Now the socialist government of Spain might herald ETA's call for a "permanent ceasefire" as some breakthrough in the peace process but I'm guessing this is just another tactic on behalf of a gang of deadly terrorists to get the Spanish government off their back so they can regroup. (Let's remember that a ceasefire is a promise to stop fighting or aggression for a certain period and is far from a dissolution of the terrorist organization. They still reserve the right to resume fighting if they don't get what they want.) One only has to look at similar ceasefires announced on behalf of terrorist groups like the FARC, Hamas and Hezbollah in which they promised to lay down their arms and stop attacking their foes only to start up attacks some months or years down the road. The best bet for the Spanish government is to follow Ronald Reagan's mantra of "Trust but Verify" with the Basque terrorists, which is that they can listen to the terrorists peace gestures if they will but ETA has got to show that this is a true ceasefire and actually lay down their arms. My only problem is that ETA still looks and acts like a terrorist group when the appear before a pool of TV cameras and reporters dressed like this:
If they were really committed to peaceful solutions rather than blowing up cafes and people who they disagree with (They even tried to assassinate PM Jose Maria Aznar in the 90's. The jury's still out on this one and the government of Spain should be cautious to but then again we are talking about PM Zapatero, who is famous for appeasing terrorists like al Qaeda and ETA, see here and here just to get the accolades and votes of the public. I wish them well but wouldn't bet the farm on ETA calling their terror campaign to an end.
No comments:
Post a Comment