Tony Blair: Gaza Cease-fire 'Hangs in the Balance'

Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President George W. Bush today during a ceremony in the East Room of the White House in Washington.

(Gerald Herbert/AP Photo)
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'You Can't Disengage From This Problem'

When asked, given the economic conditions at home, why Americans should care about the situation in the Middle East, Blair said that "we are involved.

"That's what they say in Britain too, and they say it in France and they say it in Germany and Spain and all over the world. And the answer, I'm afraid, is very simple," he said. "We are involved and when Sept. 11 happened here in America, it didn't start here in America, it started with people thousands of miles away in places we barely had heard of who were being trained in camps as part of this broader extremist movement so whether we like it or not, they aren't going to leave us alone so we're going to have to find the right combination of hard power and also soft power to deal with it."

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Blair said that U.S. engagement in the peace process is crucial to success.

"You can't disengage from this problem because it's there and it matters," he said. "Now, to be fair, in the first Bush term right after the failure of the peace attempts at the end of the Clinton administration and then the uprising on the Palestinian side, it all became extremely difficult. But actually what the engagement over the last 18 months has shown is that engagement is the only way that this works."

The former prime minister praised Secretary of State-designate Hillary Clinton's experience and "complete knowledge and handle on this problem."

"I'm sure she is of exactly of the same view that I've been expressing to you," he said.

Blair was in Washington to receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom award from President Bush, whom he staunchly supported in the Iraq war, receiving wide criticism in Great Britain.