As the British government continues its massive investigation into this month’s coordinated London bomb attacks, one of Britain’s most respected foreign policy thinktanks is challenging Prime Minister Tony Blair’s claim that the bombings were not a result of British involvement in the occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan. A new report by the Chatham House organization said the key problem in the UK for preventing terrorism is that the country is “riding as a pillion passenger with the United States in the war against terror”. The group is made up of leading academics and former government officials. On Saturday, Tony Blair said the bombers were driven by what he called an “evil ideology” rather than opposition to any policy. Blair called suggestions to the contrary a “misunderstanding of a catastrophic order.” But in its report, Chatham House concludes there is “no doubt” the invasion of Iraq has “given a boost to the al-Qaida network” in “propaganda, recruitment and fundraising”, while providing an ideal targeting and training area for terrorists. It goes on “Riding pillion with a powerful ally has proved costly in terms of British and US military lives, Iraqi lives, military expenditure and the damage caused to the counter-terrorism campaign.”