Talk:2004 Madrid train bombings/Controversies about the 11 March 2004 Madrid train bombings

THIS IS AN ATELIER PAGE, NOT A TALK PAGE. THIS ARTICLE IS NOT FINISHED YET.

Whether the 2000- 2004 PP government lied
The government of the PP was accused of falsely blaming ETA for the attacks. The very day of the attacks Police officials wrongly informed the Government that the explosives usually used by ETA were found at the blast sites which along with other suspicious circumstances led the PP to blindly believe in ETA's authorship. There was not any direct or indirect evidence from the investigation of the bombing pointing to ETA involvement, however the group had been caught with a large amount of explosives some months ago, which looked like preparations for a big strike. The government sent messages to all the Spanish embassies abroad ordering that they upheld the ETA version. President José María Aznar even called a number of newspaper directors to ask for their support of this version.

Broadly speaking, the extremely tense political atmosphere in Spain over the previous term of office served as a breeding ground for a situation that the attacks turned into a chasm, bringing the conservative government to the very edge of it just three days before the elections. On one hand, José María Aznar was aggressively opposed to any dialogue with ETA and based most of his campaign on the threat of terrorism (the 9/11 attacks in New York reinforced his view of the war against the terrorists). On the other hand, Aznar's friendship with U.S. president George Bush Jr. led him to support the 2003 invasion of Iraq against the view of the overwhelming majority of the population (causing the biggest demonstrations ever seen in Spain since restoration in the late 1970's). This left Aznar on a tricky situation: if Basque terrorists were proved to be responsible of the attack, it would favor is campaign; if an Islamic group appeared to cause the blast, people might blame him for earning himself enemies.

The Summary of the Judicial Enquiry concluded that the decision to attack Madrid was taken after and as a result of the invasion of Iraq. Nevertheless, The New Yorker claimed that the decision was taken before 9-11 according to an Italian police report.

The day before the elections there was an illegal demonstration in front of the conservative party, accusing the government of lying about the responsibility of the attacks. The demonstration was allegedly invoked via spontaneous cell phone messages. The candidate of the governing conservative party, Mariano Rajoy, gave speech on television complaining about the demonstration and asking the opposition to condemn it. On behalf of the socialist party, Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba gave a message saying that "the Spanish people do not deserve a government that lies to them" and that they neither organized nor supported the demonstration.

Whether the 2004- 200X PSOE government lied
Thirteen improvised explosive devices were reported to have been used by the Islamic militant group that was responsible for the bombing, all but three of which detonated. This group seems to have worked with a very tenuous connection with Al-Qaeda but with the aim of acting on its behalf. Shortly after the bombings, the group was completely dismantled by the Spanish police and the core members committed suicide when they were surrounded in the nearby city of Leganés.

The bombings in Madrid have led to a sharp political and social fracture in Spain. This result stands in sharp contrast to other large scale terrorist attacks such as those of New York and London, which galvanized society and political forces.

Spain's political division is exemplified by the accusation by members of the Partido Popular and several conservative media outlets regarding the responsibility for the bombings and whether the attacks were for political gain. Some of these source initially supported the hypothesis that ETA was behind the attacks. These groups have focused their investigation on unexplained details and inconsistencies in the Summary report and expressed scepticism about the truthfulness and bias of the evidence presented thus far.

Over the last three years, conservative forces in Spain have overtly argued the possibility that the Socialist party, the police, the Spanish, French, and Moroccan secret services, and, of course, ETA, may have had a role in organizing the bombings.

