 | In case you were wondering if Zappie and his socialist party had any sense of what they were doing in fighting terrorism. |
MADRID — Inside a squat, red-brick courthouse here, defendants testified about the casual ease with which they obtained dynamite and then traded it to alleged terrorists in exchange for hashish. In other testimony, a top police inspector, his face concealed, told the court that Islamist militants chose Madrid for their first act of mass murder in Europe because Spain was seen as an easy target. Another officer acknowledged that "we were always one step behind the terrorists."
The government had hoped the trial of 29 people accused in continental Europe's deadliest terrorist attack would console Spaniards by showing them that the culprits had been brought to justice. Instead, it has served as a reminder of how great the risks remain for a country that is still healing.
| So Zappie pulling the troops out of Iraq didn't solve anything, did it. |
Three years after bombs ripped through four Madrid trains, killing 191 people and injuring nearly 2,000, Spanish officials and experts say the country is potentially in more danger now than ever before as extremist groups reorganize just beyond Spain's southern coast.
| Remind me what land is 'just beyond Spain's southern coast'? |
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