Tony Blair says he wanted Iraq war

LONDON, Nov. 17 (UPI) -- Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair says he still believes invading Iraq was the right decision at the right time, a new documentary shows.

Blair confirms he did not try to convince U.S. President George Bush to seek a diplomatic rather than a military route to remove Saddam Hussein from power in Iraq, The Times of London reported Saturday.

In the new BBC documentary "The Blair Years," the former prime minister concedes he ignored anti-war arguments from his aides and ministers because he believed Bush was taking the right course of action.

"It was what I believed in, and I still do believe it," he told the BBC.

Blair also confirms Bush offered him a last-ditch chance to keep Britain out of the war. "He was always very cognizant of the difficulty I had," Blair said of Bush.