New Spanish Leader Takes Moderate Approach towards the Terrorism Threat

Following the worst terrorist attack ever to hit the U.S. ally, Spain's new Socialist leader, Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero vowed Monday to bring home the 1,300 Spanish troops now in Iraq.

U.S. authorities said Monday they believe Al Qaeda had a role in the Madrid train bombings, which killed 200 people and wounded some 1,500.

Zapatero has delivered quiet a surprise defeat to the Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar, who was a major supporter of President Bush's war on terror and committed troops to the war in Iraq at a time when most European nations stayed out.

During the election, people have blamed Aznar for his aggressive attitude in supporting the Iraq war that made Spain a target for terrorists.

Zapatero suggested Iraq pullout but the exact date was not stated, yet he reaffirmed his pledge that they would be recalled by June 30 unless the United Nations assumes control of multinational military operations in Iraq.

While leaving the door slightly open for a continued Spanish presence in Iraq, he said, "My most immediate priority will be to fight terrorism.?

However, Australia has called on Zapatero to reverse its decision to pull its troops out of Iraq, thereby denying al Qaeda the ability to claim a victory over the anti-terror coalition arrayed against it.

Australia Foreign Minister Alexander Downer, made an impassioned plea for countries not to walk away from the campaign against terrorism in a radio interview on Wednesday. Critics of the move have used terms like "a cave-in," "capitulation" and "appeasement" to describe the announcement by incoming Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero.

"If we do that we'll not defeat them, we'll empower them, we'll make them stronger, we'll make them more effective, we'll make them more successful in achieving their ultimate objective,?Downer said.

President Bush said Tuesday that terrorists who carried out atrocities like the Madrid bombings aimed "to try to get the world to cower ... to try to shake our will."

"It is essential that the free world remain strong and resolute and determined," he added.

It still takes some time for the whole world to reach a common anwser to the terrorsim threat.