Better Late than Never

On Oct. 31, the Spanish National Court ended the trial of those allegedly responsible for the 2004 Madrid train bombings. The Court’s controversial and much-publicized verdict—it convicted only three of the 29 defendants of mass murder—brought the 2004 bombings and Spain’s subsequent withdrawal of its approximately 1,300 troops from Iraq to the forefront of many Spaniards’ minds. A week later, U.S. newspapers pointed out that 2007 has been the U.S.’s deadliest year in Iraq. Conversation here in Granada, particularly when walking past newspaper stands, frequently turned to the Iraq War.

When Spain reacted to the Madrid bombings, which the Spanish call 11-M, by pulling out of Iraq, it was criticized internationally for capitulating to terrorism. In light of the clear lack of progress and rising casualties over the last three years of the Iraq War, however, it’s clear that Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero’s decision was the right one.

Spain entered the Iraq War in 2003. Then-Prime Minister José María Aznar was a staunch supporter of the war; however, his commitment to it went against the will of 90 percent of Spaniards . Due to the lack of domestic support for the war, Spain’s troops did not participate in missions of attack or offense, but it contributed to the war effort by providing medical support and searching for active land mines. After the 2004 Madrid train bombings, which took place a week before national elections, public opinion swung even more strongly against the conservative, pro-U.S. Popular Party and in favor of the opposition Socialist Party. Voters thought that Iraq was not Spain’s war, and that their involvement in it was directly related to the jihadists’ attack on Madrid’s trains.

Some predicted at the time of Spain’s pullout that the terrorists had won and that this would surely lead to terrorist attacks in other countries just before national elections. Some said that Spain had proved itself weak and the terrorists would be sure to target it even more in the future. Neither prediction has proved true. Countries from Australia to Denmark to Macedonia all have troops in Iraq, but since 2004 there has not been a repeat of pre-election terrorism. And in Spain, the country’s strategy seems, if anything, to have won it protection. Although the country has suffered from domestic terrorism (by ETA, a Basque nationalist group), it has not been victim to an Al-Qaeda terrorist attack or plot since withdrawal from Iraq. The only effect that withdrawing from Iraq had on Spain was that it saved Spanish lives and resources.

Between 2004 and the present, on the other hand, the U.S. has lost much. U.S. public opinion is not in favor of the war. Sixty-three percent of adults said in a recent ABC News/Washington Post poll that the war was “not worth fighting.” Perhaps this is because since 2004, when Spain withdrew, 3,374 Americans have died in Iraq (according to the Iraq Coalition Casualty Count, an independent Web site that tracks military deaths). Or maybe it’s because since then, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, the U.S. government has spent $343 billion on “Military Operations and Other Defense Activities” and “Indigenous Security Forces”—only two of the four main areas of defense spending—in Iraq. Had the situation in Iraq radically improved over the past three years, this might seem money well spent. The reality, however—one revealed by the fact that 2007 was the U.S.’s deadliest year in Iraq yet—is that the situation there, despite the commitment of U.S. personnel and money, is not getting better.

In 2004, Spain realized that staying in Iraq was neither going to help Iraqis nor help stop global terrorism. It’s time that the U.S. realized the same. I believe in the exit strategy suggested by New York Times opinion writer Thomas Friedman—that is, a set withdrawal date accompanied by a last-ditch, United Nations-led effort to get the Iraqi political parties to reconcile. As Friedman argues, fear of U.S. withdrawal and of an all-out Iraqi civil war may be the only thing that will actually motivate Iraqi factions to resolve their differences.

When M-11 took place, the War in Iraq was only in its second year. Now it’s been twice as long—but there’s still no end in sight. The best course of action that the U.S. can take right now is to follow Spain’s example and get out of Iraq. Like Spain, in retrospect, we’ll be glad that we did.



Justine R. Lescroart ’09 is an English and American literature and language concentrator in Quincy House, and is currently studying abroad in Granada, Spain. Her column appears on alternate Wednesdays.