Why Spain? And why were they even there?

On the 14 terrorism suspected terrorists arrested in Spain, 10 have just been arraigned. CNN reported today:

The Spanish judge overseeing the arraignment of 10 terrorism suspects said Wednesday that they had "planned to carry out a series of suicide attacks" last weekend on public transportation in Barcelona.

But how could this be? Don't some people insist that President Bush's wars of aggression are what is fueling terrorism? Why would Al-Qaeda plot against Spain again, when Spain dropped out of the Iraq war?

Three reasons:

1) Spain has a small contingent of soldiers in Afghanistan, supporting the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (although an irritant, this was probably not the focus of the suicide bombers).

2) Spain has been mentioned by Al-Qaeda leaders on many occasions as part of the world-wide Islamic caliphate which must be taken back from the crusaders ("the tragedy of Andalucia", as Bin Laden calls it).

3) In 1996 (years before we had a President Bush), Al-Qaeda issued its formal declaration of war against the US and its allies, which includes Spain, a NATO member.

There is another issue on which all Europeans deserve an explanation. Why were these men even in Spain to begin with?

The ruling said three suspected suicide bombers had traveled from Pakistan to Barcelona since October, with the most recent one arriving as late as mid-January.

The three had followed another Pakistani man -- the alleged explosives expert -- who had just arrived after a five-month stay in Pakistan.

How were these men able to get visas for entry into the EU??

Spanish news media reported that authorities became alarmed recently when a known Pakistani militant arrived in Barcelona.

So once again, question: if this man was a "known militant" why was he permitted entry in the first place?

Finally, this could be either good or bad news depending how you look at it, but it's still sobering nonetheless:

More than 250 suspected Islamic extremists have been arrested in Spain since the Madrid train bombings killed 191 people and wounded more than 1,800 on March 11, 2004, the Interior Ministry has told CNN.

Some more info: According to the Counterterrorism blog, the timing may have been connected to the attacks on Benazier Bhutto in Pakistan:

The Spanish Media linked the plot to Musharraf's state visit to several European capitals this week and reported that other European countries including Britain, had been warned by the Spanish authorities of "imminent attacks."

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