Tuesday, August 16, 2005

Afghan War: Because we should remember them

Seventeen Spanish soldiers just died in a helicopter crash in the Afghan province of Herat.  Initial reports indicated it was an accident.  But Defense Minister José Bono isn't ruling out an attack at this point.

And - now pay attention to this one, it's one of those European things that unimaginable here is Bushland. Un equipo viaja a Herat para repatriar los cuerpos e investigar las causas del siniestro El Mundo (Madrid) 16.08.2005:

Al conocer la trágica noticia, el presidente del Gobierno interrumpió sus vacaciones en Lanzarote y se reunió en Madrid con el ministro de Defensa, José Bono. Rodríguez Zapatero ordenó que se extreme la atención a los heridos y transmitió a los familiares el "profundo pesar del Gobierno".

[In recognition of the tragic news, the President of the Government [usually called the prime minister in English translations] interrupted his vacation in Lanzarote and met in Madrid with the Defense Minister, José Bono.  Rodríguez Zapatero ordered that the best care  be provided  for the wounded and transmitted to the relatives the "government's profound regret."]

Yes, somewhere over there across the Atlantic, in the strange and mysterious continent of Europe, the head of a country's government interrupted his vacation in recognition of the fact that 17 soldiers lost their lives in a single event in service to their country.  Yes, I said he interrupted his vacation for them.

El Mundo also published the names of those lost (Soldados fallecidos en Afganistán El Mundo (Madrid) 16.08.2005):

- Capitán David Guitar Fernández
- Brigada Juan Morales Parra
- Sargento Alfredo Francisco Jodar
- Soldado Pedro Fajardo Cabeza
- Soldado José Manuel Moreno Enríquez
- Teniente Javier González Hernández
- Sargento José González Bernardino
- Cabo Daniel Abreu Fernández
- Soldado Diego González Blanco
- Soldado Diego Prado López
- Soldado Isaac Calvo Piñeiro
- Soldado Jesús Casal Rivera
- Soldado José Antonio Martínez parada
- Soldado Iván Vázquez Núñez
- Soldado Gonzalo de Rey Nazada
- Soldado Pedro San Martín Pereira
- Soldado Pablo Iglesias Sánchez

These Spanish troops were part of the NATO force that is in Afghanistan as partof a mission in response to the 9/11 attacks on the United States.  The first and only time that the mutual defense clause of the NATO treaty was invoked was by our European partners in response to those attacks.

They, as well as soldiers from other NATO countries including Germany, France and Britain, are still in Afghanistan, pursuing a mission that the Bush administration put on a distant back burner to deal with the nonexistent "weapons of mass destruction" in Iraq.

Remember this the next time you see or hear some brainless Republican war fan ranting about the cowardly Europeans and the wimpy Spaniards.  Maybe even post these seventeen names if you see a comment like that in a blog post.

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