Metastasis

The first rule of the "war on terror"? You're not allowed to criticise the "war on terror":

A puppet show at an open square in Madrid during Carnival festivities this month featured a policeman who tried to entrap a witch. The puppet officer held up a little sign to falsely accuse her, using a play on words that combined Al Qaeda and ETA, the Basque separatist group.

Angry parents complained, and the real police stepped in. They arrested two puppeteers, who could now face as much as seven years in prison on charges of glorifying terrorism and promoting hatred.

Which you'd think rather proves their point: that anti-terror laws are being used for witch hunts. But they're not the only case. Last year Spanish authorities brought 25 cases under this law - ten times more than they did when Spain faced an actual terror threat from ETA - and convicted nearly everyone. And in this case, they're very obviously doing it not to punish the "glorification" of terrorism or public expressions of support for terrorists, but to punish those who raise questions about the "war on terror" and the abuse of the law. Just another example of how America's war has metastasized and now threatens democratic values.