Terrorism in Europe: Europe's biggest massacre committed by Islamic terrorists decided an election campaign in favour of Spain's Socialists and triggered a far-reaching political realignment on an international level. It also jolted the EU into adopting tighter security measures.

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Terrorism in Europe: Europe's biggest massacre committed by Islamic terrorists decided an election campaign in favour of Spain's Socialists and triggered a far-reaching political realignment on an international level. It also jolted the EU into adopting tighter security measures.

An article published in 'Newsweek' (mid-March) interpreted the tragic attacks on Shiites during this year's Ashura commemoration in Iraq as a sign of weakness, revealing, "unable to launch major attacks on the West ... militant Islam is searching for new enemies and causes." A few days after publication, the massacres in Madrid (on March 11), known as M-11 in Spain, proved the contrary.

Not surprising, because terrorist behaviour has always been unpredictable. But their attacks usually don't achieve the intended objectives, defeating instead the very purpose of the perpetrators. M-11 is the most glaring exception.

Despite the worldwide outrage, the Madrid bombings proved 'successful' beyond the wildest expectat...

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