Everyone was going "please, no" about Iraq, but no-one who counted was expressing their doubts to the man in charge. There's only one possible explanation for this. They were too afraid.
Afraid of what? That Alastair Campbell would shout at them? That they might be moved sideways? That their advancemant would be blocked? It's not as if they risked being sent to the Tower- or the block. What a pusillanimous lot they are.
Something very similar happened with the elevation of Gordon Brown to the premiership. Everyone in and around government (apart from Brown's little squad of goons and hatchet men) knew he was fatally unsuited to the job, but no-one seriously opposed him. In this instance the ranks of the pusillanimous included Blair himself- who should have sacked his chancellor at the first sign of disloyalty- but kept staying his hand. Again, what were they all so frightened of? That Brown would throw a monumental sulk? But he was doing that anyway.
