Spain Gets Even Smarter

This just in:

Spanish Leader Pulls Troops From Spain MADRID, Spain - Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said Sunday he had ordered Spanish troops pulled out of the U.S.-led occupation force in Iraq (news - web sites) as soon as possible, fulfilling a campaign pledge and acting to salve his uneasy nation. Zapatero, who swept to victory in elections three days after 191 people were killed in terrorist commuter-train bombings in Madrid last month, said he acted after deciding the United Nations (news - web sites) was unprepared to take over the occupation of Iraq — his condition for keeping Spanish troops in the country. In the announcement, surprising for its timing, Zapatero said he had ordered his defense minister to "do what is necessary for the Spanish troops stationed in Iraq to return home in the shortest time possible." Zapatero spoke just hours after the new Socialist government was sworn in. His party won March 14 general elections and had pledged to bring Spain's 1,300 troops home unless the United Nations took political and military control. "With the information we have, and which we have gathered over the past few weeks, it is not foreseeable that the United Nations will adopt a resolution" that satisfies Spain's terms, Zapatero said....