This week, Americans will pause to remember the September 11 attack on the United States - the innocent victims, the unexpected heroes, the courageous survivors, and the hundreds of millions of Americans whose unity and determination in the face of unprecedented evil have once again defined the spirit of America for all to see.
It is important to remember that September 11 was not an attack on America alone but an attack on people everywhere throughout the world who believe in freedom, who practise tolerance, and who defend the inalienable rights of man. Those precepts are the direct antithesis of terrorism, which seeks to intimidate, dominate, and subjugate free men and women through fear and devastation.
The history of terrorism is long. It is not a new phenomenon, as many other nations know well. What is new is the level to which terrorists are willing to take their murderous deeds to ensure that the death and destruction they visit upon the innocent is greater than ever. What's new, as we saw in Afghanistan, is the ability of terrorist organisations to completely take over and occupy a country, co-opt a culture and oppress an entire people.
What's new is the nexus between terrorist networks, terrorist states, and weapons of mass destruction that, when combined with missile technology, can make mighty adversaries of small or impoverished states or even relatively small groups of individuals. Left unchecked in a world where the global nature of finance, communications and transportation makes it possible for even isolated individuals or organisations to have global reach, terrorism presents the potential for destabilisation on a scale unmatched in previous eras.
Such is the nature of terrorism today. It is, as President George W. Bush has said, 'a threat with no precedent' - a threat that cannot be appeased, cannot be ignored and must not be allowed to dominate our future or the future of the world.
Last year, in a bold and courageous act that recognised both its deep roots and its terrible potential, President Bush declared war on terrorism - not just against the perpetrators of the deadly attacks on America on September 11, but against terrorists and their organisations and sponsors worldwide.
His was an act, backed by a united citizenry, that recognised The US' role and responsibility (to lead the world in freedom's defence). And, worldwide, freedom-loving nations joined us in the fight. To date, 90 countries - nearly half the world's nations - have taken freedom's side, seizing terrorist assets and sharing intelligence; providing airlift, basing and over-flight rights; clearing mines and contributing forces, some of whom have already paid the ultimate price.
