So how many of you are sure Al-qaeda did the Madrid train blasts?

I read it over and over here and in the media and from Ashcroft today, that Al-qaeda did the Madrid terror attack. Even this week, in the FBI apology article for the fingerprinting mistake CBS has the connection at the end of the article: "The bombings were blamed on Islamic militants with possible links to al Qaeda."

But the FBI and other intel specialists say that is just so much nonsense. So why does Mueller stand beside Ashcroft and let him make that association again without correcting him?

Thanks to whatreallyhappened.com for keeping this story on the front page. He reaches a lot of people. Without constantly reminding people that there is no proven link, the media whores can keep the booga-booga propaganda going, and make even well informed people start accepting this as fact. I'm so sick of the propaganda screaming out from the headlines everytime I look at a newspaper. It's sickening that they can get away with it.

Officials: Group tying self to blasts may not be real

By Bryan Bender
and Farah Stockman, Globe Staff, 3/13/2004

WASHINGTON -- A group purporting to be part of Al Qaeda that claimed responsibility for the Madrid train bombings and warned of a looming attack on the United States seems to be a phantom organization, according to US intelligence officials and terrorism specialists.

...US intelligence officials do not know whether the group exists.

...Another US intelligence official said, "This group, organization, or whatever it is, is a phantom."

...Larry Mefford, executive assistant director for counterterrorism at the FBI, told Congress that the group's terrorism claims were "wishful thinking."

..."We have no information confirming the actual existence of this group," Mefford said, adding that the group also has claimed responsibility on Internet sites for the Aug. 5, 2003, bombing of the Marriott hotel in Jakarta, Indonesia.

...Venzke said: "They started claiming responsibility for just about everything in the world. We've never been able to determine if it is just one person sitting at a computer having fun or if it really is a group."

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2004/03/13/officials_group_tying_self_to_blasts_may_not_be_real/

when I first heard it my first response (well second really the first as always in these matters is horror) was "bullshit it's ETA" then as that story became implausible the Al Qaeda stuff did the rounds.

No-one realy knows exactly what Al Qaeda is - technically it's not even really an organisation rather than a group of org's, some of which have extremely tenous links to Al Qaeda "Classic" in Afghanistan - seems like anything that goes bang now can be attributed to an Al Qaeda "linked" group because who's going to dispute that?

They're trying so hard to build Al-qaeda into this massive terror organisation spanning 60 countries, with the entire "civilized" world at its mercy. More powerful than the evil Soviet empire, by God! They cite Bali, Madrid, blah blah as examples of Al-qaeda's power and expertise, but they forgot to get their own terrorism specialists on board. So these guys are doing their job, digging for the truth, exposing the lies and making Ashcroft and Mueller look like right fools. Well, a lot worse than fools.

But I digress. You're right. If they can hint at even the most tenuous link, they can get the press to print it. "X was in the US the same time as Y, and Y visited Afghanistan in the 80s, so we have reason to believe X must is linked to al-Qaeda." The press prints "X has links to al-Qaeda."

Would you believe a paralegal from Barcelona?

A mailboy from Seville?...

doing it when Spain had wisely decided to get out of Iraq. Clearly is a right wing operation. Don't know who exactly, but they are the only ones that might have benefited by blaming the blast on the boogieman "terrorists". It backfired, that goodness.

Same guys that flew the planes into the towers.

Same guys that attacked the USS Cole.

Same guys that attacked the USS Liberty.

Same guys that will do the operation this summer.

Oops. Knock, knock. Gaaaaah. . .