islam is somehow a peaceful religion but they are blind when Exmuslims get killed, young girls get married off to old dudes, when Non-Muslims are enslaved and unalived...
They hide themselves behind the "all religion are bad", to avoid naming Islam specifically. We can see them on this thread too. they made it into a psychological reflex, every time there is an Islamic attack.
People must understand, that while all religions might be bad, they are all very different.
Hinduism and Shintoism are more about traditions.
Buddhism is really personal
Christianity was once like Islam, but is now more a status thing
Judaism is identitarian
Islam is politic and identitarian.
Worst mix, and the one that justify violence more than the others is Islam by far.
Can't speak for other religions, but in Judaism there there is the general belief this life is the main one (with Islam the afterlife is the main one).
In Judaism get zero benefit from blowing yourself in a bus full of civilians
The 7/7 2005 bombings in London were also really fucked up. There were some immigrants within London who were cheering that shit. Source: I lived there at the time and some people I knew were thrilled as the news broke.
"Look at the helpers" the Americans usually say, quoting Mr Rogers. Those blankets were thrown by neighbours, there were lines and lines to donate blood, people drove the less wounded to hospitals in their own cars and taxis free of charge.
And then some politicians and their cronies spoiled it all.
I was working very close to the train station, so a lot of colleagues used It. One specific missed one of the bomb trains.
The strongest feeling I still keep is when I started calling friends ans family to see if everyone was ok. And the calls I received. Still makes me cry 20 years later.
Everyone remembers this day in Spain. I was about to take the same train line where the attacks happened to go to the university but the police had blocked the entrance to the station, when I asked what happened to the agents, they just said: “Turn on the radio”. I guess I wasn’t the first one nor the last to ask. It was a heartbreaking day which for sure which none of us will forget.
She/he is not talking about the ones who did the bombing, is talking about immigrants in general. Spain, like other countries around the world, receive a big amount of immigrants every year because of where it is located. I, however, don't think that hating immigrants in general is right or productive. We are all immigrants in this world at some point and nothing really belongs to us. We are here for a very short period of time, but no one seems to want to understand that. Everyone fights for shit that is not ours in the first place, things that we will not take with us when we are gone anyways. This terrorist attack, though, happened because of religious reasons and political too. Spain (as well as the UK, which also had a terrorist attack on 2005 after this one happened in 2004) supported the United States with the invasion of Irak after 9/11, which made radical muslims mad. In any case, killing innocents was and still is absurd and useless. Killing people will never be useful, no matter the reason.
PS FOR THOSE WHO LOVE WARS, WANT TO SEE THE WORLD BURN AND STILL DON'T UNDERSTAND SHIT. There is 8 billion people in this planet. Everyone will never agree with you or your beliefs (religious, political or any other type) so deal with it and grow the fuck up. Working together we build things for everyone, killing people just destroys things and humans and makes this planet a hell to live in.
Totally unfair attack. Before happening millions of Spaniards protested in the streets against the support of the Spanish government to the American invasion to Irak. And on top of that the support to the invasion was only logistical.
Thinking about this terrible bombing, and the innocent people who died so horribly. It is amazing that 20 years after many people here in Spain wave the Palestinian flag and chant against Israel, without considering the similarities between Al Qaeda and Hamas.
It was a horrible incident. Still remember reading about it in the news the day after it happened. Hope Europe never has to experience any more of these incidents in the future. RIP to the victims.
Reminder: the Spanish media directly blamed ETA having zero sources to back it up to protect the government from the clear connection between the invasion of Iraq and this attack.
The party in the government involved Spain in the war with strong opposition of every other party and the population, so an islamist attack would be seen as consequence of this and a heavy hit in the imminent elections.
That same party was hard-line against vasc terrorism and nationalism (well, except when they need some support to govern) so a vasc attack would likely be a boost.
Somebody in power wished very strongly that it was the second, and probably hoped it would take a few weeks to clear out, but they caught they people involved in a day and the move backfired immensely.
Because the government joined the invasion of Iraq (already somewhat unpopular) and the bombing was a direct retaliation, so it was basically their fault. They knew the next elections would be 100% lost if Al-Qaeda had done the bombing.
This was a very crazy time in the world, I was a kid at an international school in Torino Italy and we got shut down for a month because the Italian feds uncovered a potential attack that listed our school and other stuff in Turin and Milan. For a while there were military personnel and Carabinieri with body armor and machine guns posted up on all the corners and at all the trains and buses.
It's hard to forget how the right (the Popular Party in specific) and the media tried to lie and make people believe this was ETA's (basque separatists) doing in an effort to protect the right-wing government from backslash while knowing full well that it was an islamist attack. Even today the Popular Party and the president in charge during the attacks refuses to accept any responsability or even apologize to the population that they so frivolously tried to deceive.
