On March 11, 2004, terrorists killed 191 people in Spain in an attempt to affect the elections. The terorrists succeeded in scaring the voters into electing the challenger over the incumbent, an incumbent who had strongly supported the U.S. in Iraq. Despite a comfortable lead in the opinion polls just days before the election, Jose Maria Aznar, was ousted by the Socialist party government of Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero who quickly kept a campaign pledge to withdraw Spain’s 1,300-troop contingent from Iraq.

The terrorists showed their opposition to Aznar’s support in Iraq by bombing trains and killing many people. The Spanish voters returned the favor by electing a man who kept his word to pull his troops out of Iraq.

So the terrorists will be thankful to the Spanish people, right? The terrorists will move along to other countries now that they’ve succeeded in affecting a major country’s foreign policy against terror, right? The terrorists won’t harm the nice Spanish people again, right?

Wrong. Two days ago, police arrested seven suspected Islamic militants in raids across Spain to foil a planned bomb attack on the High Court, judicial sources said.

What? How could it be? The terrorists promised they’d be nice if we gave them what they asked for.

But the Spanish are now awaking to the realization that terorrists aren’t looking for friends, they’re looking for victims. The only thing the Spanish voters did in ousting Aznar was give the terrorists the breathing room and opportunity they needed to kill more Spanish people.

Vladimir Putin gets it. “International terrorism has as its goal to prevent the election of President Bush to a second term. If they achieve that goal, then that will give international terrorism a new impulse and extra power.”

So when you hear Kerry say that we’d be safer with him in office because he’d bring troops home, because he’d build coalitions with corrupt countries, and respond to terror while reversing the Bush Doctrine of pre-emption, just think of these three words:

Remember The Spanish

They gave in. And the terrorists are still plotting against them. Think you’d be safer with a guy who views terrorism as a nuisance like hookers and poker players? Think you’d be safer by giving the terrorists what they want - a Bush defeat - so you can pretend they’re going to leave us alone? Think again.