|
 n
speech to the Welsh assembly Tuesday, British Prime Minister Tony
Blair outlined the goals of the coalition against terrorism. Below
is the text of his speech.
….When I accepted this invitation months ago, I had in mind
a very different speech than the one I give today. I understand
some feel I should not address the present crisis in the Welsh Assembly.
I am sorry if that is the case but if I were speaking today before
any Parliament in the world, I should feel obliged to talk about
the issue that rightly preoccupies people and I hope the people
of Wales will consider it a mark of respect not of disrespect if
I do so here. And we should never forget the contribution Wales
and the Welsh people make to our Armed Forces.
I said a few
days ago that now would be the testing time. People want results.
They want them as fast as possible.
They realise
the formidable challenges posed by any action in Afghanistan. They
worry about civilian casualties. They are anxious about the refugee
crisis as winter approaches. They wonder what comes after the conflict.
All these concerns
deserve to be answered. No one who raises doubts is an appeaser
or a faint heart. We are a democracy, strong enough to have doubts
raised even at a time of war and wise enough to be able to respond
to them.
But let us
go back to why we are in this conflict. On 11 September, thousands
of people were killed in cold blood in the worst terrorist attacks
the world has ever seen. That is a fact. Those responsible were
the Al Qaida network reared by Usama Bin Laden. That is a fact barely
disputed by anymore. Incidentally, the intelligence evidence, significant
when I first drew attention to it on 3 October, is now a flood,
confirming guilt.
The Taliban
regime in Afghanistan protect Al Qaida and help them. That is a
fact. Indeed, according to the latest evidence we have, they are
virtually a merged organisation. The Taliban regime are cruel, dictatorial
and oppressive, causing 4½ million refugees to be on the
move before 11 September. That, too is a fact.
Usama Bin Laden
and Al Qaida have said they consider it their duty to commit further
terrorist acts. We gave the Taliban an ultimatum to deliver up Usama
Bin Laden. They refused. These are also facts.
They lead to
one inescapable conclusion: that if we do not act against Al Qaida
and the Taliban, Al Qaida will have perpetrated this atrocity, the
Taliban will have sheltered them, and we will have done nothing.
We will have done nothing despite the fact, also inescapable, that
they intend to commit more atrocities unless we yield to their demands
which include the eradication of Israel, the killing of all Jews
and the setting up of fundamentalist states in all parts of the
Arab and Moslem world.
So: we have a group of people in Afghanistan who are the sworn enemies
of everything the civilised world stands for, who have killed once
on a vast scale and will kill again unless stopped. They can't be
negotiated with. They refuse to yield to justice.
And they have
one hope: that we are decadent, that we lack the moral fibre or
will or courage to take them on; that we might begin but we won't
finish; that we will start, then falter; that when the first setbacks
occur, we will lose our nerve.
They are wrong.
We won't falter.
We will not
stop until our mission is complete. We will not flinch from doing
what is necessary to complete it. We will not fail and we will do
it all because we believe in our values of justice, tolerance and
respect for all regardless of race, religion or creed just as passionately
as they believe in fanatical hatred of Jews, Christians and any
Moslems who don't share their perverse view of Islam.
They mistake
our desire for a comfortable life, living in peace, benign towards
different races and cultures, for decadence. It is not decadence.
It is progress and we will fight to maintain it.
Now let me
return to the questions that need answering.
Our objectives
are clear: to close down the Al Qaida network, bring UBL and his
associates to justice and because the Taliban regime have chosen
to side with Al Qaida, to remove them.
The means we
use will be: air power; ground operations as and when necessary
in furtherance of our aims; support to the Northern Alliance and
other anti-Taliban regime elements; and building up a strong political
and diplomatic coalition against the present Taliban regime inside
and outside Afghanistan.
We have destroyed
the Taliban air force, put Taliban airfields and air defence systems
out of action; destroyed all the main Al Qaida camps; profoundly
damaged Taliban command and control facilities, and dramatically
reduced their capacity to communicate with their forces in the field.
So this is
a steady process of fragmenting, undermining and eventually destroying
the Taliban regime as a serious threat capable of inflicting any
more damage on their country and the outside world.
But two words
of caution. This is not a conventional conflict. It is not a battle
for territory per se or for the subjugation of Afghanistan. It is
a battle to allow Afghans themselves to re-take control of their
country and in doing so to close down the threat posed by the present
rules. The political and diplomatic go hand in hand with the military.
And we simply cannot and should not disclose the exact nature of
the ground operations we intend to undertake. There is a limit to
what we can sensibly discuss in public.
We do all we
can to limit civilian casualties, unlike Usama Bin Laden and Al
Qaida who did all they could to cause as many civilian casualties
as possible.
Tragically, there will be some but I do ask people to be deeply
sceptical about Taliban claims.
