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  1. Politics
18 January 2010

Blair v Chilcot

Will the former PM offer his standard defence?

By Mehdi Hasan

It’s confirmed: 29 January. Roll up, roll up! It’s Tony Blair v Sir John Chilcot et al.

Whatever he is asked by the Iraq inquiry panel, you can be sure that our beloved former premier will offer a variation of his standard “It was what I believed in, and I still do believe it” defence of the Iraq invasion. It is a line, a bit of shtick, to which my response is: “SO BLOODY WHAT? WHO CARES WHAT YOU ‘BELIEVED’?”

I mean, in what way is it relevant? At all? Hasn’t every dictator, despot, madman, murderer, terrorist and war criminal in history “believed” in the rightness of his cause? I’ve never quite understood why Blair thinks he should get brownie points for being sincere in his deception and his distortions of the truth about Iraqi WMDs, links to al-Qaeda, etc.

Memo to Sir John: Try to ensure Louis Vutton’s latest consultant sticks to the facts and stays away from his “feelings”. Oh, and good luck. With Teflon Tony, you’ll need it.

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