Not all conservative media outlets are involved in this campaign. There is a distinct difference between those who believe that the PSOE use it for political gain as it had access to information (either through France or through links to the Police) which it used to ridicule the government in the aftermath of the bombing, and those who consider the possibility that the ETA, some groups in the State Security Forces (possibly related to the GAL), in the Moroccan secret services and in the Socialist Party (PSOE) may have had a role in organizing the bombings or in blocking official investigation or confusing it with misleading evidences. Los agujeros negros del 11-M (El Mundo)] The first group includes the Newspaper ABC, while the second group includes the Radio Station COPE and the newspapers La Razón and El Mundo. Spain’s 11-M and the right’s revenge (Open Democracy)] This group claims that the official version is more than questionable and that the truth is still unknown. They have coupled this claims with doubts about the legitimacy of the current government, which they ideollogically oppose.

The "suicidal terrorist" issue
The PRISA owned Cadena SER said on March 11th 2004 that three different sources assured to the SER that a suicidal terrrorist wearing several layers of underwear was in the trains.

This assertion proved later as false.

José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero propagated the falsehood.

The Renault Kangoo issue
In May 2006 when the newspaper El Mundo published on its front page that a business card of the Basque firm Mondragón Cooperative Corporation (MCC) had been found in the Renault Kangoo van which was alleguedly used by the terrorists. This piece of evidence, discovered by the policemen which found the van, wasn't present on the numerous Police reports, while new pieces of information appeared. The rationale of "El Mundo" was that Mondragón has no relationship with ETA but it could point to ETA as well as the Coranic cassette pointed to Al Qaeda conception.

It was later asserted by the Spanish police that, it was not a business card but the cover of a music CD of the popular Spanish 80s rock group "Orquesta Mondragón". The CD itself with its box was found in a pile of various other music CDs. The rear of the cover have been apparently used by the legitimate propietory to warn people when he parked in the middle of the street since it has handwritten a message that said "I am coming back inmediately".

On the other hand, "El Mundo" insisted in the existence of a MCC card in the van.

The Spanish police also asserted that a card from "Gráficas Bilbaínas" (i.e., "Bilbao printing", a printing shop located in Madrid) found in the van was the source of the allegued confussion.

The Nitroglycerine issue
On July 11th 2006 the Spanish newspaper El Mundo published this headline:


 * No era Goma-2 ECO: El explosivo que estalló el 11-M era distinto del que tenían los islamistas


 * It was not Goma-2 ECO: The explosive that detonated on 11 March was different from the explosive that the islamists had

El Mundo argues that:
 * During the official hearings of 7 July 2004 on the Madrid bombings, the chief of the bomb disposal team (TEDAX), Juan Jesús Sánchez Manzano, emphatically asserted that there was nitroglycerine in the remains of the explosion, and that all dynamites contain such substance. Mr. Sánchez Manzano said:
 * ...logramos encontrar restos de nitroglicerina, y la nitroglicerina es el componente de todas las dinamitas


 * ...we managed to find traces of nitroglycerine, and nitroglycerine is a component of all forms of dynamite
 * Testimony in the Spanish Congressional file


 * In response to a question from a member of the commission on whether he was an expert on explosives, Sánchez Manzano replied:


 * En explosivos, no; soy un experto en desactivación de explosivos


 * In explosives no; I am an expert in the deactivation of explosives


 * Nitroglycerine is, definitely, not a component of the only explosive (Goma-2 ECO) that the alleged Islamist perpetrators had. Goma-2 ECO was the explosive found in the only unexploded bomb recovered from the trains.


 * ¿es la nitroglicerina un componente de la Goma 2 ECO? Rotundamente, no.


 * Is nitroglycerine a component of the Goma 2 ECO?. Positively, not.

El Mundo founder and manager, Pedro J. Ramírez, has said about this issue:


 * No estamos ante una entrega más de los misterios, de los agujeros, de los enigmas del 11-M ... Hemos llegado a un punto absolutamente crítico ... Todo el Sumario está construido sobre la base de que lo que estalló en los trenes era Goma 2 ECO ... Si ahí pone Nitroglicerina, el Sumario del 11-M se ha venido abajo.


 * Excerpts taken from the first fifth of the COPE radio program.


