So will Iraq be Blair's epitaph?
By Nick Assinder
Political correspondent, BBC News website
...What he had always done - and this is what it may all boil down to in the end, he once again suggested - was what he believed was the right thing...
there was that single word that has hung over everything Mr Blair has done or tried to do since 2003.
It was, perhaps unsurprisingly, Tory MP Edward Leigh who gave the most brutal assessment of exactly what Iraq had meant for the prime minister who, he confessed, had been "brilliant" in some areas of his leadership.
Only that one word would be written on Tony Blair's political tombstone, and the prime minister was in denial about it, he suggested.
Did he never allow a smidgeon of doubt to cross his mind that it may have been a mistake, was he ever haunted by the dead or was he too full of self belief to allow any of that, asked Mr Leigh.
Clearly stung, the prime minister said, of course he felt the weight of the responsibility, he was a human being. But he had done what he believed was the right thing.
Then he delivered what has been his default defence of that war.
It is rubbish to suggest the ordinary Arab did not want the democracy they had been given.
"Of course they want it. What country has ever chosen not to be a democracy, it's just nonsense, it's what oppressive people do to justify their oppression, they say democracy and freedom are western values. It's just rubbish, they're universal values of the human spirit and they always will be," he said...
Democracy?
It might have been what they would have wanted, but we never really had any intention of giving it to them.
One wonders who Tony Blair thinks he's fooling. By all appearances, he seems to be fooling himself in public at least. Anyone familiar with his post-Ministry plans might think otherwise:
... Tony Blair is expected to join one of the most exclusive groups of businessmen in the world after he leaves Downing Street.
The PM is being lined up for a highly lucrative position with the Carlyle Group - an American-based investment giant with strong links to the White House and the defense industry.
The firm has been nicknamed "The Ex-Presidents Club" because it has had a host of former world leaders on its books including George Bush Senior, his former secretary of state James Baker and former British PM John Major. There a also a large number of former US Army top brass.
Mr. Blair has been keeping quiet about his plans after his departure from Number 10...
But sources in the City have revealed that he is "seriously considering" a high-profile role with Carlyle - which manages $30billion (£20billion) of investments worldwide.
The job could net Mr. Blair up to £500,000 a year for only a few days work a month giving speeches and making "networking" trips on behalf of the company.
Ah yes, Gandhi's old observation. Western Civilization. What a great idea.
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