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Listen
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October 2, 2001
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.
... 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.
We were with you at the first, we will stay with you to the last.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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. (cont'd next page)
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