Speech to Labor Party Conference

British Prime Minister Tony Blair announces: "I say to the Taliban, surrender the terrorists or surrender power."

Speech

By: Tony Blair

Date: October 2, 2001

Source: Speech

About the Author: Tony Blair, as the head of the British Labor Party, assumed the role of English Prime Minister in 1997. Blair was reelected to the post in 2001 and again in 2005. From the early days of his premiership, Blair had proven himself committed to working closely alongside the United States on foreign affairs issues. Blair aligned himself with the United States-led offensive in Kosovo in the late 1990s, and enjoyed a positive working relationship with President Bill Clinton, which carried over to the Bush administration. Blair's foreign policy vision was outlined in an address—which has since become known as his "Doctrine of the International Community"—to the Chicago Economic Club. In that address, Blair made clear his position that the world has changed to the point where, "isolationism has ceased to have a reason to exist. By necessity, we have to cooperate with each other across nations."

INTRODUCTION

In the weeks following the attacks of September 11, 2001, Britain reaffirmed its position as a strong and vocal ally of the United States. Sixty-seven British citizens died in the attacks at the World Trade Center in New York, and the attacks led to several displays of solidarity by Britons towards the United States, including a performance of the Star Spangled Banner at Buckingham Palace. Prime Minister Tony Blair committed Britain to standing "shoulder to shoulder" with the United States in the war on terror.

On October 2, 2001, after returning from a diplomatic tour to Germany and France and visiting the attack site in New York, Blair addressed his Labor Party Conference in Brighton, England, with a speech Blair drafted himself. The speech, which has been described as one of the most powerful of his career, combined his emotions after visiting New York with his vision for the British government's response to September 11.

PRIMARY SOURCE

. . . What happened on 11 September was without parallel in the bloody history of terrorism.

Within a few hours, up to 7000 people were annihilated, the commercial centre of New York was reduced to rubble and in Washington and Pennsylvania, further death and horror on an unimaginable scale. 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 is Osama Bin Laden.

He is supported, shielded, and given succour by the Taliban regime.

Two days before the 11 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 no doubt; 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 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 on the drugs trade. The biggest drugs hoard in the world is in Afghanistan, controlled by the Taliban. Ninety per cent of the heroin on British streets originates in Afghanistan.

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 waged war on the innocent. We seek the guilty.

Look for a diplomatic solution. 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 11 September, and it is to turn justice on its head to pretend it could.

The action 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 worked.

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?

There is no compromise possible with such people, 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.

I say to the Taliban: surrender the terrorists; or surrender power. It's your choice.

We will take action at every level, national and international, in the UN, in G8, in the EU, in NATO, in every regional grouping in the world, to strike at international terrorism wherever it exists.

For the first time, the UN security council has imposed mandatory obligations on all UN members to cut off terrorist financing and end safe havens for terrorists.

Those that finance terror, those who launder their money, those that cover their tracks are every bit as guilty as the fanatic who commits the final act.

Here in this country and in other nations round the world, laws will be changed, not to deny basic liberties but to prevent their abuse and protect the most basic liberty of all: freedom from terror. New extradition laws will be introduced; new rules to ensure asylum is not a front for terrorist entry. This country is proud of its tradition in giving asylum to those fleeing tyranny. We will always do so. But we have a duty to protect the system from abuse.

It must be overhauled radically so that from now on, those who abide by the rules get help, and those that don't can no longer play the system to gain unfair advantage over others.

Round the world, 11 September is bringing governments and people to reflect, consider, and change. And in this process, amidst all the talk of war and action, there is another dimension appearing.

There is a coming together. The power of community is asserting itself. We are realizing how fragile are our frontiers in the face of the world's new challenges.

Today conflicts rarely stay within national boundaries.

Today a tremor in one financial market is repeated in the markets of the world.

Today confidence is global, either its presence or its absence.

Today the threat is chaos, because for people with work to do, family life to balance, mortgages to pay, careers to further, pensions to provide, the yearning is for order and stability and if it doesn't exist elsewhere, it is unlikely to exist here.

I have long believed this interdependence defines the new world we live in.

SIGNIFICANCE

Prime Minister Blair's address stated Britain' plan to join the allied offensive against the Taliban and terrorist networks in Afghanistan. This speech publicly established the alliance between the United States and Britain that continued during Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Blair used this speech to anticipate criticism that would be directed towards him. He stated unequivocally that there would never be diplomacy with terrorists and that negotiation would be impossible with the Taliban regime. The speech also proposed that the British government adopt a policy to strike at international terrorism wherever it could be found. Prime Minister Blair contended that the events of 9/11 would present a new security environment that would lead to changes in British law. He asserted that rather than deny British citizens their basic liberties, these new laws were designed to help prevent terrorism. Despite this contention, such legislation has been met in subsequent years with considerable criticism from civil libertarians.

FURTHER RESOURCES

Periodicals

"Britain's prime minister gives Taliban ultimatum." Baltimore Sun. October 3, 2001.

Web sites

CNN.com. McCaleb, Ian C. "U.S. talks diplomacy, Blair talks action." <http://cnnstudentnews.cnn.com/2001/US/10/02/ret.diplomacy/> (accessed June 25, 2005).

Guardian Unlimited. "Full Text: Tony Blair's Speech." <http://politics.guardian.co.uk/print/0,3858,4268838-108975,00.html> (accessed June 28, 2005).