You come dangerously close to saying 'Bush is hoping for a second atrocity'.

That's going way beyond anything I said, Wolfgang. I think that such an event would help his chances of getting elected, and that seems to be he consensus of media commentators generally, regardles of whether theybfavour Bush or are opposed to him. I don't think that anyone would suggest that this implies that they all believe that 'Bush is hoping for a second atrocity'.

The crucial thing in the Spanish election appears to have been anger at the cynical attempt of the government to manipulate the vote by making out that the bombing had been carried out by ETA, and the consequent significant increase in the number of people who actually voted. There is no evidence, so far as I am aware, about what kind of result the bombers wished to see, assuming that they had any particular interest in Spanish domestic politics.

American domestic politics, on the other hand, is a rather more significant issue, wherever we live.