Whilst the
military action continues, two other things are happening. We are
establishing a huge humanitarian effort — $700m already pledged.
We are determined to feed and shelter as many refugees as we can.
But we have to contend with armed groups harassing UN food convoys,
stealing their equipment or even the food itself. We are in continuous
discussion with the UN agencies and other on the ground to see how
to improve the delivery of supplies and humanitarian assistance,
and carry on doing all we can.
Secondly, under
the leadership of Mr Brahimi, the Special UN Envoy, the UN is convening
as wide a representative group of Afghan opinion as possible in
order that when the present Taliban regime falls, a successor regime,
broad-based, can take its place. All the main regional countries
are being consulted.
The end we
desire is this: Al Qaida shut down in Afghanistan ; the Taliban
regime out; a new broad-based regime in; Afghan reconstruction underway.
Our military
action is focussed on Afghanistan. But terrorism is a wider problem
not limited to there. We will take action as a world community on
its financing, weapons capability and movement of terrorists wherever
we can, as with the recent EU measures. This second stage of action
will, of course, be subject to close consultation and deliberation
with the global alliance against terrorism.
The international
coalition remains strong. I pay tribute to Arab and Moslem countries
who have supported our action. I thank Saudi Arabia for its forthright
condemnation and action. UBL may be Saudi in origin but he defames
the good name of Saudi Arabia, which is a good and dependable friend
to the civilised world.
Every part
of this is difficult. Every part requires courage, conviction, hard
work. In every part, there may be setbacks from time to time.
But in every part, we have justice and right on our side, and a
strategy to deliver.
It is important
we never forget why we are doing it. Important we never forget how
we felt watching the planes fly into the twin towers. Never forget
those answering machine messages. Never forget how we felt imagining
how mothers told children they were about to die.
Never forget
the guts of the fire fighters and police who died trying to save
others. Never forget the menace of UBL in his propaganda video.
Never forget that too long a list of countries who lost sons and
daughters. Never forget that they were of all faiths and none; Christian,
Jew and Moslem; many Moslems, for it is not us who are at war with
Islam. It is Al Qaida and the Taliban who are at war with anyone,
whatever their faith, who does not share their maniacal, fanatical
view of the world.
He did not
just hijack planes. He has hijacked a country from which he runs
his terrorist, criminal activity. Now he would like to hijack a
religion; and hijack the Palestinian cause too.
We are a principled
nation, and this is a principled conflict.
September 11th
is no less appalling today than it was on September 11th. Our determination
is no less resolute than it was on the day military action began.
We have a job to do; and it is being done and will be seen through
to the end.
Now is a time
for people of all races and all faiths in Britain to stand together.
That is exactly
what Moslem leaders in Wales and across Britain have done with their
forthright condemnation of the atrocities of 11 September, and I
thank them for it.
I condemn utterly
the attacks and abuse that some British Moslems have suffered since
11 September — some of them here in Wales.
And I say to
the 50,000 Moslems living in Wales today: we will defend your right
to live free from the fear of racism and religious hatred.
Partly as a
result of 11 September we face now a more difficult economic time.
But in any event, as a result of globalisation, we face constant
challenges.
The Corus job
losses were a heavy blow.
Sectors such
as tourism — already struggling from foot and mouth —
have been hit hard.
But the fundamentals
of our economy both in Wales and in Britain are the strongest they
have been in a generation.
Employment
is rising, not falling. Unemployment here in Wales is at its lowest
level for over 25 years. Interest rates are at their lowest for
nearly 40 years.
We have seen
200 new high tech jobs at a £90 million BT Ignite development
here in Cardiff; and almost 200 at Continental Teves and Desk Link
in Blaenau Gwent — an area particularly hard hit by the Corus
losses. New investment that this Assembly helped to secure.
I have also
heard from business leaders that the Assembly has given Wales a
real business voice. Of course, that was one reason behind creating
an Assembly. Much of the pressure for regional government in England
comes from their desire to emulate you.
Those who said
that devolution would lead to the break up of Britain have been
proved wrong.
Earlier we
met together — leaders from the UK, from Scotland, Wales and
Northern Ireland to discuss issues of common interest. Diversity
does not mean division — quite the reverse. People are perfectly
capable of thinking of themselves as Welsh and British at the same
time.
Devolution
to Wales is just one part of a much wider programme of constitutional
reform designed to move us away from a centralised Britain to a
more democratic, decentralised, plural state.
The Scottish
Parliament has meant a radical decline in the numbers of Scots wanting
separation. In London, there is now an elected Assembly and Mayor.
In Northern Ireland, thanks to the efforts of the leaders there,
we have in a part of the UK riven by sectarian division, the chance
of a new future.
In each area
and here in Wales, there are difficulties and tensions between parties
and within parties.
