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Blair Journey is a love letter to Bush |
TONY Blair’s much-hyped autobiography is more like "a love letter" to ex-US President George W. Bush, say insiders who have seen drafts of the book.
The former Labour Prime Minister will shock his party and infuriate anti-war protesters by lavishing praise on his "highly intelligent" and "visionary friend".
"It is the biggest and most unapologetic defence of Bush and his ideas ever written," said one aide last night.
The News of the World can reveal Blair says he thinks Bush was the only politician in the world with the courage and commitment to take on al-Qaeda after the 9/11 terror attacks.
The comments will reopen Labour’s wounds over the Iraq war. Four of the five party leadership candidates have said they would not have invaded Iraq.
But Mr Blair also insists Bush was "sensitive" and "fully aware of the consequences" of the 2003 invasion. Former advisers who’ve read the book say they were shocked at the strength of Blair’s commitment to Bush, who was internationally derided for his handling of the Iraq war.
Blair’s pal told us: "It is basically an extended love letter.
"Tony says he was wowed by Bush’s strength, courage and conviction and saw him as a highly intelligent and visionary friend.
"He says the Americans were the only ones with an effective vision on how to deal with al-Qaeda and Iraq." The ex-PM backs the US for the way it tried to deal with near-civil war in Iraq after the invasion.
He even defends the Americans’ decision not to put hundreds of thousands of troops into Iraq to ensure stability, and says it was right to go to war without a second UN resolution authorising the invasion.
When he gave evidence to the Chilcott inquiry, Mr Blair refused to apologise for any of the events associated with Iraq. But our informant warned: "If people are expecting him to say sorry they’ll be disappointed."
Mr Blair’s A Journey is published on September 1 and is predicted to be a best-seller. He has secured a £4.6million advance on US sales, which he is giving to the Royal British Legion.
As expected, the book lambasts Gordon Brown. Blair claims his plans to modernise Britain were thwarted constantly by the then Chancellor.
He describes how Brown kept his crucial final Budget a secret from the PM "because you won’t be here for much longer".
Blair also says he would have started to slow down public spending ahead of the 2008 financial crash but was powerless to stop Brown because he had already agreed to step down.
Last night it also emerged Mr Blair has also set up his own investment bank to advise the super rich.
Tony Blair Associates has now been licensed to provide financial advice and arrange investments for clients.