# Tony Blair Tony Blair (born 1953) was the British Labour prime minister from 1997 to 2007 and [[George W. Bush]]'s most important partner in the [[Iraq War]] — the figure who turned a largely American venture into a "coalition." ## Britain's Road to War Blair committed the UK to the invasion on the basis of [[Weapons of Mass Destruction]] claims — including the discredited "45-minute" dossier — that did not survive scrutiny. The 2016 Chilcot Inquiry concluded Britain had gone to war before exhausting peaceful options and on flawed intelligence, cementing "Bliar" as a lasting stain on his record and a touchstone of the [[Iraq WMD Intelligence Failure]] beyond America's borders. *See also: [[Iraqi History Hub]], [[Downing Street Memo]], [[Iraq War]], [[George W. Bush]], [[Iraq WMD Intelligence Failure]]*