Why did Blair go to war in Iraq?

[Hamlette]

Ultimately I think there were a few reasons Bush went to war:

1. The neocons got to him through his older mentor, Cheney.
2. The neocons convinced him he would bring peace and democracy to the middle east and go down in history as the greatest leader of all time. He's such an egomaniac I can see him falling for that one.
3. Oil. We need it. They have it. We need to secure it.
4. The religion based reason: bring about the rapture.
5. Saddam tried to kill his dad.
6. He believed the WMD propaganda.

Was Blair motivated by any of these things? If not, what?

[DoYouEverWonder]

1. He believed it was in Britian's best interest

to side with W. He didn't want England to get left out of all those lucrative Iraqi rebuilding and oil contracts.

[JohnyCanuck]

4. And the smell emanating from Dubya's posterior

was just so sweet and fragrant, he could not resist jamming his nose up there as far as it could go.

[DoYouEverWonder]

7. Oh man,

thanks a lot. You just ruined dinner.

[DuctapeFatwa]

2. both bush and blair went to war to make rich men richer

the project is very successful.

[CityZen-X]

6. Absolutely!

It's not about loyalty or conviction, it is all about lining your account with the extreme amount. And screw the rest of those who may criticize for they won't be able to confront me past my gated community and government security.

[hlthe2b]

3. Do a search on Greg Palast's website.... he's written on this before...

the gist is that the Bushies' allies have something on him?

[LSdemocrat]

5. He has always believed in the concept of nation building

Of all the leaders on the world stage, Tony Blair is probably the most ardent believer in the concept of nation building. He was an early proponent of intervention in Kosovo, and wanted to take an even stronger military position than the one NATO eventually took. He wanted to send in British ground troops, Clinton actually convinced him to hold off on that. Had the Milosevic not surrendered when he did, Blair would have sent in the troops within a week.

Tony Blair really has no problem using the military. He sees it as just another arm of government to promote positive change.

That's where he is coming from.

[Cat Atomic]

8. He had a choice. Be America's little brother in the EU, or

be one country in a multitude of countries in the EU.

Being America's toady gives Britain more influence in both the E.U. and the U.S.

[ElsewheresDaughter]

9. to secure his seat in the Carlyle Group

[revcarol]

10. Being blackmailed

or threatened.

[frank frankly]

11. because he is a soulless corrupt fuck

Tony Blair is a war criminal.

[GreyV]

12. He's British...

He's British... duh! Millennium of oppressive colonialism ring a bell? No?

[Nihil]

13. Well done, got the nationality right anyway ...

... but that's like saying that George Bush is a religious nut
*because* he's American ... you're using too wide a brush GreyV.

Whilst interesting to read, I think that the "blackmail" excuse has
a little too much aluminium in it - certainly as far as personal
blackmail is concerned - but St. Tony really does have big dreams ...
He would love to be President of the EU (for life) but would probably
settle for being PM of the UK (for the next 20 years) instead.

Personal gain? Possibly ... I bet he doesn't renounce the Carlyle
seat when it is offered (or the shares if no board post is deemed
suitable).

Pure toadying to GWB? Unlikely. I think this is simply a means to
an end - darling Cherie doesn't like Georgie and there are only a few
genuine (as opposed to political) points that Bush & Blair have in
common.

I really think it's down to the prestige, the "top table" image and
the support for achieving his own ambitions that keeps Bliar going.

Nihil

[GreyV]

15. Reality...

It might be seen as somewhat offensive, direct, or "too wide a brush", but it's the truth. Reality is like that.

[T_i_B]

14. Power at any cost

Blair wants power at any cost and to that end he has played Saruman to Bush's Sauron. The reults for our public life has been disasterous in almost every respect that the Iraq war has affected it, from Parliament, to Hutton, to our national security.