NOVEMBER 24, 2001. Spain has just slam dunked twice in the war against terror game. First, its top investigative judge, Baltasar Garzón, indicted eight presumed Al Qaeda terrorists who seem to have links to the Sept. 11 attacks in the U.S.

Second, its conservative government drily informed the Bush administration that it would not extradite the men unless Washington guaranteed them a civilian trial with no death penalty on the horizon — no secret military courts, thank you. Like Spain, which abolished the death penalty in 1978, all other European Union countries are expected to nix extradition.

Judge Garzón, who made international legal history when he indicted former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet for torture a couple of years ago, has achieved his excellent results with just a fraction of the immense resources at the disposal of U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft, and with none of the latter's tramplings on civil liberties.

Ashcroft's anti-terrorism record so far is a big, fat 0.

The Gully In Depth

WTC Attack
Guide to the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on NYC and DC. Includes info on Afghanistan and the Taliban.

Bush Plus
All about George W. Bush, Dems, Greens, GOPs, and the morass of U.S. politics.

Europe
The Gully's Europe. Headlines, opinion and more.