"Blair, as prime minister of the United Kingdom, helped negotiate a 1998 peace deal ending decades of sectarian fighting in Northern Ireland. He later served as a Middle East peace envoy for the international community, and now runs a London think tank. But the 72-year-old former politician comes with baggage: He's reviled in the U.K. and internationally for his 2003 decision to join President George W. Bush's U.S.-led invasion of Iraq."
"After a U.K. government inquiry concluded in 2016 that Blair's decision to help invade Iraq was made hastily, on the basis of flawed intelligence, he offered a tearful public apology, saying he felt "more sorrow, regret and apology than you may ever know or can believe." Now, nearly two years into the devastating Gaza war, Blair appears poised to cast his lot with another U.S. president who's promising a better outcome in Gaza than there was in Iraq."
"What role Blair might play in Gaza Trump's new plan for Gaza includes a "Board of Peace," chaired by the U.S president himself. But he told reporters the board would also include "very distinguished leaders" from other countries. The only person he named was Blair. In a statement, Blair called Trump's plan "bold and intelligent." He's been involved in talks about Gaza's future for a while already."
President Trump's 20-point plan to end the Gaza war names only one other individual besides himself: Tony Blair. Blair helped negotiate the 1998 Northern Ireland peace deal and served as a Middle East peace envoy. Blair's 2003 support for the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq left him reviled in the U.K. and internationally after that war caused roughly 200,000 civilian deaths and triggered some of the largest street protests in modern British history. A 2016 U.K. inquiry found the Iraq decision was made hastily on flawed intelligence; Blair issued a tearful apology. Trump proposed a U.S.-chaired "Board of Peace" that would include 'very distinguished leaders,' and Blair called the plan 'bold and intelligent.'
Read at www.npr.org
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