"Right now freda underhill - Tell us under what conditions that Spain's new Prime Minister has "promised to withdraw the troops from Iraq".

Teribus, the headline in today's New York Times is:

"Blow to Bush: An Ally in Spain Is Rejected by Antiwar Voters"

Some excerpts from the article:

"The Bush administration must now fight the perception, accurate or not, that acts of terror against America's allies can sway nations into rethinking the wisdom of standing too closely with Mr. Bush...

Only last week several senior members of the administration said they fully expected that his (Anzar) conservatives would emerge victorious. In fact, months ago a senior adviser to Mr. Bush predicted that should a terrorist attack occur in Europe, it would probably drive the Europeans closer to the United States and its approach to the campaign against terror, not away from it...

But it was lost on no one in Mr. Bush's inner circle that Mr. Zapatero rode to victory by denouncing Mr. Bush's approach to the world, and that he pledged to bring home Spain's 1,300 troops in Iraq in July...

Senior American diplomats were quick to note that even the Socialists had pledged to take part in peacekeeping in Iraq if the United Nations passed a resolution embracing the Iraqi transitional government, which is scheduled to take over from the Coalition Provisional Authority on June 30. Such a resolution seems highly likely."

At this point (in the wake of the terrorist attacks), even with a UN resolution, Mr. Zapatero may not be willing to keep Spanish troops on the ground in Iraq.