AZNAR EXPLAINS

By Monitor MANY millions of Spaniards and quite a few foreign residents enjoying Spain's hospitality have asked themselves over recent months why Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar was such a strong supporter of the Anglo-American alliance in the war against Iraq. Spain's elected MPs have not been able to ask their Prime Minister this question because he has declined to offer a parliamentary debate on the subject. It was surprising, therefore, that Sr Aznar chose to give his reasons to a large audience of businessmen in Miami on Thursday during his current visit to the United States. His words, as reported in the Spanish press, were as follows: ”Someone asked me recently to explain my attitude towards the war in Iraq, and I answered: 'What would you do if there were 40 or 50 million people living in the United States and speaking your language?* He did not answer, and I said: 'What would you do if that number was bound to rise to 80 million within a few decades?* He still did not answer, because he had no answer.” The person who put the 64'000 euro question was almost certainly President Chirac of France - Sr Aznar had hinted at this in an earlier interview in ITAL/The Wall Street Journal/ - and it is interesting to know that the voluble Frenchman, who never seems lost for a word, was reduced to silence by the answer he was given. Whether this was because he was so impressed by it or, more likely, that he could not follow its logic, must be left to the realm of speculation. Perhaps Jose Maria Aznar will explain his reasoning when he returns to Spain?