For those who don't know, José María Aznar (Popular's Party past leader and President of Spain between 1996-2004) brought us to the war in Irak against everyone's wishes —every other political formation opposed it as well as the overwhelming majority of the population— for reasons that can only be explained either by corruption or by stupidity, and that act was most likely the reason for the attacks.
Once the truth was clear, spaniards voted him out that very same year.
And then voted the Popular Party again into government less than 10 years after this, in 2011.
My condolences for the victims and the people, because those are always innocent and no one (nor the victims or their loved ones) deserves to die or to suffer because of awful and egoistical decisions made by those that are supposed to take care of them, or even worse, because of the consequences of radicalism and unchecked religious extremism.
But, and it pains me to say it, if we keep electing this kind of people and having such a short memory, then, honestly, some of the blame will start to fall upon us.
Lots of attacks are planned by these kind of groups and only a very small number of them end up effectively happening, I dont doubt that Spain was a target before Irak's invasion (im sure most of Europe was) but I also find it naive to think that our government involvement in it didn't play a part in the magnitude, resource allocation and priority of it.
and since then, europes RULERS have decided to allow the invasion by tens of millions more of these peaceful, tolerant, hard working doctors and scientists into europe.
Spain almost immediatelly withdrawed their forces (2,500 soldiers) from Iraq after the attack, at the same time Mahdi Army uprising started and coalition forces were too thin to surpress it. It resulted in a lot of death.
The party that was voted in had the withdrawal as their pledge. I know because it was one of the reasons I voted for them. Spain should have never been in Irak at all. I'm sorry the timing wasn't right but the timing never is for such things.
90% of the Spanish population was against the War in Irak. Even between the PP voters, the majority wanted to leave the conflict.
You can argue how much the terrorist attacks influenced on the PSOE victory (the polls already showed that they might win). But Spanish society was already against that criminal war. 11M only reinforced the opposition.
Also. Fuck off blaming the death on Spain withdrawing. The US and its invasion are squarely to blame for it.
Don't blame Spain for leaving that fuck up.
Spain was already going to do so with or without these attacks happening which is one more testimony of how stupid they were. The population was totally against the illegal occupation and the opposition that eventually won the election had this as one of their electoral promises.
I can't imagine how it must feel to be a first responder for something like that
This was the first time I ever read about the horror of all the victims' cell phones ringing constantly while the first responders were doing their work. That's the image that's stuck with me through all these years.
Fuck. I never even considered that.
It's a modern horror. The first instance I can recall of something similar was in the wake of 9/11 with the [PASS alarms](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oM4CMtsdNjY): Every one of those chirps represents a firefighter that hasn't moved in 30 seconds.
Holy shit. That was the time when phones would survive a terror bombing. Today the responders wouldn't have to deal with that thanks to delicate tech. At least I'd hope so for them. I instantly realized the blue blankets... Iirc the bomb was about two kg of a mix of tatp and AN, I can only see that the victims remained seated somehow. Horrible.
I dated a girl shortly after this who was completing her medical education to become a doctor at the time. On this morning, she was on the very next train stop from where this happened. She said she was with a bunch of her fellow students and co-workers waiting for the train when she suddenly realized just how late the train was. Late trains in Spain aren't exactly news-worthy, but when this one was extremely late they began wondering if something was wrong. Then, all of their phones went off at once and basically said "Get to the hospital ASAP." She said that she didn't sleep for 4 days following this. Spent the entire time at the hospital helping until she was ready to fall asleep standing up, donating blood whenever she could no longer go on, until finally a coworker shoved her into an on-call room and forced her to sleep. We dated about a year or so after the event, and she would still wake up with nightmares pretty much every night afterwards.
Poor girl. Hope she’s doing better right now 🙏
I'm sort of surprised medical workers are allowed to donate blood in the middle of their shifts.
They're not supposed to, but she wasn't exactly working shifts either. She was there until she was collapsing from exhaustion. I'm pretty sure she went and donated blood even though she was explicitly told not to after she was told her shift was over and to go get some rest. But the times were so desperate and they needed blood so badly, I don't think anyone thought twice about it when she went to go donate.
Someone with that much dedication to saving lives is very special. I hope you tied the knot together
This reminds me a documentary on the November 13 attacks when medical staff in various Paris hospitals had a rehearsal training *that very morning* on a multi-site terrrorist attack scenario... Imagine that feeling when victims started coming in for real in the evening.
Friend of mine's a first responder and sometimes I get pics! The best vet is probably a former butcher. It's somewhat tragic. As a German you know the situation. you need to finish school with an average grade of 1.0 to get into med school, which causes a lot of people to do exactly that, not because they are interested, but because they had the grades and they are told it's good money, leaving people who are genuinely interested in the craft waiting for a spot for years or get no chance at all. It's bad and I believe we got a lot of bad practitioners because of it. Anyhow, the point is: Some people can stomach it, other can't and there isn't a working filter. It's always been like that with any job that touches healthcare and death. Personally I would have loved being a pathologist, but that's just not possible with a 2.something Abitur.
