Abstract
As stated in previous chapters, this research work is grounded on two loosely intertwined sections in terms of the object that it analyses. While the first examines Blair's political discourse with reference to some of his prominent speeches, the second unpacks ideology in the language of the press. Accordingly, the first part of the argument that is developed in this chapter relates, in essence, to the workings of legitimization, and also manipulation, in Blair’s discourse on the then question of Saddam’s Iraq. To explore this, close attention is drawn to his ideological stance as it was spelled out in a number of political speeches.
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Notes
- 1.
It is to be mentioned that the Prime Minister in Britain, as part of the so-called Royal Prerogatives, has the power to declare war without the need to consult the parliament.
- 2.
The vote over the Iraq War caused what was seen as the largest “backbench revolt” by members of any political party in the modern history of Britain. Many New Labour members of Parliament (MPs) opposed the action of war, such as Tam Dalyell, Alan Simpson and former ministers Glenda Jackson, Peter Kilfoyle and Mark Fisher.
- 3.
The use of force against sovereign states is firmly prohibited by the constitutional law of the UN Charter. As stated in the UN Charter Article 2(4), there are only two exceptions for the authorization of the use of force: either a full authorization by the UNSC or in the case of self-defence against an aggression.
- 4.
The just war theory, which is usually identified with Saint Augustine and Thomas Aquinas, has been the first endeavour that sought to put the war into an ethical and legal framework.
- 5.
Under New Labour, Britain intervened militarily in Kosovo (1999); Indonesia, East Timor, and Sierra Leone (2000); Macedonia (2001); Afghanistan (2001) and Iraq (2003).
- 6.
It is important to note that New Labour’s foreign policy was not a totally new drift in British politics; many inspiration from the past were still endorsed by Blair and his cabinet. Take, for example, Labour’s support for the prohibition of arm sales to countries accused of abusing human rights, particularly during the 1970s. The influence of the subsequent Secretaries in the making of the party’s foreign policy must also be taken into account; see, for example, Theakston (2004).
- 7.
The thematic and cognitive structures (topicalization) and other auxiliary linguistic features of the speeches are best illustrated in the quantitative analysis of Blair’s discourse, which will show much overlap with the qualitative interpretation.
- 8.
For an extensive list of bibliographical references on the issues of terrorism as discussed in a variety of disciplines, see Tinnes (2013).
- 9.
“The Authorisation for Use of Military Force”, a document issued by the White House on 14 September 2001 to empower the president declaring the war on Iraq.
- 10.
The phrase “rogue states” was widely used in the USA, but less in Britain, to refer to a few countries that showed explicit hostility to West. Many scholars advocated that though such an informal label had no legal perspective, it was widely used by US senior officials. For the case of Iraq, see, for example, Litwak (2000), pp. 123–157.
- 11.
For a full list, see the Appendix. The texts of the speeches were taken from the following website; britishpoliticalspeech.org bar Blair’s speech on Iraq in the House of Commons, see The Guardian , 18 March 2003.
- 12.
For a thorough analysis, it is important to include some markers of the speech which cannot be found in the written script unless transcribed, such as the verbal features: intonation, pauses, laughter, changes in rhythm and timbre, and the like.
- 13.
Due to space limit, only a few lines from each partition were exhibited.
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Douifi, M. (2018). Blair’s Foreign Policy Discourse on Iraq. In: Language and the Complex of Ideology. Postdisciplinary Studies in Discourse. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-76547-1_5
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