Video: Tony Blair on the Daily Show part two

In the face of a mocking host and a hostile studio audience, Tony Blair defended the war in Iraq and his friendship with President Bush on one of America’s top satirical TV shows.

The former Prime Minister told Jon Stewart, of The Daily Show, that he had no second thoughts about the Iraq invasion, and that he liked Mr Bush as well as agreeing with him on world security threats.

His remarks did not get a sympathetic hearing. Mr Stewart, who described Blair’s friendship with Bush as “inexplicable” asked whether the President had pushed him into the Iraq invasion. “Did he convince you to go to war in Iraq? How’d he bring it up? Were you having a meal and he was, like, ‘You know, man, who should we invade?’.”

Mr Blair stood firm. “It came from the belief that Saddam was a threat and that after September 11 the world had changed. I came to it on my own accord. I came to it also from a position of conviction. I don’t disrespect people who take a different point of view. But it’s what I believe.”

“Sort of like ‘Great minds think alike’,” Mr Stewart gibed.

Mr Blair did admit that he had been taken aback by the ensuing bloodbath. “If you look at the situation at the time and the bloodshed that there has been and the difficulty, I would have been shocked, but I would have asked the question: why has this come about? Why has it been so hard?”

“Because after all, Saddam was removed more than five years ago — but since then you have been fighting the same type of battle against the same type of people that you are fighting all over that region.”

The leftish Mr Stewart drew cheers from his audience as he lampooned Mr Bush and wondered if Mr Blair wanted to wage war on any other Muslim countries. The reaction grew so vehement that at one point the host jokingly explained to Mr Blair: “The tickets are free.”

Mr Blair’s next stop was New Haven, Connecticut, where 2,600 students packed into Yale’s gilded Woolsey Hall to hear him.Hours earlier Mr Blair had taught his first class on faith and globalisation to a select group of 23 students.

As they waited, a pipe-organ pumped out Westminster Chimes — the Big Ben tune — a fitting if unsubtle tribute. Wild applause greeted Mr Blair when he eventually came on to the stage. “It’s such a thrill to have you here, Mr Prime Minister,” Richard Levin, Yale’s president, said.

Mr Blair warned the audience that the West faced “a deeper struggle than thought” in combating Islamic extremism. “We have no alternative but to see it through until we secure victory,” he said.Violence in Iraq had been replicated "all over the region".

For all his association with the “war on terror”, however, there was no protest in New Haven from those who had queued for hours outside to see the former Prime Ministerhim.

Marissa Benavides, who skipped her economics class to get the best seats, opposed the invasion of Iraq. “But we don’t see him [Blair] in the same light as Bush,” she said. Sheila Pastor, the associate director of international affairs at Yale, thought that Mr Blair was “wonderful”. “Such a good leader,” she said. “And what a charmer.”

It was very different three months ago, when Mr Blair was barracked by anti-war protesters during his debut speech at Yale.in May. Then his arrival was met by a small but vocal contingent of protestors waving placards that read "No to Blair" and "Yale! Don't Support a War Criminal",

Mr Blair is to give press conferences in New York next week in his capacity as the Middle East peace envoy for the Quartet — the EU, the US, the UN and Russia — and will appear at Bill Clinton’s annual gathering of world leaders on Friday, as will Gordon Brown.

Mr Stewart, whose show has a strong following among college students, called Mr Blair’s relationship with Mr Bush “inexplicable”. Mr Blair replied: “First of all, here’s something I find always goes down well, particularly back home: I like him.”

A weekly compilation of The Daily Show is broadcast on More 4 on Mondays.

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