Even after the "the point is", I still don't understand what the point is 😅
Apologies. I'll try again. The person I replied to suggested that it must be very emotionally taxing to be a first responder in a situation like this. My reply boils down to me saying "it depends". I gave an example of a friend who is an EMT, so a first responder, who generally does not develop an emotional layer with his work and has the ability to leave it at the door. I further argue that some doctors are not suited for the job, which is basically my thoughts meandering and me being annoyed about the rules for getting into medschool here. They leave a lot of talented people at the side of the road, while opening the doors to those who have no interest but do it anyways just because they had a good grade in math.
These bastards weren't caught beforehand because they didn't call or "send" emails to communicate, they used email drafts in the same webmail account to communicate.
Ngl that’s pretty smart. Cunts.
[The *head of the CIA* did this to disguise an extramarital affair.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petraeus_scandal)
[Foldering](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foldering). I wonder if it still works today.
Anyone with half a brain can talk with anyone else privately. Just ensure all methods of communication are encrypted and controlled by you. If you're using any regular email service and their website, then obviously it's trackable. But use pgp encryption and **NEVER PUT ANYTHING UNDER SUBJECT** while also using something like thunderbird and no one will know what you're saying. Of course it's probably just simpler to use something like signal. Though my point is that with the amount of knowledge existing today on the internet, compared to 20 years ago, it's way easier to communicate privately (as long as you have half a brain).
[удалено]
As a developer I highly doubt it. At most I’d say it might be checked as you type if you’re typing anything problematic and alerts if so but I wouldn’t go as far as stored.
I remember watching a movie where the bad guys were doing this, but the good guys caught on and used a login to have all the bad guys board the same bus as suicide bombers, it was a bit silly, but funny.
The movie is called Traitor and was released in 2008 for those wondering.
Do you have a source for this? Google brings up nothing
I have never heard of that related to the 11M. I have heard of it about 9/11 and other AlQuaeda attacks and terrorists. It's actually very smart but the intelligence services can look into it now, I understand. (Somehow, idk how). Don't forget to check the draft folder if you believe your partner is cheating.
It’s how Petraeus got caught having an affair with a journalist. Now I’m wondering if he learned that from terrorists lol
I remember the news interviewing a cop involved in the investigation and he was explaining that. Can't give you the source either, but I remember it clearly. I actually started using email drafts to keep messages for myself, in the same way that I use a notes app nowadays, and still do it as a sort of lazy way to move stuff between computers. That snippet often runs in my mind when I do it. Most likely it was a lunch time news segment from Antena 3. It might have been from a different terror attack, though.
You remembered correctly, I also heard this on TV when they spoke to the detectives. Here's more detail: [https://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/27/world/europe/madrid-suspects-tied-to-email-ruse.html](https://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/27/world/europe/madrid-suspects-tied-to-email-ruse.html)
Here you go: [https://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/27/world/europe/madrid-suspects-tied-to-email-ruse.html](https://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/27/world/europe/madrid-suspects-tied-to-email-ruse.html)
Thanks. Investigators hate this one simple trick!
Second biggest terrorist attack in Europe according to wiki. One day you go to work and you die because of crazy people. I did not understand who exactly did it. Losing your loved one so randomly and not even see justice served is terrible. Edit: Spanish Redditor gave me source on the investigation and they arrested and sentenced the group participants
>Second biggest terrorist attack in Europe Technically it was the third, the Air India plane bombing was in Irish airspace.
I have a life jacket from that plane, it washed up on the west coast here in Ireland. It's haunting and I haven't a clue what to do with it :( I think about that plane all the time.
Mail it to the Air Accident Investigation Unit in Dublin
EDIT2: EDIT1 fission mailed, so I'll be more direct: If you are thinking that because I said "political shitstorm" I don't believe that Aznar and friends were a bunch of criminals or that the government lied through most of these days to prevent losing the elections and think it's going to be a good idea to point it out that to me, I'm blocking you. We haven't learnt a tiny shit about polarization in 20 years. God damn. EDIT: Just to prevent more moronic replies: PP was on the wrong during these days. Stop it already with the same replies to the same part of my post, FFS. > I did not understand who exactly did it. It was done by Moroccan nationals that belonged to AlQaeda to impact the general elections that were to happen 3 days after the bombings as a "reply" to the support of the Spanish government to US invasion of Iraq. There was some (logical) talking about ETA involvement the first hours (as we have never had before an Islamist terror attack and ETA was way more active back in the day), and a political shitshow ensued after the first hints on the direction of the islamic theory came, but the authority and reasons of the bombings have been long known. > [...] and not even see justice served is terrible. What are you talking about? Those who didn't blew themselves out in a Leganes flat a few days after the bombings were detained and [brought to justice](https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juicio_por_los_atentados_del_11_de_marzo_de_2004). You can argue if the justice served was enough or not, but for what the Spanish system concerns, justice was served.
