Very sad. it's ETA again isn't it.

This is terrlble. I hadn't heard about it.

I heard about this from my parents this morning. How horrible! Rush hour commute. The part about the man holding the girl as she died in his arms just makes my heart ache.

Yes, truly a sad day in Madrid. I was filled with a mix of emotions yesterday morning when I discovered the tragic news. Mainly, I was concerned for my friends who live in Madrid. I studied abroad at Carlos III University in Madrid in the spring of 2002 and I took a commuter train from Atocha Renfe (1 of 3 stations that were targeted) everyday to get to school in the suburb of Getafe. So the possibility that Wash U students were injured or killed was very real. Fortunately, I learned today from the Madrid program director, a friend of mine, that all Wash U students are fine. And according to reports, there have been no American casualties. The program director was in Atocha earlier yesterday, but fortunately missed the bombs. Another American friend, who is there teaching English, lives just blocks from Atocha and she heard the bombs. had she been 20 minutes earlier, she would have been in the middle of it. So far, my Spanish sister-in-law's family and their friends are okay. But I have not heard from a very good friend of mine (whom I am going to visit in Madrid in May) who takes a train from Atocha to work every morning, so I'm really worried about him. I've heard from my other friends, and normally he is very prompt with his email responses, but still no response! so I'm keeping him in my thoughts and prayers. and please do the same.

As far as the blame, ETA or an shadowy group claiming to be part of AL-Quaida....I'm not sure, but if it is ETA, they've changed their strategy. Normally, they target the police and politicians( they tried to kill Aznar several years back). But this attack targeted mainly immigrants, lower class citizens and students. With almost 200 people dead and 1400 injured, this is far bigger than anything that ETA has done before, but I think that they have been looking for a big attack for a long time. Additionally, the explosives found are same kind that ETA is known for stealing from mines in southern France. However, ETA normally takes credit for its actions and they are denying this. curious. Plus that Arab language tape that was found with Koranic verses and the letter sent to an Arab newspaper are suspicious. It still looks like ETA to me, but all of the evidence is not in yet.