WHY WE MUST STICK BY AMERICA

lain Duncan Smith on how there

is no question of letting down our oldest and staunchest ally

ALTHOUGH we in the United Kingdom have suffered a terrorist onslaught for 30 years, in which we have experienced some horrific atrocities, nothing prepared us for what happened in New York and Washington on 11 September 2001. Even now, despite having seen the pictures many times over on our television screens the sheer evil of what happened is almost impossible to comprehend.

Not only were these the worst terrorist attacks ever committed on American soil they were also the worst ever involving the loss of British lives. Of more than 6,000 who are known to have perished in what was the World Trade Center, many hundreds are from our own shores. The death toll includes citizens of more than 60 countries. I would have thought that this fact alone ought to he sufficient reason why Britain, America and all civilised nations should stand resolutely together in their determination to see that those who planned and financed this operation are made accountable for what they have done. Quite simply, justice demands that this atrocious act cannot go unpunished.

But there are other, equally compelling, reasons. America is our friend and remains our closest and staunchest ally. We have stood together in defence of freedom against tyranny. What kind of a message would it have sent out to terrorists everywhere if we had tried to pretend that terrorism was their problem alone? The attacks that took place might have been targeted at America but they were an attack on all of us — a fact quickly recognised by Nato when Article V of the North Atlantic Treaty was invoked.

What we saw on 11 September was an attempt to undermine by force the values and way of life that Britain and America have in common, such as democracy, freedom and the rule of law. The terrorists who hijacked the passenger planes and flew them into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon were not just attacking civilised values in the United States but civilised values everywhere.

So the Prime Minister was quite right when at the outset he declared that Britain would stand shoulder to shoulder with the United States. Frankly, anything less would have been an abdication of responsibility. Over the past two weeks the Prime Minister has worked with President Bush to build up an international coalition willing to support whatever response is eventually made by the United States to these appalling events.

This coalition is vitally important. Yet we also have to be careful that in the pursuit of Osama bin Laden we do not ignore other terrorist groups, linked with him, such as Hezbollah. This is not just a war against bin Laden, but includes all terrorist groups and the regimes that help to sustain them.

I made clear that the government would have the full backing of the Conservative party in maintaining full support for the United States. I also warned, however, that in the coming days and weeks, as the graphic images of destruction begin to fade, some would begin counselling caution in our resolve to stand shoulder to shoulder with the Americans. It is not, and never has been, a question of 'blank cheques'. Britain's role is to help the United States and our coalition allies find the right course of action. Talk of blank cheques is simply glib.

It adds to the anxieties and legitimate worries of those who fear that by our involvement Britain is more likely to become a terrorist target. But we have to recognise that Britain is already a target and that terrorists have already struck at us, and plan to do so again. The duty of the opposition at times of national crisis is clear. Its conduct needs to be mature and balanced, while still holding the government to account. Where there are questions to he asked they should be asked. Government decisions, that could have momentous and far-reaching consequences, need to be properly scrutinised.

Nothing that the opposition does, however, should allow the enemies of our country to believe that the proper functioning of democracy means that we are divided — either among ourselves or from our allies abroad. At all times, our overriding consideration must be to maintain our national unity of purpose. It is also clear that any weapon will do. The strike weapon in America might have been a hijacked plane, but nobody seriously believes that if these fanatics could lay their hands on other weapons of mass destruction, such as nuclear, biological or chemical weapons, they would not be used.

Nor can there now be any doubt that global terrorism and international organised crime are inextricably linked. The fingerprints of terrorists are all over the drugs peddled to our children on street corners just as surely as they were on the plans to destroy the World Trade Center. The Taleban make a tidy profit from drug trafficking — 80 per cent of the heroin sold in the West comes from Afghanistan.

Closer to home, in Northern Ireland, we have seen a mafia subculture grow up around both loyalist and republican paramilitary groups. They fund their terror campaigns from racketeering, intimidation and smuggling. They have taken over estates and even basic policing functions, administering beatings, mutilations and shootings in a perverted form of 'justice'. We must tackle this threat to the rule of law within our own borders even as we demand that other countries uphold it within theirs. It will take co-operation between parties and between nations on an unprecedented scale.

Terrorists have grown used to seeing the outrage they cause subside as democratic peoples slowly return to the business of getting on with their daily lives. Not this time. What we saw on 11 September was nothing less than an attack on the notion of civilisation itself. The perpetrators had no list of demands; they made no pretence at moral justification; they placed no value on human life, including their own. They simply set out to destroy the very foundations of everything that makes us who we are.

In the process they have revealed their own foundations to the wider public, from the rogue states who offer them a safe haven to the pattern of criminality which sustains them. Defending our freedoms, our stability and our democracy will require a commitment that lasts longer than the first military strikes. It requires friends who are built for the long haul and allies who are tied together by something deeper than a temporary alignment of interests.

Although this was a terrorist attack on American soil, and the majority of those killed were Americans, this is not simply about helping the United States. It is about ensuring that in a few years' time we are not faced with a much greater threat to our way of life. Supporting America is not only in our national interest, it is in the interests of everyone. We must ensure not only that justice is done, but that right is done too.