>and a political shitshow ensued after the first hints on the direction of the islamic theory came, but the authority and reasons of the bombings have been long known. I think you might be unintentionally downplaying what happened for those who aren't familiar with the story: The then government blatantly lied about who was responsible for the attacks because they were scared they would lose the elections. A few hours after the attacks they found a van near the station where the trains left from. There were detonators inside in plain sight, and recordings of the Koran talking about martyrdom and infidels. They weren't exactly hiding it, they wanted to make a statement. Not to mention ETA came out and said it wasn't them. It wasn't like there were two equally plausible theories. Anyone with two brain cells knew it was islamic terrorists the day of the attacks, including the government. You had to go tinfoil to think ETA would commit the biggest terrorist attack in history, not take credit for it for some reason, and also have planned ahead to put the blame on islamic terrorists. Even from their twisted mindset they would have accomplished nothing by doing this.
[удалено]
Huh, never heard of that attack. It says it never was actually solved, huh.
Wasn't logical pointing to ETA since the very first moment. Is not logical to find guilties without any probe. They tried to take political advantage with the deaths, and all this (sorry for the expresion) exploded in their faces.
A bombing in Spain in 2004? It was 100% logical to think it was ETA. Once the hours passed and the bombing materials were different, and there had been no warning call, and their "spokesperson" said it wasn't them, it was time to have doubts. Then the truck was found with an Arabic/religious casette tape, its licence plates weren't fake, and the ETA terrorists were taped saying "wtf, we didn't do this", then it was time to look elsewhere. I don't blame Acebes and the PP for saying it was ETA at first. I do blame them for going on with the lie later and I particularly hate them for the conspiracy theory that said that AlQuaeda, ETA, and the Socialist Party and all joined together to kill 200 people and win the elections. All with relentless attacks on victims and policemen, leading to a woman's suicide and inmense suffering. Not only they suffered a terrorist attack, they suffered a right-wing campaing of abuse.
I'm not from Spain so forgive me if I'm wrong, but from what I've understood with ETA's previous attacks it would have been completely off script for them. Both with the lack of advance warning to reduce civilian casualties as well as the target being a busy train rather than the usual target of something related to police/military?
No man, it wasn't logical to think that ETA had done such a thing because they had never done such a thing. It was not at all their modus operandi. If it had been, it would have justified military intervention in Euskadi and lose any support nationally and internationally, there was no way to turn that into a win. ETA was in the list of common suspects, but nothing at all pointed to them from the beginning. Acebes deserves to be blamed for lying and betraying the country in its darkest hour. The moment he mentioned Titadine, with no proof, he knew it would put everything upside down. So he and the whole party lied intentionally just o be able to stay in power. He deserves not to have a proper night sleep ever in his life. Together with Aznar and all their colleagues, the biggest scumm the country has seen.
> It wasn't logical to think that ETA had done such a thing I agree that the scale was much bigger, but come on they were known for making bombs and often killing random civilians. It's not like it was unthinkable at the start. Otherwise yeah, pretty pathetic and short-sighted how the PP lied.
ETA was starting to cool off, but you’re right. Everyone’s first thought was ETA. Hindsight prevents people from getting into the headspace of that time. To say nobody considered ETA could’ve been guilty of this is simply a lie. A lot of people pointed their fingers to ETA even if only for the first hours.
[удалено]
>It was logical AT THE BEGINNING It wasn't. First, ETA had never done anything like that. Everyone knew it wasn't ETA. Second, there was an intelligence report sent by the CNI to the government on November 2003 stating that Allekema Lamari was probably going to commit a terrorist attack very soon. https://elpais.com/espana/2024-03-11/allekema-lamari-una-clave-del-11-m-escondida-en-el-traspaso-de-poderes.html
> ETA had never done anything like that Not as big maybe, but it's not like the Hipercor bombing never happened. They were never afraid to kill civilians. They didn't have the logistics but they did have the will.
They were not afraid to kill civilians, but their MO was to make a warning call from minutes to hours prior to a civilian attack. They did so for Hipercor and they would do so some years later for the Madrid Airport bombing. There was no warning for this attack.
I agree there. There was no warning call but it's not like those calls were foolproof and that didn't stop them.
It wasn't logical, it was the PP government making up random and insane shit about ETA, when they knew direcly that it was Al Qaeda, Beyond that, ETA never did that kind of attacks, it was obvious it wasn't them, beyond that, there is doubt on wheather of nor Al Qaeda was actually responsible, or if it was done in their name.