 * This is not just a new chapter to the mysteries, the shady issues, the enigmas about 11-M ... We have reached an absolutely critical point ... All the "Sumario" [i.e., the government version] is based upon Goma 2 ECO exploding in the trains ... If you can read there "nitroglicerine", the entire "Sumario" goes down (there is the original scientific police reports, missing from the "Sumario").
 * Full context quote.

Nevertheless, on July 17th 2006, Mr. Sánchez Manzano stated before the investigating judge that he had mistakenly used the word "nitroglycerine" because of its historical connection with dynamite.

The 19 July 2006 digital edition of El Mundo contains a report on the appearance before the investigating judge, Juan del Olmo, of the inspector belonging to the bomb disposal squad (TEDAX) who was responsible for the preliminary reports on the explosives used in the bombings. This officer, head of the TEDAX investigation group and a graduate in Chemistry, stated before the judge that she was unable to determine the type of dynamite used in the bombs because it was not possible to obtain a test sample of sufficient size to study the composition of the explosive. She also declared that at no time did she ever mention the presence of nitroglycerine to any of her commanding officers - who include Mr. Sánchez Manzano.

Part of the Spanish Judiciary oficially stated that it is impossible to know which kind of Dynamite exploded in the trains "El Mundo" article, The prosecutor for the Madrid 2004 train attacks say that it is impossible to know what kind of dynamite exploded in the trains

The 13th bomb
The clues in the 13th bomb allowed the police to arrest the first allegued perpetrators on Saturday, 13 March, when three Moroccans (Jamal Zougam, Mohamed Chaoui and Mohamed Bekkaliand) and two Indian citizens were arrested.


 * The 13th bomb has been called "the bomb that dismounted the PP version about ETA"


 * The 13th bomb is also known in spanish sources as "Mochila de Vallecas" (Backpack from Vallecas), due to the fact that its discovery was announced in the Vallecas Police Station in the morning of march 12th.


 * The 13th bomb validity as an exhibit is disputed. The next topics are under discussion:


 * Wether the bomb was really in the trains. In the morning of the bombings, the trains were double checked by the EOD policemen to be sure that no unexploded devices were there. The 13th bomb was not found then. The only EOD policeman that had memories of handling a heavy (the 13th bomb weighed around 24 pounds) bag in that morning in El Pozo station asserted positively that the heavy bag he handled in the train station was not the bag of the 13th bomb.


 * Wether that exhibit has a chain of custody.
 * A spanish police report concluded that the bomb could be manipulated by unidentified persons in Ifema ("pudo ser manipulada por personas no identificadas en el Ifema"). Ifema is the Madrid exhibition center where objects found in the trains were temporarily stored.
 * DNA from a unidentified male was found in the bag.


 * On the other hand, spanish policemen asserted that the chain of custody is unbroken

 , and PP leader, Mariano Rajoy, asserted in march 2006 that he had no doubts about this exhibit.

In december 2006 "El Mundo" published that one of the policeman in the Vallecas Police Station during the allegued discovery of the 13th bomb was under investigation due to his allegued participation in a plot to sell illegaly Goma 2-ECO and in the assassination of a petty thief.

The alleguedly "volatilized" empty shells issue
Journalistic sources and the spanish judiciary stated that there was a shooting in Leganés, with the allegued terrorists employing Sterling SMGs.



Only five empty shells were recovered from the rubble of the flat after the explosion. One of the recovered empty shells was a shotgun empty shell. The allegued terrorists had no shoutgun in the flat.

Engineer anf journalist Luis del Pino asked for the "volatilized" empty shells in his book "Los enigmas del 11-M" (ISBN 8496088456) Pages 161-163.

Doubts over the "suicide" assertion
Several suspected terrorists were blown up - or blew themselves up' - in an apartment on the outskirts of Madrid days after the bombing"

Luis del Pino documentary, aired in Madrid regional T.V., argues against the "collective suicide" theory. See from minute 66. .

