As a result, he devotes a considerable amount of space in his engaging and insightful memoir, “A Journey: My Political Life,’’ to defending those wars, especially Iraq.
Blair contends that the war in Iraq was justified on humanitarian and strategic grounds, even though no weapons of mass destruction were found. However, like the accomplished lawyer he was before entering politics, Blair spends as much time addressing his opponents’ arguments. Unlike some of his American counterparts, he doesn’t question the motives of those who came to a different conclusion.
He sees his task as “not to persuade the reader of the rightness of the cause, but merely to persuade that such a cause can be made out. It is to open the mind. I have often reflected as to whether I was wrong. I ask you to reflect as to whether I may have been right.’’
Blair’s defense of the decisions also contains a great deal of philosophical analysis. This is an intellectually rigorous approach and not surprising given his religiosity.
In 2007, shortly after he left office, he converted to Roman Catholicism and the foundation he runs is actively involved in interfaith projects.
“I can’t regret the decision to go to war for the reason I will give. I can say that never did I guess the nightmare that unfolded, and that too is part of the responsibility. But the notion of ‘responsibility’ indicates not a burden discharged but a burden that continues. Regret can seem bound to the past. Responsibility has its present and future tense,’’ he writes.
If those words had been written by a less philosophically grounded politician, one might say he or she were being cagey or Clintonesque. Those who disagree with Blair’s position won’t necessarily change their opinion but will respect the integrity of his beliefs.
