U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair’s Statement

Transcript courtesy of the New York Times
(http://www.nytimes.com/2001/10/07/international/07BLAIR-TEXT.html)

BRITISH PRIME MINISTER TONY BLAIR: As you know
from the announcement by President Bush, military action against
targets inside Afghanistan has begun. I can confirm that U.K.
forces are engaged in this action. I want to pay tribute, if I
might, right at the outset to Britain’s armed forces. There is no
greater strength for a British prime minister and the British
nation at a time like this than to know that the forces we are
calling upon are amongst the very best in the world. They and their
families are, of course, carrying an immense burden at this moment
and will be feeling deep anxiety, as will the British people. But
we can take pride in their courage, their sense of duty and the
esteem with which they’re held throughout the world.

No country lightly commits forces to military action and the
inevitable risks involved. But we made it clear following the
attacks upon the United States on Sept. 11 that we would take part
in action once it was clear who was responsible. There is no doubt
in my mind, nor in the mind of anyone who has been through all the
available evidence, including intelligence material, that these
attacks were carried out by the Al Qaeda network, masterminded by
Osama bin Laden. Equally it is clear that his network is harbored
and supported by the Taliban regime inside Afghanistan.

It is now almost a month since the atrocity occurred, it is more
than two weeks since an ultimatum was delivered to the Taliban to
yield up the terrorists or face the consequences. It is clear
beyond doubt that they will not do this. They were given the choice
of siding with justice or siding with terror, and they chose to
side with terror.

There are three parts, all equally important to the operation in
which we’re engaged: military, diplomatic and humanitarian.

The military action we are taking will be targeted against
places we know to be involved in the Al Qaeda network of terror or
against the military apparatus of the Taliban. This military plan
has been put together mindful of our determination to do all we
humanly can to avoid civilian casualties. I cannot disclose,
obviously, how long this action will last, but we will act with
reason and resolve. We have set the objectives to eradicate Osama
bin Laden’s network of terror and to take action against the
Taliban regime that is sponsoring him.

As to the precise British involvement, I can confirm that last
Wednesday the United States government made a specific request that
a number of U.K. military assets be used in the operation which has
now begun, and I gave authority for these assets to be deployed.
They include the base at Diego Garcia, reconnaissance and other
aircraft, and missile-firing submarines. The missile-firing
submarines are in use tonight; the air assets will be available for
use in the coming days.

The United States are obviously providing the bulk of the force
required in leading this operation, but this is an international
effort. As well as the U.K., France, Germany, Australia and Canada
have also committed themselves to take part in it.

On the diplomatic and political front, in the time I’ve been
prime minister I cannot recall a situation that has commanded so
quickly such a powerful coalition of support, and not just from
those countries involved in military action, but from many others
in all parts of the world. That coalition has, I believe,
strengthened not weakened in the 26 days since the atrocity
occurred. And this is in no small measure due to the statesmanship
of President Bush, to whom I pay tribute tonight. The world
understands that whilst of course there are dangers in action, the
dangers of inaction are far, far greater: the threat of further
such outrages, the threat to our economies, the threat to the
stability of the world.

On the humanitarian front we are assembling a coalition of
support for refugees in and outside Afghanistan, which is as vital
as the military coalition. Even before Sept. 11, four millions
Afghans were on the move. There are two million refugees in
Pakistan and one and a half million in Iran. We have to act for
humanitarian reasons to alleviate the appalling suffering of the
Afghan people and to deliver stability so that people from that
region stay in that region. Britain, of course, is heavily involved
in that humanitarian effort.

So we are taking action, therefore, on all those three fronts:
military, diplomatic and humanitarian.

I also want to say very directly to the British people why this
matters so much directly to Britain. First, let us not forget that
the attacks of Sept. 11 represented the worst terrorist outrage
against British citizens in our history. The murder of British
citizens, whether it happens overseas or not, is an attack upon
Britain.

But even if no British citizen had died, it would be right to
act. This atrocity was an attack on us all, on people of all faiths
and people of none. We know the Al Qaeda network threatened Europe
including Britain and, indeed, any nation throughout the world that
does not share their fanatical views. So we have a direct interest
in acting in our own self-defense to protect British lives.

It was also an attack not just on lives but on livelihoods. We
can see since the 11th of September how economic confidence has
suffered, what all that means for British jobs and British
industry. Our prosperity and standard of living, therefore, require
us to deal with this terrorist threat.

We act also because the Al Qaeda network and the Taliban regime
are funded in large part on the drugs trade: 90 percent of all the
heroin sold on British streets originates from Afghanistan.
Stopping that trade is again directly in our interests.

I wish to say finally, as I’ve said many times before, that this
is not a war with Islam. It angers me, as it angers the vast
majority of Muslims, to hear bin Laden and his associates described
as Islamic terrorists. They are terrorist pure and simple. Islam is
a peaceful and tolerant religion and the acts of these people are
wholly contrary to the teachings of the Koran.

These are difficult and testing times, therefore, for all of us.
People are bound to be concerned about what the terrorists may seek
to do in response. I should say there is at present no specific
credible threat to the U.K. that we know of, and that we have in
place tried and tested contingency plans which are the best
possible response to any further attempts at terror.

This of course is a moment of the utmost gravity for the world.
None of the leaders involved in this action want war. None of our
nations want it, we are a peaceful people. But we know that
sometimes to safeguard peace we have to fight. Britain has learned
that lesson many times before in our history. We only do it if the
cause is just, but this cause is just. The murder of almost 7,000
innocent people in America was an attack on our freedom, our way of
life, an attack on civilized values the world over.

We waited so that those responsible could be yielded up by those
shielding them. That offer was refused. We have now no choice so we
will act and our determination in acting is total: We will not let
up or rest until our objectives are met in full.

Thank you.