The horrific bombings in Spain, which claimed more than 200 lives, were sad proof that terrorists can achieve success when their target is a government that has distanced itself from its people and pursued a misconceived counterterrorism policy. It also shows, in particular, that George W. Bush's "war on terrorism" is wrongheaded and dangerous.

All decent people mourn the loss of innocent lives and want the thugs who mount such attacks brought to justice. But let's be clear. The perpetrators of the Madrid attacks--who as of this writing seem to be Islamic fundamentalists--were able to meet their apparent objective (punishing the Popular Party government of José María Aznar) only because Bush had drawn the Spanish government into a dubious exercise: war on Iraq.

Bush and his lieutenants argued before the war that it was imperative to invade and occupy Iraq because Saddam Hussein had a massive number of WMDs and operational ties to Al Qaeda. Most of Washington's allies, a large number of Americans and majorities in other countries--including Spain--didn't buy that argument. Their skepticism has been borne out. As José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, Spain's incoming Prime Minister, declared, "You can't organize a war with lies." He has vowed to pull Spain's small but symbolic force out of Iraq by the end of June unless the military operation there is handed over to the United Nations.

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