A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
In President Trump's plan to end the war in Gaza, there's one name besides Trump, and it might be familiar to listeners. It's Tony Blair, the former British prime minister, now runs a think tank in London and was mentioned in the plan as having a possible role in Gaza's postwar governance. NPR's Lauren Frayer is in London, so what role is Tony Blair looking to play in postwar Gaza?
LAUREN FRAYER, BYLINE: So you mentioned Trump's plan for Gaza. It entails something called a board of peace to oversee Gaza, led by Trump himself, but also including what he called very distinguished leaders from other countries. And the only person he mentioned by name was Blair. Blair issued a statement calling Trump's plan bold and intelligent and saying he'd be happy to serve. Blair has actually been involved in this for a while. An official close to him who wasn't authorized to speak about this told me that Blair was actually at the White House back in August, meeting with President Trump's son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner and others on these plans for a Gaza Riviera. You might recall this glitzy AI-generated video that Trump shared on social media then.
MARTÍNEZ: Yes, I do remember that. Now, Blair certainly has experience governing Britain. What about experience running a place like Gaza?
FRAYER: He does have experience in conflict zones. While he was prime minister, he signed the Good Friday peace agreement, which ended decades of Catholic-Protestant fighting in Northern Ireland, known as the Troubles. And then after leaving office, he served as a special envoy for the international community, trying to mediate Israeli Palestinian peace, without much luck, though. But perhaps what he's most famous for is for joining the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.
MARTÍNEZ: Right, which turned into a bit of a military quagmire.
FRAYER: Totally. It led to hundreds of thousands of deaths in Iraq. It led to some of the biggest street protests here in London in British history. It led to a British government inquiry that concluded Saddam Hussein did not pose a threat to British interests, that there were no weapons of mass destruction, and it led to this famous apology from Blair.
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TONY BLAIR: I express more sorrow, regret and apology than you may ever know or can believe.
FRAYER: That was in 2016 after he left office. You can hear him choking up there. The mistakes he made in Iraq are a big part of his legacy here. Many people have not forgiven him. And so there's a lot of disbelief. People are sort of incredulous that he, of all people, might play a role in Gaza.
MARTÍNEZ: So then why would Blair put his hand up for this Gaza role?
FRAYER: I wanted to ask Blair himself. He declined our interview request. I did get to talk to his former political secretary, John McTernan.
JOHN MCTERNAN: He will never back off on something 'cause people say it's difficult.
FRAYER: McTernan says, you know, Blair tunes out the naysayers. He's focused on his successes in Northern Ireland. He knows the Middle East, and he's willing to cross the aisle to help. Blair is from the center-left in the U.K., Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu are from the right.
MCTERNAN: So was George W. Bush. The only government in the world able to force Israel to a ceasefire is the U.S. government. President Trump is a critical figure.
FRAYER: McTernan says Blair has done this before. He partnered with George W. Bush on Iraq - that largely failed. Yet he's still willing to cast his lot with another U.S. president again, hoping for better results this time in Gaza.
MARTÍNEZ: That's NPR's Lauren Frayer in London. Lauren, thanks.
FRAYER: You're welcome. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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