TERRORISM: By British Prime Minister Tony Blair

U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair

The following is a transcript of British Prime Minister Tony Blair’s speech in Brighton, England on action against the terrorists and terrorist supporters.

BLAIR: Thank you to you and to all the cabinet indeed, being such a support and strength of this time. I am very proud of the work that you do for our country, and I know this party is very proud of the work that you do.

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Conference (ph), in retrospect, the millennium marked a moment in time, but it was the events of the 11th of September that marked a turning point in history, where we confront the dangers of the future and assess the choices facing humankind.

It was a tragedy, an act of evil. And from this nation goes our deepest sympathy and prayers for the victims and our profound solidarity for the American people.

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We were with you at the first, we will stay with you to the last.

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Just two weeks ago in New York, after the church service, I met some of the families of the British victims. And it was in many ways a very British occasion: tea and biscuits, rainy outside and around the edge of the room, strangers making small talk, trying to be normal people in a very abnormal situation. And as you crossed the room, you felt the longing and the sadness, hands that were clutching photos of sons and daughters, wives and husbands imploring you to believe that when they said there was still an outside chance of their loved ones being found alive, it could be true, when in truth, you knew that all hope was gone.

And then a middle-aged mother looks you in the eyes and tells you that her only son has died and asks you, “Why?”

And I tell you, you do not feel like the most powerful man in the country at times like that because there is no answer. There is no justification for the pain of those people. Her son did nothing wrong. The woman, seven months pregnant, whose child will never know its father, did nothing wrong. And they don’t want revenge. They want something better in memory of their loved ones.

And I believe that their memorial can and should be greater than simply the punishment of the guilty. It is that, out of the shadow of this evil, should emerge lasting good.

Destruction of the machinery of terrorism, wherever it is found, hope amongst all nations of a new beginning, where we seek to resolve differences in a calm and ordered way, greater understanding between nations and between faiths and, above all, justice and prosperity for the poor and dispossessed, so that people everywhere can see the chance of a better future through the hard work and creative power of the free citizen, not the violence and savagery of the fanatic.

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I know that people here in Britain are anxious, even a little frightened. I understand that. People know we must act, but they worry what might follow. They worry about the economy and the talk of recession, and of course, there are dangers. It is a new situation.

Of the fundamentals of the U.S., the British, the European economies are strong. Every reasonable measure of internal security is being undertaken.

Our way of life is a great deal stronger and will last a great deal longer than the actions of fanatics, small in number, are now facing a unified world against them. People should have confidence. This is a battle with only one outcome: our victory, not theirs.

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What happened on the 11th of September was without parallel in the bloody history of terrorism.

Within a few hours, up to 7,000 people were annihilated, the commercial center of New York was reduced to rubble and, in Washington and Pennsylvania, further death and horror on an unimaginable scale. And let no one say, this was a blow for Islam, when the blood of innocent Muslims was shed along with those of the Christian, Jewish and other faiths around the world.

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We know those responsible. In Afghanistan are scores of training camps for the export of terror. Chief amongst the sponsors and organizers Osama bin Laden. He is supported, shielded, and given suckle (ph) by the Taliban regime.

Two days before the 11th of September attacks, Masood, the leader of the opposition Northern Alliance was assassinated by two suicide bombers. Both were linked to bin Laden. Some may call that coincidence. I call it payment, payment in the currency these people deal in: blood.

Be in doubt at all, bin Laden and his people organized this atrocity. The Taliban aid and abet him. He will not desist from further acts of terror. They will not stop helping him. Whatever the dangers of the action we take, the dangers of inaction are far, far greater.

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Look, for a moment, at the Taliban regime. It is undemocratic. That goes without saying. There’s no sport allowed or television or photography, no art or culture is permitted. All other faiths, all other interpretations of Islam are ruthlessly suppressed. Those who practice their faith are imprisoned. Women are treated in a way almost too revolting to be credible.

First, driven out of university, girls not allowed to go to school, no legal rights, unable to go out of doors without a man. Those that disobey are stoned. There is now no contact permitted with Western agencies, even those delivering food. The people live in abject poverty. It is a regime founded on fear and funded by the drugs trade. The biggest drugs horde in the world is in Afghanistan, controlled by the Taliban.

Ninety percent of the heroin on British streets originates in Afghanistan. The arms the Taliban are buying today are paid for with the lives of young British people buying their drugs on British streets. That is another part of their regime we should seek to destroy.

