Military

20 January 2003

War on Terrorism Must Be Intensified, Powell Says

(Secretary of state's Security Council speech on terrorism Jan. 20)
(1760)
The war on terrorism must be waged "at every level, with every tool of
statecraft, for as long as it takes," Secretary of State Colin Powell
told the United Nations Security Council January 20.
Attending a ministerial-level meeting of the 15-nation Security
Council on international counterterrorism efforts, the secretary said
that while the international community has made "impressive progress"
in the fight against terrorism, especially in such areas as freezing
terrorists' assets, "the challenge before us is to weave
counterterrorism into the very fabric of our national institutions and
our international institutions."
The council adopted a resolution expressing its resolve to intensify
the war on terrorism and calling on all states to cooperate closely to
fully implement the sanctions against al-Qaeda and the Taliban; to
help each other prevent, investigate and prosecute acts of terrorism;
and to bring to justice those who finance, support, or provide safe
haven for terrorists.
Powell said that the resolution "makes clear that this war has many
fronts, from money laundering and the illicit drug trade, to arms
trafficking and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. We
must fight terrorism on all of these fronts."
He also said that the council cannot shrink from the responsibility of
ridding Iraq of its weapons of mass destruction.
"Weapons of mass destruction in the hands of terrorists or states that
support terrorists would represent a mortal danger to us all," he
said. "So we must make the United Nations even more effective. And we
must build even closer international cooperation to keep these weapons
out of the hands of terrorists."
Following is the text of the secretary's remarks:
(begin text)
Mr. President, thank you for bringing us together today to reaffirm
our commitment to the fight against terrorism. I thank the Secretary
General for his excellent remarks earlier.
It is so fitting that this body meet at ministerial level to take
stock of our campaign against terrorists and to help chart the way
forward. And, it is fitting that we meet here in New York, the site of
the bloodiest of the attacks of September 11.
Let me begin my remarks by joining all of my other colleagues in
thanking Ambassador Greenstock for his tireless efforts as chairman of
the United Nations Counter-Terrorism Committee.
Ambassador Greenstock's vision, his energy, and his commitment have
transformed the committee from an idea into a powerful weapon against
terrorism. And we all owe him a big debt of gratitude. Thank you,
Jeremy.
I'd also like to thank our Spanish colleagues for agreeing to assume
the chairmanship of the Counter-Terrorism Committee [CTC] in April.
They will have our full support as they build on Ambassador
Greenstock's work to make the committee an even more potent weapon in
the anti-terrorist arsenal.
We need an effective Counter-Terrorism Committee for, despite the
progress of the past year, there is still much that we have to do. As
the murderous attacks in Bali, in Moscow, in Mombassa, and elsewhere
have so tragically reminded us, the terrorist threat continues, and no
country's citizens are safe. Innocent people from some 90 countries
perished on September 11. The Bali victims called at least 25
different countries home.
Colleagues, friends, no cause justifies the murder of innocent people.
We totally reject terrorists and terrorism. We must rid the civilized
world of this cancer. We must wage our campaign at every level, with
every tool of statecraft, for as long as it takes.
President Bush has stressed that, quote, "we will win this conflict by
the patient accumulation of successes, by meeting a series of
challenges with determination and will and purpose."
The declaration we will adopt today makes clear that this war has many
fronts, from money laundering and the illicit drug trade, to arms
trafficking and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. We
must fight terrorism on all of these fronts.
I'm very impressed by a number of the comments that I've heard today
from various colleagues. I thank my colleague from Pakistan for
Pakistan's commitment to continue going after al-Qaeda. We must get
every one of these terrorists and bring them to justice or destroy
them.
I'd also note that a number of my colleagues have made reference to
the situation with respect to Iraq and Resolution 1441. In the very
near future, this council will meet again to determine what to do
about this situation. Iraq was given a last chance with Resolution
1441. I'm pleased that it was President Bush who brought this
situation to the attention of the Council in the most forceful way
last September to give them this one last chance. And we must not
shrink from our duties and our responsibilities when the material
comes before us next week, and as we consider Iraq's response to 1441.
And we cannot fail to take the action that may be necessary because we
are afraid of what others might do. We cannot be shocked into
impotence because we're afraid of the difficult choices that are ahead
of us. And so we'll have much work to do, difficult work, in the days
ahead. But we cannot shrink from the responsibilities of dealing with
a regime that has gone about development, acquiring, stocking of
weapons of mass destruction, that has committed terrorist acts against
