A day of infamy for Spain

Yesterday's bombings in the heart of Madrid are a tragic reminder of terrorism's global reach. While it appears no students or personnel in Tufts' Madrid program were injured, over 1,200 were wounded and about 200 killed in the worst terrorist attack Spain has ever suffered.

One of the first firefighters to arrive at the Atocha station -- a hub of Madrid's rail and subway networks -- called the blast site a "scene from hell." The successful deactivation of three more bombs, intended to detonate as emergency workers arrived, prevented even more carnage.

We should be grateful for a previously scheduled teacher's strike that kept most students home due to canceled classes. This might well have spared Tufts from a terrible loss. Students on the program, like most Madrid residents, use the commuter trains almost every day, often via the Atocha station.

Spaniards are already labeling the day "March 11th," a clear reference to America's terrorist attacks. Though the characteristics of the bombs suggest they are the work of a Basque terrorist group known as ETA, many characteristics of the attack point strongly to an al-Qaeda connection. Specifically, the timing, the high death toll, and the simultaneous detonation of the devices are all signatures of the terrorist organization.

In the face of almost unanimous popular opposition, Spain's government stood with America just months ago. It is now time for the U.S. to offer more than just moral support for the country in its fight against terrorism.

Ironically, many students received their acceptance letters to next year's Tufts in Madrid program yesterday. These attacks should serve as a sobering reminder of the turbulent world in which we live but not dissuade those students from studying abroad. Terrorism relies on our succumbing to fear in order to succeed, and the best way we can combat it is go about our lives, undeterred and unafraid.