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So what do we do? Don’t overreact, some say. We aren’t. We haven’t lashed out. No missiles on the first night, just for effect. Don’t kill innocent people. We are not the ones who raged war on the innocent. We seek the guilty.

Look for a diplomatic solution. But there is no diplomacy with bin Laden or the Taliban regime. State an ultimatum and get their response. We stated the ultimatum. They haven’t responded. Understand the causes of terror. Yes, we should try. But let there be no moral ambiguity about this: Nothing could ever justify the events of September 11, and it is to turn justice on its head to pretend it could.

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The action that we take will be proportionate, targeted. We will do all we humanly can to avoid civilian casualties, but understand what we are dealing with. Listen to the calls of those passengers on the planes. Think of the children on them told they were going to die. Think of the cruelty beyond our comprehension, as amongst the screams and the anguish of the innocent, those hijackers drove at full throttle planes laden with fuel into buildings where tens of thousands of people work. They have no moral inhibition on the slaughter of the innocent. If they could have murdered not 7,000 but 70,000, does anyone doubt they would have done so and rejoiced in it?

So there is no compromise possible with such people. There is no meeting of minds, no point of understanding with such terror. Just a choice: defeat it or be defeated by it. And defeat it, we must.

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Any action taken will be against the terrorist network of bin Laden. As for the Taliban, they can surrender the terrorists or face the consequences. And again, in any action, the aim will be to eliminate their military hardware, cut off their finances, disrupt their supplies, target their troops, not civilians. We will put a trap around the regime. And I say to the Taliban: Surrender the terrorists or surrender power. That is your choice.

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We will take action, too, at every level national and international. In the U.N. the G-8, the European Union, in NATO, in every regional grouping in the world to strike at international terrorism wherever it exists. For the first time, the U.N. Security Council has imposed mandatory obligations on all U.N. members to cut off terrorists financing and end safe havens for terrorists.

Those that finance terror, those that launder their money, those that cover their tracks are every bit as guilty as the fanatic that commits the final act.

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And here in this country and in other nations around the world, laws will be changed, not to deny basic liberties, but to prevent their abuse and protect the most basic liberty of all, freedom from terror.

New extradition laws will be introduced. New rules to ensure asylum is not a front for terrorist entry; this country is proud of its tradition in giving asylum to those fleeing tyranny–we will always do so–but we have duty to protect the system from abuse. It must be overhauled radically, so that from now on those who abide by the rules, get help, and those that don’t, can no longer play the system to gain unfair advantage over others.

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Around the world, the 11th of September is bringing government and people to reflect, consider and change. And in this process, amidst all the talk of war and action, there is another dimension appearing, there is a coming together; the power of community is asserting itself. We are realizing how fragile are our frontiers in the face of the world’s new challenges.

Today, conflicts rarely stay within national boundaries. Today, a tremor in one financial market is repeated in the markets of the world. Today, confidence is global, it’s presence or its absence. Today, the threat is chaos, because for people with work to do and family life to balance and mortgages to pay and careers to further pensions to provide, the yearning is for order and stability. And if it doesn’t exist elsewhere, it’s unlikely to exist here.

I have long believed that this interdependence defines the new world we live in.

You know, people say, “Well, we’re only acting because it’s the USA that was attacked.” “Double standards,” they say. But when Milosevic embarked on the ethnic cleansing of Muslims in Kosovo, we acted. And the skeptics said it was pointless, that we made matters worse, we made Milosevic stronger and look what happened. We won. The refugees went home. The policies of ethnic cleansing were reversed. And one of the great dictators of the last century will finally see justice in this century.

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And I tell you that if Rwanda happened again today as it did in 1993 when a million people were slaughtered in cold blood, we would have a moral duty to act there also.

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We were there in Sierra Leone when a murderous group of gangsters threatened its democratically elected government and people, and we, as a country, should–and I, as a prime minister, do–give thanks for the brilliance, dedication and shear professionalism of the British Armed Forces.

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We can’t do it all, neither can the Americans. But, you know, the power of the international community could, together, if it choose to. It could, with our help, sort out the blight that is the continuing conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo where 3 million people have died through war or famine in the last decade. A partnership for Africa between the developed and the developing world based around a new African initiative, it’s there to be done if we find the will.

On our side: provide more aid untied to trade, write off debt, help with good governance and infrastructure, training to the soldiers with U.N. blessing and conflict resolution, encouraging investment and access to our markets so that we practice the free trade we’re so fond of preaching.

