Word: spaining
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...Compounding the negative reactions were reports that many relevant officials within Spain's administration were unaware that the announcement was near. According to the newspaper El País, Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos was not included in the decision, and Spanish Ambassador to the U.S. Jorge Dezcallar first learned of the withdrawal when a State Department official called him for an explanation. Asked about the timing, a spokesman for the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs corrected the statement about Moratinos, noting that the minister was up to date on the resolution, but said he could not confirm or deny...
...government involved, it's not unusual for a little intraministerial miscommunication to occur now and then. But many are asking why this decision, communicated poorly or not, was made now. With the G-20 meeting in London on April 2 and the NATO gathering in Strasbourg immediately after offering Spain a first chance to work with Obama, why would Zapatero risk alienating his allies? (See pictures of the world reacting to Obama's election...
...professor of international law at Madrid's Autonomous University has to do with what's going on in Kosovo now. "NATO is starting to help form the embryo of an independent Kosovan army," he says. "They're reinforcing civil institutions too. It's become more and more contradictory for Spain to be a part of that since they don't recognize Kosovo's independence...
...also possible that Spain is planning to concentrate its forces elsewhere. "If you have to conserve your human and economic resources, this is the obvious place to cut," adds Remiro. "It makes it possible to direct those resources toward other places that might be more important right...
...Other places like, say, Afghanistan. At the NATO meeting, Obama is widely expected to ask for more European assistance in Afghanistan, and Chacón herself, who in December lifted Spain's 3,000-person ceiling on troops abroad, has made it clear she is open to the request. (Vote for the 2009 TIME 100 Finalists...