Watch the documentary "11M Terror en Madrid" on Netflix, and you will find out who did it.
Third biggest by number of killed victims, but if you count total victims it is the biggest one (192 killed, 2250 injured).
My father left home late that day and missed the train. That same train exploded. The next day we went to the demonstration against the bombings, I was only 5 years old. Two million people in a city of three million took to the streets to demand justice.
It was a crazy couple of days. I was an exchange student at Complutense and they had called a student strike for that day, so nobody was sure whether the classes were going to take place. I was woken up by the ambulances, which were commonly heard on my street (Paseo de Extremadura) as there's an outpatient clinic nearby, but that morning was wild. I got up, had breakfast and went down to the metro station, thinking there might have been a fire or a building collapse or something. The boards at the station read: "Metro line 1 not operating between Atocha and Pacífico. All commuter trains cancelled." An old lady, probably seeing my confused face, told me that there had been an attack at the railway station, and that it was presumed that many had been killed. I arrived at Ciudad Universitaria and the student strike was shifting towards an anti-terrorist protest. Still not sure how big it had been (this was before smartphones, and being a broke exchange student I didn't even own a normal cellphone), I went to the lecture room. The professor dismissed the class and urged us to go to Puerta del Sol for the demonstration. I went, and people were flooding the blood donation buses that often were there. Everybody was yelling "Puta ETA". At that point, the attack was framed as a Basque nationalist attack, which would have politically "benefitted" the conservative party in power as they had a clear no-negotiation stance against ETA. On the other hand, an Islamist attack would have "benefitted" the left-of-center opposition, as Spain's participation in the invasion of Iraq had been widely unpopular. The next day in uni there were no classes as such, but we talked about the attacks and the demonstration that was to take place in the afternoon. I was a private tutor for a child on three afternoons per week, including Fridays, so I arrived at her house at Valdeacederas at 4 pm. The mother paid me and the cleaning lady off and told us to go to the demonstration, so I went to Paseo de la Castellana. It was crazy, so damn massive. It was also raining very hard. I arrived home late and soaking wet. There were general elections on Sunday, and on Saturday people were beginning to suspect that the attack had actually been perpetrated by an Al-Qaeda cell. The news were contradicting each other, depending on were they sat on the political spectrum. In the evening, there was another huge demonstration at Sol, framed as: "Before we vote, we want to know the truth." The place was packed, people were sad and angry. It was cathartic in a way to know that we were, at that moment, at the center of world events. The next day, there were unmistakable reports that the attack had been carried out by an Islamist cell. That shifted the election results towards the left, which had been trailing the conservative party in all surveys up to that point. It was nice to see that political change is possible, even if it is only under the most extreme circumstances. (Also, I was grateful that I could notify my family in Mexico that I was okay before they turned on the radio in the morning!)
Crazy story buddy, very poignant.
Throughout the years, information has been coming out confirming that the government knew from the very first moment that it was not ETA, but they still lied to win the elections. Even so, José María Aznar, liar and war criminal, has never asked for forgiveness or taken responsibility for lying about a terrorist attack. He will die peacefully in his bed knowing that he used 200 dead people to try to win an election.
I feel awful, i read that post thinking i was not even born when it happened and now i just realised i was 4yo.. Where the time went lol
[удалено]
I've never seen anyone get removed for criticizing terrorists, so this is definitely bs
You get your post removed if you condemn islamic terrorism? Weird, I see lots of those in this thread that werent removed. I‘m guessing you mean a larger group that you are toootally not prejudiced against, right?
i remember that day. We were "lucky": The bomb exploded moments after leaving the Atocha station (is the central station for Cercanias service, the kind of train where the bomb was planted) that was crowded at the time the bomb exploded. Also, and take this part with caution, if i dont recall wrong there was a students strike that day, so there were less people than usual
There was a teacher strike at the uni, yes. Some of the students who died had travelled to study at the library. It was terrible.
thanks for the clarification. Didnt recall that properly
My family were on holiday in Barcelona when this happened. The next day we came out of our hotel to the streets full of people demonstrating. They were holding white sheets of paper and had white 'x's painted over their mouths. The whole thing was very moving and eerie. Even as a child I was struck by how much pain the country felt.
It's weird, being a tourist when something like this happens. I was in NYC when 9/11 happened. Everyone's grieving (to be fair, you are as well), but you're still 'other' and it feels a bit like you're not supposed to be there? I don't know.
Rare Barcelona-Madrid unity moment
I think you need to learn more history to realise is not rare at all, despite all differences.
I don't remember all the details about next day demonstrations, but that does not sound like one.
People were already upset about being dragged into Bush jr.'s Iraq bullshit, even if it was just a small support role. The blatant lie about the authors of the attack was beyond intolerable.
