Paul Johnson Slanders Spain

I don't want to get into the massive oversimplifications in this Paul Johnson piece, in part because I actually agree with some of it, but it's really appalling that he saw fit to write this:

On the eve of elections [in Spain], terrorists detonated bombs on trains in Madrid, panicking the nation. In a spasm of fear the Spanish--not normally lacking in courage--voted in a Socialist government. The new government took the coward's way out and withdrew its troops from Iraq.

Back in the real world, the Aznar government tried to blame Basque separatists for the bombing, on the basis, as it turned out, of no evidence whatsoever. Johnson knows this.

The Spanish voted for the opposition party because they didn't appreciate being lied to so spectacularly. I suspect they don't appreciate being lied about either.