'Corrections' author attacks Blair's stance on Iraq war

Jonathan Franzen, the best-selling and controversial American author, yesterday attacked Tony Blair for slavishly following the "cynical and self-serving" military agenda of George Bush.

The left-leaning novelist, who has been criticised in the US for his perceived haughtiness, admitted that the 11 September attacks had forced him to temper his pacifism. Speaking in London, the author of The Corrections - hailed as one of the best post-war American novels - admitted he had found it difficult to oppose military action in Afghanistan. But he added that the Prime Minister had gone too far in his support for the White House in its plans to attack Iraq.

Franzen told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "For a while, I thought he was going to be a [Bill] Clinton who got something accomplished. But I think he has co-operated [with the Bush administration] to a degree that even Clinton, had he been the British Prime Minister, would not have done."

Franzen, 42, whose latest book – a collection of essays titled How To Be Alone – was published earlier this month, said the analysis that followed the New York attacks had struck him as hollow. "It created a mood of 24-hour manic self-examination, which in fact led to no real insight. It created a sort of hyper CNN environment that we still live in," he said.

But he added that the nature of the World Trade Centre attacks had left him feeling unable to maintain his blanket opposition to war.

He said: "It did do something to those of us who are left-leaning, it took away the certainty that a pacifist approach is always the best. For the first time in my life, here was a government I knew I didn't like or trust proposing a military adventure [in Afghanistan] of which I didn't automatically disapprove."

But the author said he strongly believed that an attack on Iraq would be "cynical and self-serving", and accused the White House of using "confrontational rhetoric" rather than attempting to establish a consensus for action. Asked whether hebelieved 11 September had given George Bush a sense of purpose, Franzen said: "I think that is giving him too much credit. One places one's hope in his handlers. I have been issuing spiritual life insurance policies for Colin Powell for more than a year now."

Franzen, who wrote two unsuccessful novels before The Corrections became an international bestseller last year, is no stranger to controversy. He came under fire when Oprah Winfrey selected his novel for the Book Club, a televised reading group whose endorsement has turned unknown authors into millionaires. Snubbing an invitation to appear on her show, Franzen was quoted as saying that he was "solidly in the high-art literary tradition". He later said that the remarks had been misreported.