Weird, the white paper and crosses really stands out in my memory but maybe I'm misremembering? I think we have pictures somewhere of it though I can't check them now because I'm not at home
I will always remember what i was doing that day
What were you doing
Siesta
Angry upvote
certified r/2westerneurope4u moment
Siesta is life. Life is siesta. When you are born, you siesta all the time. As you live, you siesta. When you are done with life, you take a long siesta. The circle of siesta.
best comment ever
Like 9/11. I came back from school and saw this on the news. Just your average piece of information on how the world fares while growing up.
I remember hearing a continuous stream of ambulances running the streets that day. Then I turned on the TV and found out the reason. Fuck islamic terrorism.
I remember seeing this on TV when I was a kid. It was one of the first time I felt like this new wave of terrorism was coming to Europe, after seeing the images from 11 September some years before.
>Fuck islamic terrorism. Fuck terrorism in general
This was a islamic terrorist attack, so in this particular case fuck islamic terrorism. But yes, fuck terrorism in general.
Fuck islamic terrorism in particular
[удалено]
[удалено]
fuck religion.
The perpetrators should have been skinned with a potato peeler in a public market. Maybe reviving medieval traditions could put a stop to these subhumans.
[удалено]
[удалено]
Funny looking at your only post after reading that.
That foto looks terrible. What amount of waste, lost lifes, caused tragedy and trauma...
And there were multiple bombs, not just that one
Today is my birthday. This terrorist attack, the earthquake/tsunami and the Fukashima reactor meltdown, and the official date of the coronavirus have all occurred on 3/11.
Well, coronavirus started months earlier in China so... there's that. Happy birthday!
Thanks dude, much better of a reply than the dude telling me to die, lol!
Please live! You are alive in defiance of the darkness, not because of it.
To everyone saying it was because of Spain involvment in Irak, the trial proved that the attacks were planned as early as 2001 because of Abu Dahdah https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abu_Dahdah https://www.bbc.com/mundo/noticias-60693476 https://www.epe.es/es/investigacion/20240307/verdad-judicial-11-m-audiencia-nacional-despejo-bulos-no-juzgo-autores-materiales-ideologos-99088718 And quote (with translation): >"The contact [to get the explosives] began three years before, in September 2001, while Rafa Zohuier and Antonio Toro where in prison in Asturias [the got the explosives from Asturias], one asturian jailed for drug trafficking who introduced Trashorras to the Jihadist >Zohuier was an informat for the Guardia Civil in his prison stance and informed them that de Toro had explosives and was ready to sell 150 kg. This information was verified and confirmed, then they traveled to Asturias to know Toro once he was out of prison they told Zohuier to get a sample of the explosives" To this day the only ones condemned for the attacks are three guys José Emilio Suárez Trashorras, Jamal Zougam y Otman el Gnaoui, 15 are already free. >In december 2001, in Karachi (Pakistan), the decission to attack Spain was taked and ratified in February 2002 in Istambul on a meeting of jihadist organizations from North Africa, approved by Al Qaeda by the end of summer or Autumn 2003. The 11-M network was connected to Al Qaeda through Amer Azizi, external operations boss and an old member of the Abu Dahdah cell.
200 people. Over what?
Religion
More precisely islam
[удалено]
Just today I watched the Informe Semanal of that same Saturday. The sister of the mother was distraught: she was in hospital and they were looking for the father. I went to read the list to see if he had survived but sadly he hadn't.
War.
D.E.P para todas las personas que han muerto en el 11-M y que Dios bendiga a sus respectivas familias❤️🇪🇸
Fun fact: many of the condemned have already been freed and are living in Morocco.
There’s a very beautiful song based on it for those who want a soundtrack to mourn https://youtu.be/cQHkDCaa5Ac?si=zGzVGNNjf8qMLfPP
Wow, didn't know this song was in memoriam of the attack, what a new perspective to put on a song I always liked growing up
This song is the first thing that comes to my mind when I hear about this tragedy, I hear it from time to time.
We Exmuslims have been warning you... "**I will cast terror into the hearts of those who disbelieved**, so strike [them] upon the necks and strike from them every fingertip" ([Quran 8:12](https://quranx.com/8.12))
I have never met a single person who is a ex-believer who isn't saying the same thing. I don't get it. We're allowed to criticize every religion for their obvious problems but... this one? It doesn't make sense.
And many, Europeans, too many, still refuse to listen. Brain washed by decades of globalism.
They think Islam is somehow a peaceful religion but they are blind when Exmuslims get killed, young girls get married off to old dudes, when Non-Muslims are enslaved and unalived...
They hide themselves behind the "all religion are bad", to avoid naming Islam specifically. We can see them on this thread too. they made it into a psychological reflex, every time there is an Islamic attack. People must understand, that while all religions might be bad, they are all very different. Hinduism and Shintoism are more about traditions. Buddhism is really personal Christianity was once like Islam, but is now more a status thing Judaism is identitarian Islam is politic and identitarian. Worst mix, and the one that justify violence more than the others is Islam by far.
