Tony Blair: “It is a struggle about values”

Der britische Premierminister Tony Blair appelliert in seiner Rede vor dem australischen Parlament an die Rückbesinnung auf den Wert der Freiheit im Kampf gegen den militanten Islamismus:

(…) The struggle in our world today therefore is not just about security, it is a struggle about values and about modernity – whether to be at ease with it or in rage at it.

(…) If we want to secure our way of life, there is no alternative but to fight for it. That means standing up for our values not just in our own country but the world over. We need to construct a global alliance for these global values; and act through it.

(…) The immediate threat is from Islamist extremism. You mourn your victims from Bali as we do ours and those from July 7 last year in London. We can add to them victims from Madrid, or September 11 in the US. But, this terrorism did not begin on the streets of New York. It simply came to our notice then. Its victims are to be found in the recent history of many lands from Russia and India, but also Algeria, Pakistan, Libya, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Indonesia, Kenya and countless more.

And though its active cadres of terrorists are relatively small, it is exploiting a far wider sense of alienation in the Arab and Muslim world.

We will not defeat this terror until we face up to the fact that its roots are deep, and that it is not a passing spasm of anger, but a global ideology at war with us and our way of life.

Their case is that democracy is a western concept we are forcing on an unwilling culture of Islam. The problem we have is that a part of opinion in our own countries agrees with them.

(…) Wherever people live in fear, with no prospect of advance, we should be on their side; in solidarity with them, whether in Sudan, Zimbabwe, Burma, North Korea; and where countries, and there are many in the Middle East today, are in the process of democratic development, we should extend a helping hand.

This requires, across the board an active foreign policy of engagement not isolation. It cannot be achieved without a strong alliance. This alliance does not end with, but it does begin with America. For us in Europe and for you, this alliance is central. And I want to speak plainly here. I do not always agree with the US. Sometimes they can be difficult friends to have. But the strain of, frankly, anti-American feeling in parts of European politics is madness when set against the long-term interests of the world we believe in. The danger with America today is not that they are too much involved. The danger is they decide to pull up the drawbridge and disengage. We need them involved. We want them engaged.

(…) Europe’s agricultural protection is a policy born of another age and it’s time to end it. But change in Europe alone is not the answer. America must open up. Japan, too. And in non-agricultural market access we look to leadership from Brazil and India. And we must agree a development package for the poorest that includes 100% market access and aid for trade.

This is a cause of prosperity – because we all benefit from open markets; of justice, because the poorest nations need to be able to stand on their own two feet and trade in our markets; and of self-interest, because if we want to build the right relationship with China, the sensible thing is to bind them into the world economy, not put them in opposition to it.

(…) When the terrorists struck, Britain and Australia reacted in the same way. We did not turn on Muslims; we united against terrorists. In doing so, we sent out a signal of belief; and the world heard it.

Klare Worte gegen den Islamismus (und zugleich die Absage an einen Kampf gegen Muslime), ein klares Bekenntnis zu humanistischen Werten, gegen Abschottung der Märkte und gegen den grassierenden Antiamerikanismus – die wahrscheinlich beste politische Rede der letzten Jahre! Bravo, Tony Blair!

+++Nachtrag+++

Dieses Blog glaubt, Blair warne vor dem Islam, nicht dem Islamismus. Das hat Blair nun wirklich nicht verdient.

• Muslime in Amerika nach dem 11. September, September 11, 2006 | By Michael Kreutz
• Kanan Makiya im Interview, January 10, 2006 | By Michael Kreutz
• WHEREAS…, February 3, 2006 | By Michael Kreutz
• Frankreich und Amerika, November 30, 2005 | By Michael Kreutz
• Zentralrat II, July 6, 2006 | By Martin Riexinger
• Pro-westliche Stimmen zu den Anschlägen (2), July 17, 2005 | By Michael Kreutz
• Der islamische Methusalem, November 2, 2005 | By Michael Kreutz
• Von der Madrasa ans College?, January 31, 2009 | By Martin Riexinger

Tags: Amerika, Antiamerikanismus, Freiheit, Islam, Islamismus, Opposition, Pakistan, Sudan

This entry was posted on Monday, March 27th, 2006 at 11:46 am and is filed under Bürgerliche Werte, Grossbritannien. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.