الفهرس 
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Abstract
The present study aspires to investigate some selected political speeches of the former British minister Tony Blair about the Iraqi war, to figure out how he could skillfully legitimate his war against Iraq by manipulating the minds of his own people and the whole international community. The study investigates ideology and power abuse through transitivity, modality and argumentation. Blair mainly relies on his power and knowledge as a prime minster to deliver his biased ideology that presents the good (we) the evil (they). He tries to demonize Saddam Hussein, whole portraying himself as a man of morals who fights a war of ethics against terrorism in general. The analysis of Blair’s speeches reveals that Blair is a chameleon – like character. The study also sheds light on the main features of Blair’s political discourse which render it manipulative. One of the key features of Blair’s discourse is its ethical nature. Blair repeatedly utilizes the ”morality argument” to persuade his audience that his war against Iraq is a moral obligation that he has to abide by. The study also accentuates Blair’s use of some politeness strategies to redress the covert FTA of imposing the decision of war on his audience. Finally, the study suggests that Blair’s manipulation becomes more evident as he uses some of Erickson’s hypnotherapeutic persuasion techniques to hypnotize his audience and make them believe in the legitimacy of his war against Iraq. The level of deception involved here is Blair’s use of covert hypnosis, and his assumption that he has the right to use hypnosis with his audience, to gain support for his war against Iraq, is just unconscionable.