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Tony Blair - Source: Reuters -
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Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair has labelled Gordon Brown's premiership "a disaster" and gone into detail about his decision to go to war on Iraq in his newly released memoir.
He said he did not regret his decision to invade Iraq, and that he did what he "thought was right". But he said he felt "desperately sorry" for the hundreds of thousands deaths incurred and wrote: "Tears, though there have been many, do not encompass it."
He also talks about the toll being Prime Minister took on him, and how he began to use whisky, gin and wine as a "prop" to relax.
Blair also attacks his successor Brown in the book, describing him as "strange" and having "zero" emotional intelligence.
He said he knew Brown's premiership would be "terminal" for the Labour government.
"It is easy to say now, in the light of his tenure as prime minister, that I should have stopped it; at the time that would have been well nigh impossible," Blair wrote.
Blair will sign copies of his memoir, called A Journey, in Dublin on Sunday (NZT) but in security arrangements worthy of royalty, customers will have to check in all their bags, purses and phones at a holding point before getting wristbands to join the queue for the signing.
Readers will not be allowed to take photos of Blair, who will also not write any personal messages in the copies of his self-penned volume A Journey, which describes what he called the "nightmare" that unfolded after the invasion of Iraq.
Security measures may be needed in case of a protest by opponents of the Iraq war, though Eason's website just said they wanted to handle the large number of customers who are expected to attend the event without explaining each measure.
An Irish nationalist group opposed to British control of Northern Ireland is also planning a protest against Blair's visit.
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