Tony Blair: From Dodgy Dossier to Divine Dodging – Why God (Apparently) Will Be His Judge on Iraq

Tony Blair—the man whose name will forever be linked with one of the greatest foreign policy disasters in modern history: the Iraq War. Once hailed as the shining star of New Labour, Blair is now remembered for his role in a conflict that led to the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people, based on intelligence so dodgy you’d expect it to be hawked at a street market. And yet, despite the death toll and devastation, Blair still insists that “God will be my judge.”

Convenient, isn’t it? When you’re responsible for the deaths of over 200,000 Iraqi civilians, it’s handy to brush that off as a “mistake”, file it under “Whoops, bad intel!”, and leave it to a higher power to sort out the moral accounting. Blair’s post-office strategy has been to sidestep the cold, hard facts of his legacy and pass the buck on to divine judgment—because why face The Hague when you can face heaven?

The Dodgy Dossier: Sexed-Up Intelligence, Real-Life Carnage

It all started with the now infamous dodgy dossier, a document that Blair and his government used to justify the invasion of Iraq in 2003. The dossier claimed that Saddam Hussein could deploy weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) within 45 minutes—a chilling threat designed to whip up public support for a preemptive strike. Except, as we all now know, those WMDs didn’t exist. The intelligence had been sexed up like a particularly tragic episode of Love Island—all sizzle, no substance.

What did exist, however, was a bloody conflict that led to an estimated 650,000 Iraqi deaths, according to The Lancet. These were people whose lives were upended or ended entirely because of a war built on lies, half-truths, and Blair’s desire to buddy up with George W. Bush. And yet, when confronted with this appalling death toll, Blair has the gall to dismiss it as an unfortunate error—something akin to accidentally deleting an important email, not the catastrophic loss of life it actually was.

Blair's Shrug-Off Strategy: Mistakes Were Made

For Blair, the real skill seems to be his ability to shrug off the carnage in Iraq as if it were a small administrative hiccup. “Oh, sorry about that mass destruction of a country—bit of a misunderstanding on the weapons front.” You see, in Blair’s world, the invasion of Iraq wasn’t so much an atrocity as it was a bit of bad luck. Just a mistake. A simple “Oops, my bad” over a glass of Chardonnay, and back to cashing in on speaking engagements.

Blair has never truly reckoned with the impact of his decisions. In interviews, he acknowledges that “mistakes were made,” as if the decimation of Iraq is the kind of thing you write down in the margins of a notebook and move on from. To Blair, the war and its aftermath—hundreds of thousands of deaths, millions displaced, and the rise of ISIS—is nothing more than an unfortunate footnote in what he still seems to believe was an otherwise stellar career.

His line of defence has always been the same: he acted in good faith, based on the intelligence at the time. But as the Chilcot Report made clear, Blair wasn’t merely acting on faulty intelligence—he was manipulating it to suit a pro-war agenda. He overplayed the threat of Saddam Hussein and committed the UK to war long before peaceful options had been exhausted. God will be my judge, Blair insists, but the rest of us are left wondering if St. Peter’s review panel includes a line-item for “overselling a case for war.”

From Downing Street to Catholic Confession: Blair’s Divine Dodge

Then there’s the post-office plot twist that really takes the cake: Blair’s conversion to Catholicism in 2007, just after stepping down as prime minister. After years of overseeing drone strikes, bombings, and invasions, Blair apparently decided that a spiritual rebrand was in order. One day you’re responsible for launching a war that killed hundreds of thousands, and the next, you’re kneeling at an altar, handing your sins over to God like a morally bankrupt stockbroker shifting bad debt.

Blair’s new religious conviction came with a memorable soundbite that he now trots out whenever Iraq comes up: “God will be my judge.” It’s as if by converting to Catholicism, Blair has secured a special one-on-one tribunal with the Almighty, bypassing any earthly accountability. For a man who’s avoided legal consequences for his role in the war, it’s a rather neat solution, isn’t it? Blair’s moral calculus is now outsourced to the divine—because when you’ve managed to dodge every human court, why not appeal to a higher one?

But invoking divine judgment doesn’t change the facts on the ground. Iraq was destroyed, lives were shattered, and Blair’s war paved the way for the rise of extremist groups like ISIS. The conflict created a power vacuum that plunged Iraq into chaos, making life for ordinary Iraqis worse than it ever was under Saddam. But don’t worry—Blair’s got it all sorted with the big man upstairs.

Hypocrisy: Catholic Convert and War Criminal?

Let’s not beat around the bush (or Blair). The hypocrisy here is staggering. Catholicism, after all, preaches peace, compassion, and humility. Blair, on the other hand, left behind a trail of blood, bombs, and broken promises. His religious conversion smacks of a political figure trying to whitewash his legacy, to scrub out the stains of a war that never should have happened. It’s like converting to vegetarianism after years of owning a chain of steakhouses—you can put away the meat, but the cows are already dead.

Blair’s religious transformation might offer him some inner peace, but for the families of those killed in Iraq, his conversion doesn’t change the reality of what happened. Blair’s newfound Catholicism won’t rebuild Fallujah, and it certainly won’t bring back the hundreds of British soldiers who died fighting in a war that was built on lies.

But the post-office Blair continues to swish his rosary beads, deliver six-figure speeches, and attend global summits, all while effectively shrugging off any guilt for the 650,000 Iraqi lives that were lost. Sure, he’ll chat about God’s judgment when pressed on Iraq, but there’s something almost comical about how easily Blair has dodged human justice—as if “I’m leaving it up to God” is the new Nuremberg defence for the powerful.

Why Blair Won’t Face Trial: Power and Privilege Prevail

If you’re wondering why Tony Blair hasn’t been dragged kicking and screaming into the dock at The Hague, the answer is as simple as it is frustrating: power protects itself. Blair may have been at the helm of one of the most disastrous wars in recent history, but he was acting as part of a global elite. He wasn’t just one man making bad decisions—he was a cog in the machine of Western foreign policy, fully backed by the US and other global players.

Prosecuting Blair would mean implicating the entire political and military establishment, dragging out skeletons from Washington to Westminster, and setting a precedent that might make future leaders a bit too nervous when they feel the urge to invade somewhere. The International Criminal Court could theoretically charge him for a war of aggression, but doing so would be politically explosive, and frankly, no one’s got the stomach for that kind of fallout.

Besides, Blair’s got the ultimate defence mechanism: God’s judgment. By shifting the moral burden to the afterlife, Blair has successfully insulated himself from any earthly consequences. If anyone’s waiting for him to be held accountable for the hundreds of thousands of deaths his war caused, don’t hold your breath. The divine tribunal might take a while to process the paperwork.

Blair’s Legacy: Judged by God, Condemned by History

So, where does that leave us? Tony Blair, the man who dragged the UK into a war based on lies, may never face trial. He may never have to reckon with the full scale of the destruction he caused in Iraq. But while God may be his judge, history certainly won’t be kind.

Blair can clutch his rosary and offer penance to whatever higher power he believes in, but for the rest of us, the facts are clear. He led a war that resulted in 650,000 deaths, destroyed a country, and destabilised an entire region. Whether he brushes it off as a “mistake” or waves his Catholic conversion as a get-out-of-jail-free card, the truth remains: Iraq was ruined by his decisions, and no amount of divine judgment can undo that.

The final verdict? Blair’s soul may or may not be saved, but his legacy is beyond redemption.