Ditto Iraq. Remember how there was supposed to be a surge of rage against the governments who fought the Iraq war? Yet the worst violence occurred in France, which did not join the war. ~David Frum

The worst violence occurred in France? What is he talking about? The Madrid bombings in March 2004 killed almost 200 people and wounded thousands. Not only were these attacks triggered in large part by Spain’s participation in the Iraq war, but the incoming Spanish government following the attacks withdrew from Iraq specifically because they believed that Spanish involvement had provoked the attacks. The London bombings on July 7, 2005 killed over 50 people and wounded hundreds more. According to their own statements, the bombers were motivated by their hostility to Britain in part because of its participation in the Iraq war. Can we say for certain that these attacks would not have happened had there never been an invasion of Iraq? No, but it seems reasonable to argue that invading and occupying a Muslim country were going to make jihadist violence much more likely. Fortunately, there have been no more successful attacks in these countries, but it is completely false to say that the “worst violence occurred in France” after the invasion of Iraq. According to Frum’s column, it’s as though the Madrid and London atrocities never took place or somehow had no connection with the Iraq war.

While we’re on the subject, let’s not forget the nightmarish violence that jihadists did unleash inside Iraq itself. If we’re trying to take stock of the consequences of the invasion of Iraq, especially as it relates to terrorism caused by the invasion, it seems fair that we should include the thousands and thousands of Iraqi victims of terrorist attacks that would never have been possible had the invasion never happened. But, no, the worst violence was in France. Happily, we have the infallible Frum to correct our mistakes for us.

Update: After I posted this, I saw that Kevin Sullivan and Greg Scoblete had already made similar objections to the column. Both posts are worth reading.