Wikileaks Leaks: Spains 9/11, The Madrid Train Bombings and how America got it all wrong

On March 11^th 2004, Spain suffered its largest loss of civilian lives in an ongoing conflict since the heydays of the Spanish Civil War.

In the center of Spain’s capital city, Madrid, a total of 13 explosive devices were placed on four commuter trains, and were exploded during rush hour.

The government of Spain and American officials claimed at the time that there was “no doubt” that the Basque Separatist organisation, the ETA, were responsible for the horrific attack, noting that

“ETA experts in the Spanish police, as well as other Spanish officials, had expressed concern that the ETA would seek to strike before the March 14^th general elections”

The Spanish interior minister Angel Acebes Painiagua went on to say that

“(He) would not accept the intolerable assertion by those who try to divert the culpability to other groups”

It is now apparent to the international community that, despite the comments of the Spanish government and the opinion of the related cable, the ETA were, in fact, no responsible for the devastating Madrid train bombings and it was the doing of Islamic terrorists in response for Spain’s entering of the Iraq war. 

The cable can be viewed here: 04MADRID827