its neighbors and against its own people, trampled human rights of its
own people and its neighbors.
So however difficult the road ahead may be with respect to Iraq, we
must not shrink from the need to travel down that road. Hopefully, it
will be a peaceful solution. But if Iraq does not come into full
compliance, we must not shrink from the responsibilities that we set
before ourselves when we adopted 1441 on a unanimous basis and so many
other nations expressed their support for 1441.
Weapons of mass destruction in the hands of terrorists or states that
support terrorists would represent a mortal danger to us all. So we
must make the United Nations even more effective. And we must build
even closer international cooperation to keep these weapons out of the
hands of terrorists.
The United Nations has long worked to marshal the international
community against terrorism. For example, as we have noted here this
morning, there are 12 counterterrorism conventions and protocols
negotiated under the auspices of the United Nations and its affiliated
agencies. It is vital that all states become parties to all of these
conventions and protocols, and fully implement them as soon as
possible.
With the passage of Security Council Resolution 1373 in September
2001, the United Nations fundamentally changed the way the
international community responds to terrorism. Resolution 1373 created
an obligation for all member states to work together to deny
terrorists the ability to solicit and move funds, to find safe haven,
acquire weapons, or cross international borders.
Resolution 1373 said that if you are a member of the community of
civilized nations, you must do your part to eliminate terrorist
networks and terrorist activities. And as we have seen and as we have
discussed here today, Resolution 1373 is starting to have an impact.
Most member states have submitted reports to the CTC describing the
measures they have taken to implement resolution 1373 and identifying
what more needs to be done.
This is a very important step. And as Ambassador Greenstock noted
earlier, countries that have not taken this step should comply as
quickly as possible. Those that have, should continue to be responsive
to requests from the Counter-Terrorism Committee.
Some countries are eager to implement Resolution 1373 and to take
other measures against terrorists, but they lack the necessary skills
and resources to do so effectively. We must help them build up their
capabilities. I challenge all nations with counterterrorism expertise
to help our willing partners.
Many countries have already stepped up to the challenge. For example,
the Commonwealth Secretariat, France, Australia, Germany, New Zealand,
and Norway are all providing assistance in areas such as drafting
anti-terrorist legislation.
For our part, we have more than tripled our capacity-building
assistance. Last year alone, our anti-terrorism assistance program
trained nearly 4,800 security personnel from 60 countries in
everything from bomb detection to hostage negotiations, crime scene
investigations, and the protection of dignitaries. We are also
devoting $10 million in the coming year to help strengthen the ability
of 18 countries to deny terrorists the funds they need to kill
innocent people.
Indeed, the international community has already made impressive
progress in freezing terrorist assets, and the United Nations has
played the leading role in this unprecedented effort. For example, the
United Nations has designated 324 names for asset freezing. In
addition, Security Council Resolutions 1267 and 1390 laid a strong
foundation for halting the flow of money to terrorists associated with
the Taliban, al-Qaeda, and Osama bin Laden.
We are particularly pleased that, just last Friday, the Security
Council unanimously adopted Resolution 1455. This important new
resolution is aimed at improving member state implementation of these
sanctions that are targeted at terrorists and without time limits. The
international community could not have sent a stronger message of its
determination to stamp out terrorism.
We look forward to working with Ambassador Valdes of Chile as he
assumes the chairmanship of the committee established pursuant to
Security Council Resolution 1267 to implement the al-Qaeda sanctions
regime. This committee has become even more important with the
unanimous passage of Resolution 1455.
But we all need to do more. And we need to coordinate our efforts
better. Many international organizations, at regional and sub-regional
level, are already working to counter the terrorist threat. These
organizations have an important role to play in helping their member
states fulfill their counter-terrorism obligations. Now is the time
for these groups to talk to each other, to exchange information, and
to coordinate their activities for maximum effect.
The Counter-Terrorism Committee is taking a good first step by
convening a meeting this March to bring many of these organizations
together. Colleagues, friends, the challenge before us is to weave
counterterrorism into the very fabric of our national institutions and
our international institutions.
We must rise to the challenge. We must rise to the challenge with
actions that will rid the globe of terrorism and create a world in
which all God's children can live without fear.
Thank you.
(end text)
(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S.
Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)