LONDON (AP) — It’s a political memoir with celebrity trappings — secrecy, security, a multimillion-dollar deal and, crucially, controversy.
Tony Blair’s “A Journey” was stirring political passions even before it hits bookstores Wednesday, with excerpts revealing that the former British prime minister has cried for soldiers and civilians killed in Iraq, but still thinks it was right to invade and topple Saddam Hussein.
The decision to go to war remains Blair’s most divisive legacy. In excerpts from the book released by the publisher late Tuesday, Blair says “I … regret with every fiber of my being the loss of those who died.”
“Tears, though there have been many, do not encompass it,” he says.
But, he says, “on the basis of what we do know now, I still believe that leaving Saddam in power was a bigger risk to our security than removing him and that, terrible though the aftermath was, the reality of Saddam and his sons in charge of Iraq would at least arguably be much worse.”
“I can’t regret the decision to go to war,” he says.
Blair also reopens domestic political wounds, saying he found his rival and successor Gordon Brown difficult and maddening.
British booksellers are reporting heavy interest in the book, for which Blair was paid an estimated 4.6 million pounds ($7.5 million). He’s donating the proceeds to a charity for injured troops.
Billed by publisher Random House as a “frank, open” account of life at the top, “A Journey” is being published in a dozen countries, alongside an e-book and an audio version read by Blair himself. It‘s in the top 10 on Amazon’s British best-seller list — though it’s only 4,000 on the retailer’s U.S. site.
“Initial sales will be huge,” said Jonathan Ruppin of Foyles book store chain. “But whether those sales are sustained will depend on how frank and open it is.”
Blair — who is scheduled to be in Washington on publication day, attending Israeli-Palestinian peace talks in his role as an international Mideast envoy — has said he “set out to write a book which describes the human as much as the political dimensions of life as prime minister.”
“A Journey” promises to give readers behind-the-curtain insights into major world events from the death of Princess Diana to the Sept. 11 attacks and the invasion of Iraq.
It is unlikely to resolve the conflicting views and emotions Blair evokes.
For many Americans, he remains a well-regarded ally who stood shoulder-to-shoulder with the U.S. in the fight against international terrorism. He’s scheduled to receive the 2010 Liberty Medal from former President Bill Clinton in Philadelphia on Sept. 13.
At home, he is a more polarizing figure. Swept to power in 1997 on a wave of popular enthusiasm, Blair left office a decade later reviled by many for taking Britain into the U.S.-led Iraq war, and viewed as a liability by much of his own Labour Party.
“He began as a leader who was a friend of everyone, and he finished as a friend of almost no one in Britain,” said Blair biographer Anthony Seldon.
Anti-war groups say they will picket Blair’s book signings in Dublin on Saturday and in London on Sept. 8. Both are high-security affairs at which book buyers will have to surrender their bags, cameras and mobile phones — and are barred from asking for personal dedications.
Blair, 57, stepped down in June 2007 after a decade that included a historic peace accord in Northern Ireland, the deeply unpopular war in Iraq and the continuing conflict in Afghanistan.
He was Labour’s most successful leader for decades, moved the left-leaning party toward the center and brought it back to power after 18 years in opposition.
But when he left, after years of increasingly open hostility with Brown, his party was divided.
In the book, Blair calls Brown “difficult, at times maddening,“ but says ”he was also strong, capable and brilliant.”
Brown, and Labour, lost power in an election in May, and Blair does not exactly heap praise on his time in office.
“It is easy to say now, in the light of his tenure as prime minister, that I should have stopped it; at the time that would have been well nigh impossible,” Blair writes.
Blair has been at the center of numerous books, notably “The Blair Years,” by former press secretary Alastair Campbell, and the recently published memoir “The Third Man,” by Labour insider Peter Mandelson.
He was also the inspiration for the former prime minister dogged by allegations of war crimes in Robert Harris’ thriller “The Ghost,” which was turned into a film by Roman Polanski.
Seldon said most political memoirs are self-serving, “historically pretty useless” and don’t live up to the hype.
Blair insists his will be different, and Seldon says the former politician is part of a small group whose words may have wide appeal.
“Britain doesn’t have many prime ministers who are international figures,” said Seldon. “We have had Churchill, we have had Thatcher, we have had Blair.”
