The March 11 massacres in Madrid set off a spark of idealism, conviction and high purpose among Spaniards. As the images of death flashed mercilessly from their television screens, they vowed that the terrorist attacks would not succeed. With tears still streaming from their eyes, poets, journalists, politicians and people from all walks of life declared that they would stand up against those who, as the daily El Pais put it, hate democracy, hate freedom and hate the differences between free people. They pledged, as did writer Jose Antonio Zarzalejos, to stand with serenity and determination to see that justice is done; to see "the retribution that justice will bring to the assassins."

The people of Spain stood firm in their principles against terrorism. As long, that is, as the terror did not come from Islamic fundamentalists.

The first hints that carnage from Muslim extremists would receive different treatment came early on, when a Basque politician suggested that the reviled ETA terrorist organization was not behind the coordinated bombings of the commuter trains, which killed 201 and wounded some 1,500. Instead, he said, it could be the Arab "resistance."

Spaniards have long expressed their displeasure when others refer to the bloodthirsty ETA as "Basque separatists." They call it a terrorist band. When it comes to Arab and Muslim terrorism, they call it "the resistance." No matter that one of the great injustices they "resist" is the end of the Muslim Caliphate in Spain, defeated five centuries ago.

Spain has fallen into the destructive trap set up by Arab and Muslim leaders justifying the most horrifying acts of murder as the desperate deeds of innocent victims. Like many in Europe, they have bought into the blood-spattered romance of terrorism as a legitimate weapon of something. The something, Spanish voters decided this time, is Spain's involvement in the war in Iraq. If Muslim terrorists slaughter hundreds of civilians, they must have a point.

Before the blasts, Spain was only three days away from holding legislative elections. The voters were set to grant a new mandate to the Popular Party of retiring Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar. Once the messages from al-Qaida started coming, the voters changed their minds.

One message said the attack was a settling of accounts for Spain, "the crusader," an apparent reference to centuries-old wars. The second transgression for which Spain was being punished was participation in the Iraq war. Then came the blackmail: If Spain doesn't stop, more attacks will come.

Voters listened closely and, in direct acquiescence to terrorist extortion, decided to vote for the party that promised to take them out of Iraq.

The ink was still wet on their solemn declarations. To explain their thoughtful rage and commitment to stop the inhumanity of terror they had offered touching accounts of the hours after the blasts on March 11, "our September 11" they called it, describing the silence near the tracks pierced only by the plaintive ringing of cell phones under the sheets covering the dead. Nothing justified the horror, they said on March 11.

March 11, they explained, openly repeating the mantras of the day that came exactly 30 months earlier, was the day that "changed everything."

The scholar Juan Juaristi exhorted his fellow Spaniards not to let the terrorists -- ETA, he thought -- get away with this act. All Spaniards, he urged, should go to the polls on Sunday and cast their vote for freedom. The elections, he said, should become a huge celebration of Spanish democracy. A celebration of life.

Instead, Spain cast a vote of fear and handed a victory to terrorists. A victory likely to fuel more attacks.

Most Spaniards opposed their country's participation in the war. They had every right to vote against the government that took their soldiers to Iraq. But that is not why they threw out the ruling Popular Party. If it were, the polls before March 11 would not have shown an almost assured victory for the PP.

The government mishandled the aftermath of the attacks, rushing to blame ETA, possibly for political gain. That, too, was a valid reason to vote against the PP.

But that is not the reason so many changed their vote. When asked, voters clearly said they wanted the PP out because its support of the war had caused terrorism.

Terrorism was not the fault of terrorists. It was the fault of the government. Once again, they accepted the phony justification of Muslim terrorists and forgot their own high-minded principles.