WASHINGTON -- Three days after the terrorist bombings in Madrid, the March 14 election in Spain ended in an unexpected victory for the Socialist Party.
Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, the prime minister-elect of Spain, has already declared that he will keep his campaign pledge of withdrawing Spanish troops from Iraq unless the United Nations takes charge of international forces on the ground. The political shock waves in Spain have significant implications for U.S. allies around the world, including Japan as it prepares for Upper House elections in July.
The mainstream media, particularly in the United States, have attributed the Socialist victory in Spain to strong public disapproval of Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar's support for the U.S. in the war against Iraq. As a result, Aznar and his Popular Party have become the first political casualties of those who have supported the U.S.-led war in Iraq.