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BLAIR: But it is a partnership. On the African side: true democracy, no more excuses for dictatorship, abuses of human rights, no tolerance of bad governments from the endemic corruption of some states, to the activities of Mr. Mugabe’s henchmen in Zimbabwe…

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BLAIR: … proper commercial, legal and financial systems, the will, with our help, to broker agreements for peace and provide troops to police them. The state of Africa is a scar on the conscience of the world. But if the world, as a community, focused on it, we could heal it. And if we don’t, that scar will become deeper and angrier still.

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We could defeat climate change, if we chose to. Kyoto is right. We will implement it and call upon all other nations to do so.

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But it’s only a start. With imagination, we could use or find the technologies that create energy without destroying our planet, we could provide work and trade without deforestation. If human kind was able, finally, to make industrial progress without the factory conditions of the 19th century, surely, we have the wit and will to develop economically without despoiling the very environment we depend upon.

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And if we wanted to, we could breath new life into the Middle East peace process, and we must.

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The state of Israel must be given recognition by all; fear from terror, know that it is accepted as a part of the future of the Middle East not its very existence under threat. And the Palestinians must have justice, the chance to prosper and in their own land as equal partners with Israel…

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We know that it is the only way. Just as we know that, in our own peace process in Northern Ireland, there will be no unification of Ireland except by consent. And there will be no return to the days of Unionist or Protestant Supremacy because those days have no place in the modern world.

So the Unionists must accept justice and equality, the Nationalists. The Republicans must show that they have given up violence, not just a cease-fire, but weapons put beyond use. And not only the Republicans, but those people who call themselves Loyalists, who do by acts of terrorism sully the very name of the United Kingdom.

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We know this also: The values we believe in should shine through what we do in Afghanistan. To the Afghan people, we make this commitment: The conflict will not be the end. We will not walk away as the outside world has done so many times before that. If the Taliban regime changes, we will work with you to make sure its successor is one that is broadbased, that unites all ethnic groups and that offers some way out of the miserable poverty that is your present existence.

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And more than ever before, with every bit as much thought and planning, we will assemble a humanitarian coalition alongside the military coalition so that, inside and outside Afghanistan, the refugees–4.5 million in the move even before September 11–are given shelter, food and help during the winter months.

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The world community must show as much its capacity for compassion as for force.

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The critics will say, “But how can the world be a community, nations act in their own self-interest.” Of course, they do, but what is the lesson of the financial markets, climate change, international terrorism, nuclear proliferation or world trade? It is that our self-interest and our mutual interest are today inextricably woven together.

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This is the politics of globalization. And I realize why people protest against globalization. We watch aspects of it with trepidation, we feel powerless as if we were pushed to and fro by forces far beyond our control. But there is a risk. The political leaders, faced with street demonstrations, pander to the argument rather than answer it. The demonstrators are right to say, “There is injustice, poverty, environmental degradation.”

But globalization is a fact, and, by and large, it is driven by people not just in finance, but in communication, in technology, increasingly in culture and recreation, in the world of the Internet, information technology, television. There’s going to be globalization. And in trade, frankly, the problem is not there’s too much of it. On the contrary, there’s too little of it.

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The issue is not how to stop globalization; the issue is how we use the power of community to combine globalization with justice. If globalization works only for the benefit of the few, then it will fail and it will deserve to fail.

But if we follow the principles that have served us here so well at home–that power, wealth and opportunity must be in the hands of the many, not the few–if we make that our guiding light for the global economy, then it will be a force for good and an international movement we should take pride in leading.

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Blair’s full statement
LONDON, England –This is UK Prime Minister Tony Blair’s House of Commons statement in full:

“Mr Speaker, since September 11 intensive efforts have taken place here and elsewhere to investigate these attacks and determine who is responsible. Our findings have been shared and co-ordinated with those of our allies and they are clear. They are first, that it was Osama bin Laden and the Al-Qaeda, the terrorist network which he heads, that planned and carried out the atrocities on September 11.

“Secondly, that Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda were able to commit these atrocities because of their close alliance with the Taliban regime in Afghanistan, which allows them to operate with impunity in pursuing their terrorist activity.

“Mr Speaker, I will later today put in the library of the House of Commons a document detailing the basis for our conclusions. The document covers the history of Osama bin Laden, his relations with the Taliban, what we know of the acts of terror he has committed and some of what we know in respect of September 11.