But the result
is that instead of one centre of power focussed on Whitehall and
Westminster, there are several with the opportunity for power to
be exercised closer to the people it affects. And I believe the
most remarkable thing is not the problem of devolution but the ease
with which what amounts to a constitutional revolution, has bedded
down.
But devolution
fits within a broader framework, re-balancing power between citizen
and Government and modernising Britain's constitution.
We have incorporated
the European Convention on Human Rights into UK law. We have reformed
the voting system both here and in the European Parliament.
And we have
started reform of the House of Lords, removing the vast bulk of
hereditary peers.
The Wakeham
Commission reported in favour of the next stage of reform, with
a balance of elected, nominated and independent members.
Later this
month we will publish a White Paper setting out our proposals for
it, based largely on the Wakeham report.
There will
be an elected element, to ensure proper regional representation.
There will be a statutory Appointments Commission. There will continue
to be independent members. There will be rules to determine fair
political balance.
We will consult
on these proposals and then legislate so that we complete the work
of Lords reform begun in 1997.
But constitutional
reform and devolution can never be ends in themselves. They are
means to an end: to improve the lives of the people we serve.
Two years on
we must ask ourselves how devolved institutions have measured up
to that task.
I believe there
are real achievements of which the Assembly and Wales can be proud.
On education,
Wales has seen the best primary school results ever. Class sizes
are smaller too.
And on health,
record investment is being matched with reform.
Meanwhile the
National Assembly has confidently handled its baptism of fire- the
fuel crisis, last year's flooding, Corus, and foot and mouth. That
is a credit to the Assembly — and to your leadership and commitment
as First Minister, Rhodri.
Nearly half
of the Assembly and a majority of the Cabinet are women — a
level that puts virtually every other parliament in the world to
shame.
Pensioners
and people with disabilities now enjoy concessionary bus travel
— a policy made in Wales, now being extended to England.
But a huge
task still remains.
There are major
challenges above all in improving the delivery of public services
— challenges that are just as great here in Wales as in the
rest of Britain.
In our schools,
where we need to raise standards still higher.
In our hospitals,
where people are still waiting too long for treatment.
The priority
now must be to harness the full potential of the current devolution
settlement to improve the lives of the people of Wales.
Westminster
must play its part in that process too. Devolution is about partnership
— and partnership is a two-way street.
That is a principle
on which both Rhodri and Paul have led the way — that we achieve
more by working I partnership.
The last Spending
Review alone provides an extra £1.8 billion of investment
in Welsh public services.
Partnership
means ensuring that Wales' voice is heard loud and clear in Westminster
— and Wales could have no greater champion than Paul Murphy.
Partnership
allows us then to act together on issues where Wales and Westminster
need to.
· legislation
for a new Children's Commissioner — the first post of its kind
in Britain;
· the
reforms to the Health Service in Wales that were voted on here in
this very chamber.
· on
Objective One, for example, where the funding is now in place to
help deprived communities in West Wales and the Valleys.
· or
on miners' compensation, where I know that the money has not been
getting to those who are suffering quickly enough; but where we
are doing all we can to speed up the payments and ensure that the
money gets to those who need it most — the oldest and the sickest
miners and widows. Every week now we pay out £1 million in
Wales — over £100 million in total so far.
I believe devolution
has left the UK stronger not weaker. We are able to do as the UK
what we need to do together. And in respect of issues like public
services, we can do things differently. Such a constitutional partnership
is commonplace elsewhere in Europe and round the world. It allows
the energy and diversity of different parts of our country to breathe
and develop.
Devolution
is in its infancy still. But already there is a healthy debate abut
how it can develop, which is taking root also in the English regions.
There is a
wider context. A development is taking place that is again obvious
and replicated world-wide. Nations are coming closer together —
the EU, NAFTA, ASEAN, Mercosur.
Increasingly
challenges, interests and solutions are global like climate change,
international finance or terrorism.
Yet coincidentally,
at the very time nations collaborate on a bigger stage, so within
countries, there is a greater desire to seize back control over
local issues on a smaller stage. Politics is finding different levels
appropriate to different types of issue.
Political systems
that fail to make sense of these developments will either become
out of touch with people or ineffectual.
Modern Britain
is trying to avoid these pitfalls — a true partner now in the
EU and globally, committed to devolution on the issues where devolution
makes sense; yet proud to be Britain where we need to act as Britain.
Separation
of the component parts of the UK is a cul-de-sac. It would just
make each part weaker. There is merit in the simple argument that
when it comes to the economy, defence, foreign policy, social security,
bigger is stronger. We can then project that strength globally.
But within
that unity, diversity can flourish. That is why devolution is important.
In its infancy it may be, but it is here to stay. I was proud to
make the case for the Welsh Assembly, proud that case was accepted
and proud to be the first British Prime Minister to address you.
I won't be the last.
|
