| Written by Maria Elena Salinas |
| Monday, May 12 2003 |
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| It would be unthinkable in the United States. A president would never go against 90 percent of his own people. But that is exactly what happened in Spain, where nine out of 10 Spaniards were against the war in Iraq. Yet Spanish President Jose Maria Aznar became one of President Bush's strongest allies in the war.
Aznar, who visited President Bush in Washington last week, ignored polls showing that a whopping 86 percent of Spaniards do not believe the war will help solve the problem of international terrorism. Even then, Aznar, who has confronted terrorism head-on in his battle with the Basque separatist group ETA, staunchly defended his decision to back President Bush.
That move greatly jeopardized the conservative president's personal-approval rating, which dropped 10 points in the past three months to a mere 31 percent, and his Partido Popular (Popular Party) will probably pay the political price. With local elections on May 25 and national elections one year away, the left is now in a good position to take back power in Spain for the first time in seven years.
I interviewed Aznar recently, and he seemed comfortable with his decision to back Operation Iraqi Freedom. "If questions are posed in terms of 'Are you for war or for peace?' of course everyone is going to be for peace," Aznar said.
I asked Aznar if his support for the war will mean that the United States will play a greater role in the Spanish internal fight against terrorism. "What you must understand is that a country like Spain, which has suffered many years of terrorist attacks, has a moral obligation to solidarity when the peace and security of the world is threatened by terrorism," he said.
During his U.S. visit, the Spanish president asked the Bush administration to include the Batasuna Party -- considered ETA's political wing -- in the State Department's list of terrorist groups. He also urged the United Nations to expand its role in the war against terrorism.
For the war in Iraq, Aznar's government deployed 900 troops and three ships to help in humanitarian efforts. Spain also allowed its military bases to be used by coalition forces. But if Aznar believes so firmly in the war, then why didn't Spain send combat troops to Iraq?
"Each country participates in different ways," Aznar responded. "There is a political coalition in which Spain is a part of, and there is a military coalition in which we participate by giving logistical support to the troops. We prefer to offer humanitarian assistance not only for the coalition troops, but also for the Iraqi people."
Aznar played a prominent role, in the days before the war began, during the summit with Bush and Blair in the Azores Islands off the coast of Portugal. But in the weeks that followed, there were more meetings between the American and British leaders, from which Aznar was noticeably absent. Did he feel snubbed? "No, not in the least," he told me. "It just so happened that I had already met with President Bush at his ranch in Crawford, Texas." If he did feel snubbed, the dinner in Washington he was invited to last week might have made up for it.
Appearing in photo ops with Bush and Blair is not what motivated Aznar to go against public opinion in his country. And there is no doubt about his strong convictions. But there might have been other motivations behind Aznar's actions. There were reports in the Spanish newspaper El Pais suggesting that Spain stands to gain economically by taking part in the rebuilding of Iraq. A high-level Spanish delegation recently visited Washington and returned home with a favorable feeling about Spanish participation in the rebuilding effort.
Aznar told me during our interview that he has no plans of seeking a third term and does not know what the future holds for him. What is left without doubt is that Aznar gambled almost all of his political capital to be the third ally. |
