The terrorist slaughter in Madrid now claimed by Al-Qaeda, is terrible proof that a state that is tied to corporate interests and which shows an indifference to the fate of countless millions, is incapable of protecting its citizens against these kind of attacks.

Whether in Spain, Britain or the United States, the state promotes policies and actions that serve to increase the recruiting capacity of groups like Al-Qaeda. Their championing of global, free-market capitalism has left much of the developing world in poverty, widening the gap between rich and poor at home and abroad.

Far from being democratic, the Bush and Blair regimes back corrupt and brutal dictatorships like those in Saudia Arabia or Egypt. They turn a blind eye of indifference to the daily destruction of Palestinian homes and lives by the reactionary and racist Israeli government.

The US and British governments deceived their own people through disinformation and downright lies to justify a pre-emptive attack and invasion of Iraq that killed thousands of civilians and brought chaos to that country. As one placard in Madrid put it, "Aznar you are responsible, we are the victims", in a reference to the outgoing Spanish prime minister's backing for the war.

None of this, of course, can excuse or justify in any way the mass murder of workers in Madrid, which we condemn. These were cowardly attacks, directed not against the state but at ordinary working people who are much easier targets. This blind hatred of everything "Western" leads to actions that dismiss the fact that more than 80% of Spaniards were opposed to the attack on Iraq. They were killing the very people that marched in their millions against the war only a year ago.

Further, the abuse of Islam in order to provide a spurious legitimacy to these attacks worsens the position of the millions of Muslims who live and work in Europe and North America. They are subjected to increased racial attacks and the oppressive attention of the state.

Far from damaging Bush and Blair, these bombings enable them to pose as "defenders of democracy" and to denounce terrorism as the "greatest threat to our way of life", which leaves out global warming, Aids, the destruction of natural resources, starvation throughout Africa, growing inequality among other issues that threaten the survival of the planet.

Blair, in his usual profound way, has reduced the whole affair to the fight between "good and evil". He undoubtedly would have had a key role in the Holy Crusades waged by the Catholic Church 900 years ago. Meanwhile, the state in Britain and elsewhere continues to take greater and greater powers unto itself at the expense of democratic rights and liberties.

Thus the "war on terror" - a concept that is so ill-defined that it can mean anything - becomes a war on the people as well. This "war" could last indefinitely, say its apologists. Which is convenient for the state in countries like Britain and America, whose authority has diminished in equal proportion to their open promotion of corporate and financial interests.

But ordinary working people cannot live like this and are increasingly prepared to say so, as the marches against the invasion of Iraq showed. Amongst the eight million who demonstrated against the bombings in Spain on Friday were slogans such as "No to terrorism, no to war".

The present capitalist state, based as it is on the narrow interests of profit and private control, is failing to protect its citizens. Assuming dictatorial powers will do nothing to stop this kind of attack. Only a truly democratic state and government, based on international co-operation and collaboration rather than the narrow interests of profit and private control, can even begin to tackle the causes of terrorism.

Movement for a Socialist Future
14 March 2004