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Online: www.tonyblairjourney.co.uk
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Sunnyr
Posted on September 6, 2010 at 5:05pmThank you, Mr. Blair, for acting on the Intelligence that said Saddam had WMD. It came from many agencies in many countries. So soon they forget. Our two countries along with our allies, freed millions of people who had lived under the oppression of a maniacal dictator. God will judge us well, I am sure. Tell your detractors to go &^(*^ themselves!
Report Post »Venom
Posted on September 6, 2010 at 3:09pmIf i was in the military then (joining in a couple year) i would volunteer to go there. People needed help whether there were WMDs or not (they found chemical weapons just not nukes). A lot of soldiers died for the Iraqi people and continue to die for them. We gave them the best chance for prosperity, thats whats important.
Report Post »13thGenerationAmerican
Posted on September 3, 2010 at 4:15pmReally Blair, too bad you can’t as all the dead how they feel.
Report Post »keithBlack
Posted on September 1, 2010 at 4:10pm“He was conned by George W. Bush and his regime. I would regret the decision to launch two false wars too” – DVDA
In addition to having the reading comprehension skills of a small soap dish (Blair said he did NOT regret the decision) your strategery for combat is likely on par with a single cell organism.
I am sure that you would prefer that we send a busload of ballons to those who attack us but you can not fault the brilliant military strategy that was the declaration of war with Iraq can you? Well, not you per se, but those who would prefer to see our nation survive can not fault it.
The shear genius of declaring that Iraq is the center of the war on terror and thereby drawing all of those who want to attack the evil satan that is the United States to the turkey shoot in the wide open terrain of Iraq instead of the mountains of Afghanistan can not be debated credibly.
Drop back ten and punt or in your case reboot troll.
Jim814
Posted on September 1, 2010 at 4:21amIraq I think was covered by the previous post, Afghanistan I think is the other war you are talking about.
Even your man Obama agrees with this one. http://www.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/03/28/obama.afghanistan/index.html
Or do you know something different.
This is really a lot of fun, listening to libs denying the war. You do know that we didn’t start it right? It was under Bush that we only joined it.
http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0001454.html
Pay attention from 1975 on. It is true that this war is not against a single nation, but rather against a mindset, and therefore all of these things a valid. These people have been trying to kill us for whatever their twisted reasoning is, and for you to try to break it down to politics is absurd. These people will, and have killed democrats just as surely and happily as they have republicans. You may not want to accept their stated intentions (http://www.fas.org/irp/world/para/docs/980223-fatwa.htm) but they surely do. They have stated their intention to eradicate us, and they have been working on it steadily. G W Bush is the first president to engage the war as a war. That does not mean that I in anyway hold him up as some sort of hero, fact is that 9/11 was a step too far, and the reaction was inevitable.
Feb. 26, 1993 was the first attempt at WTC and was treated as a law enforcement issue. USS Cole was attacked, an overt act of war. treated as a law enforcement issue. USS Stark attacked by Iraqi fighters, now I know, they say it was an “accident” but they also said Santa Clause was real too.
Just look at the history, these people want us ALL dead, and to play politics with it is suicide.
And BTW no I don’t care what the reasons are, they stated that they wish to destroy us, they have been working to that end, so no I don’t care.
Report Post »Michael Rivas
Posted on September 1, 2010 at 3:01amNobody was conned by Bush. Tony Blair was the only european leader who had any balls to support bush.We had every rite to attack, incase u forgot, Saddam was on probation following the Gulf War…Saddam signed a treaty statin that he would dispose of any current WMD’s and not produce any new one’s.He was to permit the UN to conduct inspections to show that he was in compliance, and he wasnt to interfere with the U.S no fly zones. BUT for 12 yrs he repeatly violated the treaty!! If I’m on probation for anything and if I piss on the side walk and get caught, their is punishment for my actions! He repeatly shot at our aircrafts, and he wouldnt allow U.N inspectors to do thier job! In any case, he gave Bush plenty of reason to BELIEVE that he had WMD’s! Thier is reports also that he had them moved to Syria before we invaded Iraq. In anycase the U.S was the only country that did the right thing, while the U.N and European counterparts just wanted to sit back and watch! I commend Tony Blair for standing up against a ruthless dictor with Bush.
Report Post »cep78070
Posted on September 1, 2010 at 12:41amSay it ain’t so… Another Soros plant!?! Man maybe I should get on the dime… What’s he paying these days… 10-12 bucks an hour. You know I think In&Out burger pays $11… Just saying… Don’t spend all that in one place now… Practice with me… Want Fries with that Double Double? May you have a great Day!!