Iraq motivated the London bombers. So what?
Did the war in Iraq motivate the London bombers? Yes. Whatever your views on Iraq, it is impossible to deny that the terrorists believed that the war in Iraq justified their actions. But what I don't see is how this in any way affects whether the Iraq war was the right or the wrong war ...
Did the war in Iraq motivate the London bombers? Yes. Whatever your views on Iraq, it is impossible to deny that the terrorists believed that the war in Iraq justified their actions. But what I don't see is how this in any way affects whether the Iraq war was the right or the wrong war to fight. If a bunch of Orthodox Christians had blown themselves up on the Tube in protest at British involvement in Kosovo, would it have made that intervention any less moral? The logic that says that British foreign policy should change because it motivates terrorists is the logic of appeasement pure and simple.
Did the war in Iraq motivate the London bombers? Yes. Whatever your views on Iraq, it is impossible to deny that the terrorists believed that the war in Iraq justified their actions. But what I don't see is how this in any way affects whether the Iraq war was the right or the wrong war to fight. If a bunch of Orthodox Christians had blown themselves up on the Tube in protest at British involvement in Kosovo, would it have made that intervention any less moral? The logic that says that British foreign policy should change because it motivates terrorists is the logic of appeasement pure and simple.
What would these people do if bombers started releasing videos saying that the terrorist campaign would continue as long as Britain recognized the right of the state of Israel to exist? Or if they turned their attention to domestic policy, and said that civil partnerships for gays were the cause of their anger?
Blair is being reasonable when he argues that if the Iraq war hadn't happened, the terrorists' perverted ideology would have produced some other reason to murder their fellow citizens. The fact there were plots against British targets long before Iraq and the apparent foiled Canadian terror attack show that it is terribly simplistic to say that staying out of the war would have guaranteed Britain's safety. But when the government tries to deny any link between Iraq and 7/7, it looks shifty and insults the public's intelligence. Instead, the government should tell people to think through the consequences of giving terrorists a veto over British policy.
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