Tony Blair admits daily doubts about the war in Iraq

By James Kirkup

Mr Blair, now an international envoy to the Middle East, spoke of his “sense of responsibility” over the deaths of soldiers and civilians since the 2003 invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein.

Asked if he suffered from doubt over Iraq, Mr Blair replied: “Of course you ask that question the whole time. You’d be weird if you didn’t ask that question.”

Mr Blair spoke in an interview with The Times, which is due to be published tomorrow.

In some of his frankest comments on the Iraq war, he spoke of his daily reflections on the decision and its consequences.

He said: “The most difficult thing in any set of circumstances is the sense of responsibility for people who have given their lives and fallen – the soldiers and the civilians. If I did not feel that, there really would be something wrong with me, and there is not a single day of my life when I do not reflect upon it . . . many times. And that’s as it should be.”

Yet Mr Blair still stands by his decision to back the US invasion of Iraq, suggesting it could actually have saved lives.

He said: “On the other hand you have to take the decision and I look at the Middle East now and I think, well, if Saddam and his two sons were still running Iraq how many other people would have died and would the region be more stable?”