from a few months ago, quite relevant and interesting now.. This is what the press, the government, both Republican & Democratic parties, treasure as a "Friend of America" and a "Centre-Right Party".. :puke:
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August 21, 2003
The Case of Mr. Aznar, Friend of BushBy VICENTE NAVARROCan you imagine the response of the U.S. media if the president of the governing party of Poland were to say that Stalin was the former Soviet Union's greatest leader? Or if the president of the German government had never condemned the Hitler regime, or if a founder of the governing party in Germany was a person who had written a prologue to a book denying the existence of the Holocaust? Surely the media would hit the ceiling immediately and call for these person's resignations.
Well, the U.S. government and the U.S. media have been welcoming a man who has done something similar, a man they have referred to as "a great friend of the U.S." and "a representative of the New Europe" (in Rumsfeld's narrative), and a man that leading Democrats (not to be perceived as less welcoming) have referred to in equally laudatory terms. Even the Democratic-controlled California Assembly gave him a standing ovation. His man's is Mr. Jose Maria Aznar; he is the president of the Spanish government and leader of the governing party, the Popular Party (PP). More critical media would have made some inquiries about the PP and about Mr. Aznar. Let's start with the Party.
The PP was founded by Mr. Fraga Iribarne, Minister of the Interior in Franco's fascist regime (in charge of Spain's political police); he is still the president of the Party. He has always professed great admiration for General Franco and has never condemned Spain's fascist regime, responsible for one of Europe's cruelest dictatorships (more than 200,000 Spaniards were killed or died in concentration camps during Franco's regime). Actually, Fraga Iribarne has defined the Franco government as Spain's best regime in the twentieth century. His most recent contribution to "setting history straight" was to write a prologue to a book (The Historical Lie Finally Denounced in Spanish by a friend of his, Mr. T. M. Bereiro) that denies the existence of the Holocaust.
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http://www.counterpunch.org/navarro08212003.html