Newspaper Article

SPAIN VOTES: Bombers score a political victory / Security advisers worry that the Madrid attack could unleash a new kind of threat on the world

PIPPA NORRIS. Pippa Norris is a lecturer in comparative politics at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government and co- editor of "Framing Terrorism."

2004

Overview

Spain is perhaps the only country where the pro-[George W. Bush] position of the [Jose Maria Aznar] government was clearly at odds with the public, 90 percent of whom did not support the war in Iraq, and where the Socialist opposition party pledged an alternative policy, which in this case was the withdrawal of troops from Iraq. Britain is the closest parallel case. But here the public remains more evenly divided about the Iraq war. Polls report that a slight majority of Brits continue to approve of Prime Minister Tony Blair's actions. Moreover, the Conservative opposition still supports the use of British troops in Iraq. The main opposition at Westminster comes from the minor party Liberal Democrats to the left of Blair. John Kerry clearly disagrees with Bush's foreign policy leading up to the Iraq war, particularly the lack of an international coalition and the full involvement of the United Nations. But it remains unclear whether there is any substantial disagreement between Bush and Kerry about future developments in Iraq, now that we're in. Both support the use of American troops in Iraq. Both want to get out as soon as can be achieved.

• Publisher: Newsday LLC
• Subject: Aznar, Jose Maria / Blair, Tony / Bush, George W