By Kevin Maguire
<http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/tm_objectid=15713120%26method=full%26siteid=94 762%26headline=07%2d07%2d%2d%2dwar%2don%2dbritain%2d%2dterrible%2dprice%2dfo r%2diraq%2dwar%2d-name_page.html>
WAS it because of the war in Iraq? That's the question on everyone's lips.
Why here? Why now? Who would commit such a cowardly, gruesome crime?
The answers are likely to make uncomfortable reading for Tony Blair and for supporters of the Iraq and Afghanistan invasions.
The timing of the blasts, as Blair hosted George Bush in Gleneagles, is unlikely to be coincidence.
Intelligence services warned of a heightened terror risk after the Government committed troops to the conflict in Iraq.
Spain paid a terrible price for its support with last year's Madrid train bombings. Yesterday that carnage came to London.
Mr Blair had cited combating terrorism as one of the justifications for the invasion.
But Bush unleashed an unwinnable war on terror after 9/11. With Afghanistan an al-Qaeda base, he could identify it as a clear target. However, the supposed links between Saddam and al-Qaeda were as mythical as his WMDs.
The Iraq invasion unleashed forces America and Britain have been unable to control.
Terrorists flooded in to a country left without stable government. Coalition troops and diplomats are being attacked. And in Britain, terror cells have sprung up, determined on revenge.
One anti-war Labour MP has little doubt Iraq is to blame. But hours after the blasts, he said it would be insensitive to say: "I told you so."
Respect MP George Galloway showed no such sensitivity though, arguing Londoners had "paid the price" for Blair's wars.
Responsibility of course lies firmly with the butchers who mercilessly killed and maimed. However, when the inquest starts, the Iraq War will also be in the dock.
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