About 480 soldiers from the Spanish marines expeditionary unit were joining an advance detachment that arrived days ago. Another 90 troops were set to arrive later.
By Saturday, Spain will have brought around 600 troops into south Lebanon, the first phase of a deployment eventually to total about 1,100 in the coming weeks.
But the Spanish should realize that having run once from Iraq after the Madrid bombing, that the jihadis will target Spain again to force a retreat once again. Having broken once, the Spanish will break again, the jihadis surely think.
If the Spanish will to resist jihad is not truly broken, Spanish troops will pay in blood to reestablish Spanish credibility.
Or Spain will pull out of Lebanon the first time a target in Spain is hit again or a car bomb goes off in a Spanish convoy.
We shall see.