“I enter a major caveat, however. Much of the evidence we have is intelligence and highly sensitive. It is not possible without compromising people or security to release precise details and fresh information is daily coming in. But I hope the House will find it at least useful as an interim assessment. The Leader of the Opposition and the Leader of the Liberal Democrats have seen the full basis of the document on Privy Council terms.

“For myself and all other Government ministers who have studied the full information we have absolutely no doubt that bin Laden and his network were responsible for attacks on September 11. That was also the unanimous view of the NATO members who were taken through the full facts on the October 2.

“Much more of the evidence in respect of earlier atrocities can be released in greater detail since it is already subject to court proceedings. This, in itself, is powerful. Indeed, there is nothing hidden about bin Laden’s agenda. He openly espouses the language of terror, has described terrorising Americans as “the religious and logical obligation” and in February 1998 signed a fatwa stating that “the killing of Americans and its civilian and military allies is a religious duty.”

“As our document shows he has been responsible for a number of terrorist outrages over the past decade. The attack in 1993 on U.S. military personnel serving in Somalia, 18 of whom were killed, in 1998 the bombings of the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania — 224 people were killed and over 4,500 injured — attempted bombings in Jordan and Los Angeles at the turn of the Millennium, thankfully thwarted, the attack on the USS Cole nearly a year ago, which left 17 crew members killed and 40 injured.

“The attacks on September 11 bear all the hallmarks of a Bin Laden operation: meticulous long term planning, a desire to inflict mass casualties, a total disregard for civilian lives, including Muslims, multiple simultaneous attacks, and the use of suicide attackers. I can now confirm that of the 19 hijackers identified from the passenger lists of the four planes hijacked in America on September 11, at least three of these hijackers have already been positively identified as known associates of bin Laden, with a track record in his camps and organisation. The others are being investigated still. Of the three, one has also been identified as playing key roles in both the east Africa embassy attacks and the USS Cole attack.

“Since the attacks we have obtained the following intelligence. Shortly before the September 11 bin Laden told associates that he had a major operation against America under preparation, a range of people were warned to return back to Afghanistan because of action on or around September 11, and, most importantly, one of bin Laden’s closest lieutenants has said clearly that he helped with the planning of the September 11 attacks and admitted the involvement of the al Qaida organisation.

“There is other intelligence, we cannot disclose, of an even more direct nature indicating guilt.

Taliban links

“The closeness of bin Laden’s relationship with the Taliban is also plain. He provides them with troops, arms and money to fight the Northern Alliance, is closely involved with their military training, planning and operations, he is represented in their military command structure. Forces under the control of bin Laden have fought alongside the Taliban in the civil war in Afghanistan. For its part, the Taliban regime has provided bin Laden with a safe haven within which to operate and allowed him to establish terrorist training camps. They jointly exploit the Afghan drugs trade. In return for active al Qaida support, the Taliban allow al Qaida to operate freely including the planning, training and preparing for terrorist activities. In addition, they provide security for the stockpiles of drugs.

“Mr Speaker, in the face of this evidence our objectives are clear. We must bring bin Laden and other al Qaida leaders to justice and eliminate the terrorist threat they pose and we must ensure that Afghanistan ceases to harbour and sustain international terrorism. If the Taliban regime will not comply with that objective we must bring about change in that regime to ensure that Afghanistan’s links with international terrorism are broken.

“Since the House last met, we have been working ceaselessly on the diplomatic, humanitarian and military fronts.

“I can confirm that we have had initial discussions with the United States about a range of military capabilities with which Britain can help and have already responded positively to this. We will consider carefully any further requests and keep the House informed as appropriate, about such requests. For obvious reasons I cannot disclose the exact nature of our discussions. But I am fully satisfied they are consistent with our shared objectives.

“I believe the humanitarian coalition to help the people of Afghanistan to be as vital as any military action itself. Afghanistan was in the grip of a humanitarian crisis even before the events of September 11. Four years of drought, on top of over two decades of conflict, have forced millions of people to leave the country; and have left millions more dependent on international humanitarian aid.

Aid effort

“Last week the United Nations launched an appeal for $584 million (£340million) to meet the needs of vulnerable people in and around Afghanistan. The appeal covers the next six months. The international community has already pledged sufficient funds to meet the most immediate needs. The British government has contributed £25 million ($37 million), nearly all of which has already been allocated to U.N. and other agencies. We have also made available a further £11m ($16 million) for support for the poorest communities in Pakistan, especially those most directly affected by the influx of refugees. I know President Bush will shortly announce details of a major U.S. programme of aid.