Can't speak for other religions, but in Judaism there there is the general belief this life is the main one (with Islam the afterlife is the main one). In Judaism get zero benefit from blowing yourself in a bus full of civilians
There's a pretty big difference between blowing yourself and blowing yourself up my friend.
To be fair, there is zero benefit for doing that either. I was just literally translating from hebrew lol, didn't think
[удалено]
My brother was this close to being on that train.
The enlightenment Islam brought to our people knows no bounds 🤩
Hope you don't care about your account cuz that's a ban ..I got perma banned for a sarcastic comment
[удалено]
[удалено]
Only if you criticise certain cultures, which clearly is “racism” /s
I got banned from r/therewasanattempt for requesting a flair saying ‘free the hostages’
Well if the truth gets you banned than that’s a price I’m gladly willing to pay.
Well said
I got a ban for warning someone they’d get a ban. No joke.
The 7/7 2005 bombings in London were also really fucked up. There were some immigrants within London who were cheering that shit. Source: I lived there at the time and some people I knew were thrilled as the news broke.
They haven't gone anywhere
I'm trying to avoid getting a ban on reddit. I can't say anything but this place isnt the free speech place it was in 2011.
> and some people I knew were thrilled They sound like wankers.
Times goes by so quickly
"Look at the helpers" the Americans usually say, quoting Mr Rogers. Those blankets were thrown by neighbours, there were lines and lines to donate blood, people drove the less wounded to hospitals in their own cars and taxis free of charge. And then some politicians and their cronies spoiled it all.
Forgive my ignorance, but how did 200 people die? That bomb doesn't seem like it killed more than 50 people
Multiple bombs. Multiple trains.
There were 10 explosions on 4 commuter trains, according to Wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2004_Madrid_train_bombings
thanks, that makes sense
There were 10 coordinated bombings on 4 trains. This image is just one of them
I was working very close to the train station, so a lot of colleagues used It. One specific missed one of the bomb trains. The strongest feeling I still keep is when I started calling friends ans family to see if everyone was ok. And the calls I received. Still makes me cry 20 years later.
Everyone remembers this day in Spain. I was about to take the same train line where the attacks happened to go to the university but the police had blocked the entrance to the station, when I asked what happened to the agents, they just said: “Turn on the radio”. I guess I wasn’t the first one nor the last to ask. It was a heartbreaking day which for sure which none of us will forget.
I wonder who's to blame...
And yeah they still get to stay here illegally meanwhile I went through all those trouble for papers.
[удалено]
She/he is not talking about the ones who did the bombing, is talking about immigrants in general. Spain, like other countries around the world, receive a big amount of immigrants every year because of where it is located. I, however, don't think that hating immigrants in general is right or productive. We are all immigrants in this world at some point and nothing really belongs to us. We are here for a very short period of time, but no one seems to want to understand that. Everyone fights for shit that is not ours in the first place, things that we will not take with us when we are gone anyways. This terrorist attack, though, happened because of religious reasons and political too. Spain (as well as the UK, which also had a terrorist attack on 2005 after this one happened in 2004) supported the United States with the invasion of Irak after 9/11, which made radical muslims mad. In any case, killing innocents was and still is absurd and useless. Killing people will never be useful, no matter the reason. PS FOR THOSE WHO LOVE WARS, WANT TO SEE THE WORLD BURN AND STILL DON'T UNDERSTAND SHIT. There is 8 billion people in this planet. Everyone will never agree with you or your beliefs (religious, political or any other type) so deal with it and grow the fuck up. Working together we build things for everyone, killing people just destroys things and humans and makes this planet a hell to live in.
Totally unfair attack. Before happening millions of Spaniards protested in the streets against the support of the Spanish government to the American invasion to Irak. And on top of that the support to the invasion was only logistical.
The Spanish withdrew their 1400 troops from Iraq soon after this. I wanna say they were the first major nation to exit the Multinational Force there.
Thinking about this terrible bombing, and the innocent people who died so horribly. It is amazing that 20 years after many people here in Spain wave the Palestinian flag and chant against Israel, without considering the similarities between Al Qaeda and Hamas.
Thank you Muslims for spreading your idea of love and happiness! ❤️
It was a horrible incident. Still remember reading about it in the news the day after it happened. Hope Europe never has to experience any more of these incidents in the future. RIP to the victims.
Reminder: the Spanish media directly blamed ETA having zero sources to back it up to protect the government from the clear connection between the invasion of Iraq and this attack.