The People's Party regards the "collective suicide" of Leganés a "suposition":


 * 75 ¿Qué constancia real, o en qué hechos se basa el señor ministro, para afirmar que los presuntos suicidas de Leganés dispararon desde las ventanas, teniendo en cuenta que no existen vídeos, ni fotografías, ni testigos, que avalen esta información?


 * 102 ¿Se ha informado al juez Del Olmo de que en la vivienda contigua al piso de Leganés, en el que presuntamente se suicidaron varios islamistas, vivía un policía que se reunió en su piso, curiosamente, con el jefe operativo de los GEO poco antes del día de los presuntos suicidios?


 * 106 ¿Existe el testimonio de algún vecino, o cualquier otra persona, que pudiera haber visto a los presuntos terroristas el día que, supuestamente, se suicidaron en Leganés?


 * 144 Teniendo en cuenta que el GEO 81-743 declaró ante la Juez Teresa Palacios que los GEO habían llevado un inhibidor de ondas para evitar las comunicaciones por móviles, el día 3 de abril en su intervención en el piso de Leganés donde, supuestamente, se suicidaron siete presuntos terroristas: ¿Cómo explica el señor ministro que se haya querido hacer creer a la opinión pública y al Juez instructor de los atentados del 11-M que esos presuntos suicidas hicieron llamadas desde los móviles a familiares y, por ellas, se conoció que se iban a suicidar, cuando los GEO y la policía rodeaban la casa?


 * 158 ¿Quién dio la orden de que se enviasen al juez Del Olmo diversos informes contradictorios acerca de las llamadas que, presuntamente, realizaron los denominados suicidas de Leganés?


 * 217 Teniendo en cuenta que de los tres artefactos recuperados en el piso de Leganés en ninguno de ellos se ha recuperado el sistema de iniciación eléctrica, según consta en el auto de procesamiento: ¿Tiene alguna prueba el señor ministro de que los explosivos cercanos o adosados a los cuerpos de los presuntos terroristas que, supuestamente, se suicidaron el 3 de abril de 2004, estaban preparados para explotar o más bien su puesta en escena era a modo de señuelo?

Common source:

Allegued falsification of police reports
A reference to ETA was deleted from a spanish police report by a spanish police chief. The reference to this report was erased with Tipp-Ex correction fluid.

Impact of the controversies in Spain
There is no independent account about how many Spaniards give credit to the spanish judiciary indictment or to the doubts against the indictment.


 * A study has been made by the "pro-indictment" SER spanish radio station:


 * El 60% de los españoles asegura no tener dudas sobre la autoría islamista de los atentados. Un porcentaje similar confía en la investigación policial y judicial. El 24% dice tener dudas


 * 60% of spaniards assure they have no doubts about the islamist autorship of the bombings. A similar percentage trust the police and judciary investigation. 24% says they have doubts

"El País" denounced that some spanish judiciary members of "compartir sus delirios conspirativos sobre el 11-M" ("sharing their conspirative delirium about the 11 March 2004 Madrid bombings").


 * Another study has been made by the Indictment doubter newspaper "El Mundo".


 * Un 67,5% de los ciudadanos piensa que aún no se sabe todo sobre el 11-M


 * Another study

Controversial media
The controversies are supported by the second (El Mundo) and fourth (La Razón) spanish newspapers, and by the business newspaper La Gaceta de los negocios and the COPE radio station.

Pedro J. Ramírez, El Mundo founder and director, is a regular guest in COPE program "La Mañana"

COPE is owned by the spanish catholic church.

"La Mañana" host Federico Jiménez Losantos, writes a column in "El Mundo".

Media disputing the controversial media
The first (El País) and third (Diario ABC) spanish newspapers Cadena SER

ABC is called as "El País II" and "el paisín" (the little El País) by Federico Jiménez Losantos.

ABC former director and current La Razón director, Luis María Anson, calls La Razón ""el ABC auténtico"" ("the genuine ABC").

El País and SER are owned by the same media conglomerate: PRISA.