Tony Blair's Interview on the Iraq War and the Chilcot Inquiry

Interim Report
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Introduction
Politeness is an important aspect of interpersonal communication, and politicians have used the pragmatic approach in communication. Face management is one of the strategies in effective communication. The case for using politeness is that speakers have the opportunity to diffuse tension when placed in a threatening situation. Since politeness is associated with consideration of other people perspective, and speakers who use politeness to foster respect as they are nice (Hinck, Hinck, & Dailey, 2007, p. 63). Tony Blair the former British Prime Minister effectively used his oration skills to articulate his vision after the 2003 Iraqi invasion with questions surrounding his support for war efforts.
Since Blair was no longer in a position to craft a message using a public relations and communication team, while using his oratory skills to defend his policy decisions during his tenure. The articulation of ideas requires that speakers use persuasive strategies, and even as the professional interviewer ought to be impartial, the response of the interviewee and face management influence the people’s perception. Former Prime Minister Tony Blair Chilcot interview highlights his attempt to minimise threats using the strategy of politeness rather than failure to address concerns raised by the inquiry, which was undertaken over seven years.
Context
Tony Blair's interview on the Iraq War and the Chilcot inquiry provided an opportunity for Blair to articulate his vision and support his reputation in the face of damning reports and questions on motives behind Britain’s involvement in Iraq invasion. The strategy of politeness had been effective in the past, but the Chilcot report reignited debate surrounding the question of Britain’s role in the Iraq invasion was carried out without proper and credible intelligence. The British public wanted accountability, and Tony Blair was right to respond, but in defending his legacy, Blair’s attempt to use politeness may have been interpreted as dishonesty. Additionally, Blair did not equivocally accept responsibility for destabilising Iraq as his aim in the interview and response to the Chilcot report was to defend his legacy.
Despite the scathing attacks that Tony Blair following the Chilcot report, he was calm when faced with criticism for supporting War. This set the tone for the exchange when encountering with face-threatening acts. Politeness is effective when the listeners and the interview can understand the self-image being projected, and the more people respect the person the more they are willing to listen to them and understand their point of view. The dilemma for Tony Blair was to ensure that the people respected his face without appearing to be coerced. The interaction of the speaker and the hearer is an important indicator of whose face is threatened during the interview.
Blair’s persuasiveness allowed him to seek the public support for the war in Iraq, while using a polarisation strategy to contrast Saddam Hussein’s reign with impending changes that would make Iraq more democratic and eliminate terrorism. Blair used similar arguments in the interview as he had done before. ...