BigBadBrian
03-21-2006, 08:59 AM
Blair wants battle of ideas with terrorists
LONDON (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Tony Blair on Tuesday will call for a global, interventionist approach to confront terrorism head on and win a battle over values and ideas.
"This is not a clash between civilizations, it is a clash about civilization," Blair will say in a speech this afternoon, according to extracts released by his official spokesman.
"'We' is not the West. 'We' are as much Muslim as Christian or Jew or Hindu. 'We' are those who believe in religious tolerance, openness to others, to democracy, liberty and human rights administered by secular courts," he will say.
The speech, due to be given at a Reuters Newsmaker event, is the first of three that Blair plans to deliver on terrorism and the significance of Iraq and Afghanistan. The second will be given in Australia and the third in the United States.
"The only way to win is to recognize this phenomenon is a global ideology; to see all areas in which it operates as linked and to defeat it by values and ideas set in opposition to those of the terrorists," the speech will say.
Blair will say a belief in an "activist approach" to foreign policy, based on values and interests, is the theme underlying the government's approach to issues from Kosovo, Sierra Leone, Iraq, Afghanistan, to climate change and poverty in Africa.
Blair's spokesman played down fears the speech might ring alarm bells in Iran, which is locked in a battle of wills with the United States and Europe over its nuclear program.
"On Iran, we are engaged in an activist, interventionist approach. It isn't just sitting back waiting for Iran, it is trying to enforce through diplomacy," the spokesman said.
Blair will contrast his approach with one he calls the "doctrine of benign activity," a doctrine he says sees setbacks in Iraq and Afghanistan as a reason why Saddam Hussein and the Taliban should have been left in place.
"The terrorists know that if they are to succeed either in Iraq or Afghanistan or indeed Lebanon or anywhere else wanting to go the democratic route, then the choice of a modern future for the Arab or Muslim world is dealt a potentially mortal blow," Blair will say.
"Likewise if they fail and those countries become democracies and make progress, then not merely is that a blow against their whole value system but it is the most effective message against their wretched propaganda about America, the West and the rest of the world."
Blair said nations must recognize extremism is deep rooted -- with 40 to 50 countries subject to regular terrorist attacks loosely linked to its ideology -- and that an interventionist stance was the precondition for future prosperity and stability.
Link (http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/news/story.jsp?id=2006032108290002436521&dt=20060321082900&w=RTR&coview=)
LONDON (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Tony Blair on Tuesday will call for a global, interventionist approach to confront terrorism head on and win a battle over values and ideas.
"This is not a clash between civilizations, it is a clash about civilization," Blair will say in a speech this afternoon, according to extracts released by his official spokesman.
"'We' is not the West. 'We' are as much Muslim as Christian or Jew or Hindu. 'We' are those who believe in religious tolerance, openness to others, to democracy, liberty and human rights administered by secular courts," he will say.
The speech, due to be given at a Reuters Newsmaker event, is the first of three that Blair plans to deliver on terrorism and the significance of Iraq and Afghanistan. The second will be given in Australia and the third in the United States.
"The only way to win is to recognize this phenomenon is a global ideology; to see all areas in which it operates as linked and to defeat it by values and ideas set in opposition to those of the terrorists," the speech will say.
Blair will say a belief in an "activist approach" to foreign policy, based on values and interests, is the theme underlying the government's approach to issues from Kosovo, Sierra Leone, Iraq, Afghanistan, to climate change and poverty in Africa.
Blair's spokesman played down fears the speech might ring alarm bells in Iran, which is locked in a battle of wills with the United States and Europe over its nuclear program.
"On Iran, we are engaged in an activist, interventionist approach. It isn't just sitting back waiting for Iran, it is trying to enforce through diplomacy," the spokesman said.
Blair will contrast his approach with one he calls the "doctrine of benign activity," a doctrine he says sees setbacks in Iraq and Afghanistan as a reason why Saddam Hussein and the Taliban should have been left in place.
"The terrorists know that if they are to succeed either in Iraq or Afghanistan or indeed Lebanon or anywhere else wanting to go the democratic route, then the choice of a modern future for the Arab or Muslim world is dealt a potentially mortal blow," Blair will say.
"Likewise if they fail and those countries become democracies and make progress, then not merely is that a blow against their whole value system but it is the most effective message against their wretched propaganda about America, the West and the rest of the world."
Blair said nations must recognize extremism is deep rooted -- with 40 to 50 countries subject to regular terrorist attacks loosely linked to its ideology -- and that an interventionist stance was the precondition for future prosperity and stability.
Link (http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/news/story.jsp?id=2006032108290002436521&dt=20060321082900&w=RTR&coview=)