Tony Blair’s Resolve

I never doubted after September 11th that our place was alongside America and I don’t doubt it now. And for a very simple reason. Terrorism struck most dramatically in New York but it was aimed then, and is aimed now, at us all, at our way of life. This is a global struggle. Today it is at its fiercest in Iraq. It has allied itself there with every reactionary element in the Middle East. Their aim: to wreck this December’s first ever direct election for the Government of Iraq. I know there are people, good people, who disagreed with the decision to remove Saddam by force. But for two years, British troops whose bravery and dedication we salute, along with those of 27 other nations, have been in Iraq with full United Nations authority and in support of the Iraqi Government. Yes, several hundred people stoned British troops in Basra. Yes, several thousand run the terrorist insurgency around Baghdad. And yes, as a result of the fighting, innocent people tragically die. But 8 1⁄2 million Iraqis showed which future they wanted when they came out and voted in January’s elections. And the way to stop the innocent dying is not to retreat, to withdraw, to hand these people over to the mercy of religious fanatics or relics of Saddam, but to stand up for their right to decide their Government in the same democratic way the British people do. Ten days ago, after years of struggle, finally in Afghanistan, 6 million people voted freely to decide their own future. How dare the terrorists justify their campaign of hate by claiming they are angry about Afghanistan? Was it better under their Taleban? They use Iraq and Afghanistan, just as they use the cause of Palestine, whilst trying to destroy by terror the only solution that will ever work: a secure Israel living side-by-side with a viable independent and democratic Palestine. Just as they chose the day of the G8 when the world was trying to address the heartbreaking poverty of Africa, to kill innocent people in London. Strip away their fake claims of grievance and see them for what they are: terrorists who use 21st century technology to fight a pre-medieval religious war that is utterly alien to the future of humankind. I know we could have hidden away at the back after September 11th and let others take the strain. But that is not Britain at its best.