The Spanish Socialist party isn’t going to make Spain isolationist. All they’ve said is that the war in Iraq, instigated and conducted by the United States, is a distraction from the war on terror. Since when has a refusal to follow the U.S. been enough to label a country ‘isolationist?’ Your chain of logic is still absurd. No matter how much force you bring to bear in Iraq, it’s not going to stop al Qaeda. There are only two reasons any al Qaeda resources are presently in Iraq: 1) to attack targets of opportunity for PR purposes, not military gain, or 2) to recruit from a growing anti-American segment of the population. Neither of these opportunities existed for al Qaeda bfore the war. The Spanish are leaving Iraq because the Iraq War is bad foreign policy, and a majority of the Spanish now agree. Personally, I think the Spanish should transfer those forces over to Afghanistan, where some real al Qaeda fighting is being done, but either way, I think the Spanish people are just as committed as we are to finding and killing the perpetrators of the Madrid atrocity. I even bet that if we gave up our interests in Iraq and let the U.N. take the lead, the Spanish would return, joined by forces from many other nations. That’s not going to happen with Bush as President.

The Minister of Agriculture also didn’t answer my question, although he quoted it in his post: if al Qaeda succeeds in bringing another major attack against U.S. soil, should all good patriots vote for Bush in November? Taking that logic one step further: even if another attack doesn’t occur, should everyone vote for Bush because we don’t want al Qaeda to think they’ve influenced our decision? If he answers ‘yes’ to that, you can bet I’m going to have a word with his wife.

And yes, the Minister of Agriculture is indeed a hunter of sorts, but that’s not the definition I’m talking about.