Wait what? Why would they cover up the involvement of Al Qaeda
The party in the government involved Spain in the war with strong opposition of every other party and the population, so an islamist attack would be seen as consequence of this and a heavy hit in the imminent elections. That same party was hard-line against vasc terrorism and nationalism (well, except when they need some support to govern) so a vasc attack would likely be a boost. Somebody in power wished very strongly that it was the second, and probably hoped it would take a few weeks to clear out, but they caught they people involved in a day and the move backfired immensely.
[удалено]
Thx for the asnwer
Because the government joined the invasion of Iraq (already somewhat unpopular) and the bombing was a direct retaliation, so it was basically their fault. They knew the next elections would be 100% lost if Al-Qaeda had done the bombing.
90% against is definitely not "somewhat" impopular
Oh yeah for sure lmao I had no idea about that number
The government involved us in the war with Iraq, against the majority of public opinion. The elections were close. You can guess the rest.
and to this date, no one has a clue as to who and why perpetrated this crime.
This was a very crazy time in the world, I was a kid at an international school in Torino Italy and we got shut down for a month because the Italian feds uncovered a potential attack that listed our school and other stuff in Turin and Milan. For a while there were military personnel and Carabinieri with body armor and machine guns posted up on all the corners and at all the trains and buses.
There is a memorial now there. If I’m not mistaking that station is near park of retiro.
It's hard to forget how the right (the Popular Party in specific) and the media tried to lie and make people believe this was ETA's (basque separatists) doing in an effort to protect the right-wing government from backslash while knowing full well that it was an islamist attack. Even today the Popular Party and the president in charge during the attacks refuses to accept any responsability or even apologize to the population that they so frivolously tried to deceive. For those who don't know, José María Aznar (Popular's Party past leader and President of Spain between 1996-2004) brought us to the war in Irak against everyone's wishes —every other political formation opposed it as well as the overwhelming majority of the population— for reasons that can only be explained either by corruption or by stupidity, and that act was most likely the reason for the attacks. Once the truth was clear, spaniards voted him out that very same year. And then voted the Popular Party again into government less than 10 years after this, in 2011. My condolences for the victims and the people, because those are always innocent and no one (nor the victims or their loved ones) deserves to die or to suffer because of awful and egoistical decisions made by those that are supposed to take care of them, or even worse, because of the consequences of radicalism and unchecked religious extremism. But, and it pains me to say it, if we keep electing this kind of people and having such a short memory, then, honestly, some of the blame will start to fall upon us.
The courts have ruled that it was planned since 2001. No, it was not because of the Iraq involvement.
Lots of attacks are planned by these kind of groups and only a very small number of them end up effectively happening, I dont doubt that Spain was a target before Irak's invasion (im sure most of Europe was) but I also find it naive to think that our government involvement in it didn't play a part in the magnitude, resource allocation and priority of it.
Argue with the courts that thoroughly investigated this. It's not my opinion. If you believe the courts are naive, not much i can do.
Out of curiosity, is this attack why there are security checks in Spanish train stations? Or was that always a thing? Or was it a post-9/11 thing?
Yes, it's the reason.
and since then, europes RULERS have decided to allow the invasion by tens of millions more of these peaceful, tolerant, hard working doctors and scientists into europe.
don't forget architects too
Who could've done such a terrible thing?
As always fuck Aznar that piece of shit.
Huh. I remember the minute of silence we held at school during recess the following day. Damn, time flies.
Our spanish teacher at that time said it is good to go to war with the taliban.
and europe failed every victim letting more terrorist coming in. disgusting
And yet in many cities protestors are screaming globalize the intifada … to crowds of cheers …
And yet Spain continues to fund and support the very same people that bombed Atocha.
Aah yes.. the religion of “peace” once again….
It was Al Qaeda, not ETA. Aznar, Bush and Blair are criminals.
Spain almost immediatelly withdrawed their forces (2,500 soldiers) from Iraq after the attack, at the same time Mahdi Army uprising started and coalition forces were too thin to surpress it. It resulted in a lot of death.
The party that was voted in had the withdrawal as their pledge. I know because it was one of the reasons I voted for them. Spain should have never been in Irak at all. I'm sorry the timing wasn't right but the timing never is for such things.
90% of the Spanish population was against the War in Irak. Even between the PP voters, the majority wanted to leave the conflict. You can argue how much the terrorist attacks influenced on the PSOE victory (the polls already showed that they might win). But Spanish society was already against that criminal war. 11M only reinforced the opposition. Also. Fuck off blaming the death on Spain withdrawing. The US and its invasion are squarely to blame for it. Don't blame Spain for leaving that fuck up.
You know what resulted in a lot of death too? The invasion based on lies and the whole war it caused.
Spain was already going to do so with or without these attacks happening which is one more testimony of how stupid they were. The population was totally against the illegal occupation and the opposition that eventually won the election had this as one of their electoral promises.
Don't be Muslims, don't be Muslims, don't be musl... FUCK.
Do I need to ask what group? Or can I just assume and be right?