Grief and Anger Pour Out in Spain’s Streets and Ballots

Regarding the news on Monday that Spain’s new government probably will pull its troops out of Iraq: It seems so obvious that Spain’s reaction to the terrorist bombings on Thursday will fuel more terrorism, not less.

Forget the Muslim extremists; imagine instead the Basque separatist sipping a glass of wine at a sidewalk cafe in Barcelona, pondering the possibility of achieving his political goal if only his next bomb is bigger and more horrific than past attempts.

Mike Post

Winnetka

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Re “Spanish Voters Oust Ruling Party,” March 15: Well, now that Al Qaeda has proved that terrorism indeed does pay, expect more bombings around election time all across the world for any U.S. allies. After all, it wasn’t Al Qaeda that killed 200 people in Madrid; it was America and our involvement in Iraq.

Let’s bring our troops home from Europe, where they apparently are no longer needed or wanted. Let them turn to Al Qaeda to defend them.

Will Ray

Burbank

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I lit a candle for Spain on Saturday night and cried 200 teardrops -- each one falling for all the beautiful lives lost. We all died a little on that day when the bombs shattered glass, lives, hearts, faith. The innocent people pay for the blindness of their leaders. I pray that this atrocity opens the eyes of all about the effects of unjustified wars that breed hatred and continue the bloody carnage of the innocent.

Suzy Coyle

Burbank

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Until the streets of Riyadh, Cairo, Tehran and Damascus are filled with millions of people condemning the evils of terrorism and suicide bombers, this insanity will not stop.

Aviva S. Monosson

Los Angeles

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So Al Qaeda is now suspected of being responsible for the massacre in Spain (March 14). Maybe if we had directed more of our resources to tracking down Osama bin Laden rather than blundering into Baghdad, those people would now be alive.

Jeff Friedman

Tustin

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If it’s not too much trouble, could you kindly refrain from referring to scumbag terrorist mass murderers as “holy warriors”? There’s nothing “holy” about trying in vain to turn the clock back a millennium while attempting to destroy a civilization with which you have a theological quarrel. Also, no “warrior” worth the appellation would take pride in vanquishing an enemy that consists of innocent, unarmed men, women and children in trains, airplanes or tall buildings.

Christopher Meindl

Los Angeles