Former British prime minister Tony Blair’s political and personal “dominance” over his cabinet had reached such levels that nobody could challenge his decision to enter the Iraq War, says the author of the Chilcot report.
John Chilcot, who wrote a damning report about how Blair invaded Iraq on false pretenses, said Wednesday that he arrived on the conclusion after speaking to Jack Straw, Blair’s foreign secretary during the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq.
“Tony Blair had, as leader of the opposition and in government, rescued his party from a dire predicament. I had the sense from Straw’s answer that he had achieved a personal and political dominance, a sheer psychological dominance,” he said.
“He [Blair] had been right. Was he not right this time? That’s what I took from Mr. Straw’s evidence,” he noted, adding that Blair’s easily went “beyond facts” to make a case for war.
