UB Distinguished Speakers Series - Tony Blair

Buffalo, NY – The first question of the night for Tony Blair at his Wednesday Distinguished Speakers Series lecture came from a young man who wanted to know: Protestors outside Alumni Arena were accusing the former British prime minister of atrocities, including backing a ""war of aggression" against Iraq. How would he respond to those allegations and the people making them?

Blair answered that he believed now, as he did after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, that the "world is better off" with the late president of Iraq, Saddam Hussein, out of power.

"I did it because I believed in it, not because I'm a liar or a cheat or a fraud or any of the rest of it," Blair said of his decisions regarding Iraq.

He emphasized that he respected and honored people who held a different view.

"We actually do better in our politics everywhere," he added, "if we treated each other as people of good faith that could disagree."

Blair's response to the grilling reiterated a point he made many times over the course of the evening during a 45-minute speech and a question-and-answer session of equal length. In global affairs and politics, he said repeatedly, debate must be civil. To find common ground, politicians and other people must learn to appreciate diverse and sometimes opposing perspectives.

(From the UB Reporter, 10/8/09)