Lessons from Madrid bombing

John Larson Correspondent

Suppose the entire leadership of al-Qaida was found and destroyed? Would that prevent another terror attack in the United States? One way of answering that question is to look closely at the worst attack in the West since Sept. 11.

It began like any other day in the heart of Madrid, Spain. Tens of thousands jammed the station, and then their world was suddenly engulfed in flames. On that day last March, terrorists carrying backpacks full of explosives boarded four trains and killed nearly 200 men and women. The attack was aimed at Spain to punish it for its support and role in the U.S. invasion of Iraq. Now, a year later, have we learned the lessons of Madrid?

Sen. Joe Biden: “I think for the American people, it should have been a wake up call. But a lot of them are still sleeping.”

Sen. Joe Biden (D-Del.), who commutes by train to D.C. each morning, worries what bombs could do along America's tens of thousands of tracks.

Sen. Biden: “The potential for carnage is overwhelming.”

Indeed, as early as 2002, the FBI had warned that “al-Qaida has considered directly targeting U.S. passenger trains."

But to many, what happened in Madrid is not just about trains. It's about a growing global threat, an evolving face of terror that can strike anywhere, especially in the United States. They say that in order to learn how to prevent the next attack -- authorities need to study the case of Madrid, March 11, 2004.

It's just before 7 a.m. and train operator Roberto Martin readies his train for another routine run, unaware that the bloodbath at the end of the line is less than one hour away.

John Larson:  “Do you love your job?”

Roberto Martin: “Yes, since I was a kid. I love trains because everyone in my family has been a railroad worker, including my father. For me, this is a dream job.”

At 7 a.m. in Alcala de Henares, a suburb of Madrid, busy commuters are getting on Martin's train.

Larson:  “Did you notice anything unusual that morning.”

The terrorist will board four separate trains, carrying 13 bags all filled with explosives. It is about a 40 minute train ride from here into the heart of Madrid.

The four trains are headed towards Atocha, the main train hub at the heart of Madrid. A quarter of a million people pass through there every workday. It's rush hour. The trains are packed with working class commuters, migrant workers and school children. One of them is a 13-year-old Moroccan immigrant, named San'a, the only daughter of her divorced mother, Jamila.

She spends afternoons playing soccer. But as she grows up, her interest in Islam grows, too.

Yamila: “She told me, ‘Mom, I like my religion because life is not just about living, eating, and working. We must understand there is a God that needs to be in our thoughts and prayers.’”

She prays at Madrid's main mosque. Unbeknownst to her, several young Muslim men who also pray there had been plotting a terror attack against Spain for months.

At 7:05, on the morning of March 11, their lives intersect one more time. They board the same train, at the same station, she, going to school, clutching her journal with plans for the next day. The young men board with backpacks full of screws, nails and dynamite.

Yamila: “When these people entered the trains, they saw faces, they saw people. Some were sleepy, some working, People who had books with them for studying. And they drop off these bags there and leave. They knew those people were as good as dead. They left the bags, looked into those faces and knew that they were all going to die. And they couldn't care less.”

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