“I have been in detailed consultation with the U.N. Secretary General, Kofi Annan, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, Ruud Lubbers, and other leaders. Kofi Annan has now appointed Lakhdar Brahimi to be his high level coordinator for the humanitarian effort in and around Afghanistan. We will give Mr Brahimi all the support we can, to help ensure that the U.N. and the whole of the international community comes together to meet the humanitarian challenge.

“Action is already in hand to cope with additional outflows of refugees. UNHCR is working with the governments of the region to identify sites for additional refugee camps. The first UNHCR flight of relief supplies, including tents donated by the British government, arrived in Iran yesterday. A second flight will depart at the end of this week, carrying more tents, plastic sheeting and tarpaulins, so that we can provide essential shelter for refugees. We are also stepping up the effort to get food into Afghanistan, before the winter snows begin. A UNICEF convoy carrying blankets and other supplies left Peshawar for Kabul on Tuesday. A World Food Programme convoy carrying over 200 tonnes of wheat arrived in Kabul on Monday. Further convoys have left for Afghanistan from Pakistan and Turkmenistan.

“Mr Speaker, we will do what ever we can to minimise the suffering of the Afghan people as a result of the conflict; and we commit ourselves now to work with them afterwards inside and outside Afghanistan to ensure a better, more peaceful future, free from the repression and dictatorship that is their present existence.

International diplomacy

“On the diplomatic front, over the past three weeks the Foreign Secretary (Jack Straw) and I have been in intensive contact with foreign leaders from every part of the world. In addition, the Foreign Secretary has visited the Middle East and Iran. I have visited Berlin, Paris and Washington for consultations with Chancellor Schroeder, President Chirac and President Bush respectively. Later today I will travel to Moscow to meet President Putin.

“What we have encountered is an unprecedented level of solidarity and commitment to work together against terrorism. This is a commitment that spans all continents, cultures and religions, reinforced by attacks like the one on the Jammu and Kashmir assembly in Srinagar, which killed over 30 innocent people.

“We have already made good progress in taking forward an international agenda. Last week the United Nations Security Council unanimously adopted resolution 1373. This makes it mandatory for all states to prevent and suppress terrorist financing and requires the denial of safe haven to those who finance, plan, support or commit terrorist acts. The European Union too has taken firm action. Transport, interior, finance and foreign ministers have all met to concert an ambitious and effective European response: enhancing police cooperation; speeding up extradition; putting an end to the funding of terrorism; and strengthening air security.

“We are, of course, also looking closely at our national legislation. In the next few weeks, the Home Secretary (David Blunket) intends to introduce a package of legislation to supplement existing legal powers in a number of areas. It will be a carefully appraised set of measures: tough, but balanced and proportionate to the risk we face. It will cover the funding of terrorism. It will increase our ability to exclude and remove those whom we suspect of terrorism and who are seeking to abuse our asylum procedures. It will widen the law on incitement to include religious hatred. We will bring forward a bill to modernise our extradition law.

“This will not be a knee-jerk reaction. But I emphasise we do need to strengthen our laws so that, even if necessary, only in a small number of cases, we have the means to protect our citizens’ liberty and our national security. We have also ensured, insofar as is possible, that every reasonable measure of internal security is being undertaken. We have in place a series of contingency plans, governing all forms of terrorism. These plans are continually reviewed and tested regularly and at all levels. In addition, we continue to monitor carefully developments in the British and international economy. Certain sectors here and around the world have inevitably been seriously affected, though I repeat the fundamentals of all the major economies, including our own, remain strong. The reduction of risk from terrorist mass action is important also to economic confidence as September 11 shows. So there is every incentive in this respect also, to close down the Bin Laden network.

“Mr Speaker, three weeks on from the most appalling act of terrorism the world has ever witnessed, the coalition is strong. Military plans are robust. The humanitarian plans are falling into place. And the evidence against bin Laden and his network is overwhelming. The Afghan people are not our enemy. For they have our sympathy and they will have our support.

“Our enemy is Osama bin Laden and the Al Qaida network, who were responsible for the events of September 11. The Taliban regime must yield them up or become our enemy also.

“We will not act for revenge. We will act because we need to for the protection of our people and our way of life, including confidence in our economy. The threat bin Laden and his terrorism represents must be eliminated. We act for justice. We act with world opinion behind us. And we have an absolute determination to see justice done, and this evil of mass international terrorism confronted and defeated.”

October 2, 2001 | Filed Under GFA