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CNN Sunday Morning

Tony Blair Shows Support for U.S.

Aired September 16, 2001 - 11:44   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Right now we head to London, where Christiane Amanpour is standing by to tell us a little bit about an interview she did earlier today with the prime minister of Great Britain.

Hi Christiane.

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Paula, hi.

As America has been mourning so too there has been an enormous amount of support and shock and sympathy directed towards Americans from all around the world. And at the same time we hear at CNN had been speaking to the world leaders who would be part of a coalition that the United States is trying to forge right now. We've spoken variously to the president of France, to the leader of NATO, to the president of Turkey, to the president of Egypt. And also today we talked to the prime minister of Britain who again in the most forceful language that he's used yet has said that Britain will be together with the United States and that he was confident that the alliance would remain cohesive.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

Prime Minister Tony Blair was one of the first of the U.S. allies to come out and say categorically that the United Kingdom stands shoulder to shoulder with the United States. He also said that Britain's interest are intimately engaged because of the high number of British casualties. Mr. Prime Minister thank you for joining us this morning. Yesterday the President of the United States said we are at war, war has been declared on us. Are you prepared to say that war has been declared and that there is a stage of war?

TONY BLAIR PRIME MINISTER OF BRITAIN: Yes. Whatever the technical or legal issues about the declaration of the war the fact is we are at war with terrorism. What happened on Tuesday was an attack not just upon the United States but upon the civilized world. The thousands of people that lost their lives included nationals of many many countries, probably two, 300 people from Britain will have died in that terrorist attack. That makes it in fact the worst terrorist attack on British citizens that there has been since the second world war. So this is a situation that concerns us all. Our own interests are intimately engaged quite apart from the fact that in these times it's important that America realizes that her friends right around the world stand with her.

AMANPOUR: You and other leaders have talked about a global alliance to combat this global network of terror and there are obviously many components including a military component. What will the United Kingdom, what will Britain do if the United States decides to go to war?

BLAIR: This is something obviously we are discussing with the American President, the American administration at the moment, what help we can give and I'm very pleased at the way that -- the American administration has gone out of its way to consult its allies, to keep us fully informed so that we are part of the deliberations they're making. But we have to do two things in my view.

First of all there has to be a response to bring those terrorists who committed this attack to account and we will play our full part in that. And secondly there has then to be an agenda that we can start an international level that involves the whole of the international community in dismantling the machinery of international terrorism, how it's financed, how these people move about the world, the countries that harbor them and give them help. At every single level we have to pursue and dismantle this machinery of terror. And that is important not just for the purpose of bringing those people to account but also in order to make sure that this does not happen again.

AMANPOUR: Britain has stood with the United States in most of its military campaigns of the last 10 years from the Gulf War on. Was it safe to say that if there is a military response Britain will take part militarily?

BLAIR: Well we've made it very clear that we stand side by side with the United States. And it's not a question of the United States simply saying this is what we're going to do now come and join us. The U.S. is in close consultation with us and with other allies. And I think there will be a very broad support for a response that allows us to pursue and bring to account those responsible for this act, and do it as an act of justice.

AMANPOUR: Do you think that the evidence is out yet? Have you been presented with what you need? You've talked about we need to know who did it. We need to see the evidence.

BLAIR: As President Bush said yesterday it's fairly clear where the evidence is tending but I think it is important that we consider the evidence in a very careful way, that it's factually based, that we are hard headed about it. But once we have come to a conclusion then it is important that we hold those people who are responsible to this as I say to account. And I think you will find incidentally that that is the view right around the world.

I've spoken to Arab leaders in the past few days that have expressed their outrage of what has happened, their determination that this should be seen as something that the world of Islam is standing against, not merely countries like America or the United Kingdom. And I think you will find that there is enormous support for the idea that we must put together a broad based coalition that hound these people down and that bring them to account and do it as I say for reasons of justice. We owe it to those people that lost their lives, to their families who are grieving and to our own defense of democracy and liberty and freedom.

AMANPOUR: Which brings me to the question. You know a lot of people are looking now at which country can be counted on so called to stand with the United States and which countries stand against. In the words of the U.S. President you're either with us or you're not. We have heard you know in the past we've seen how in some attempts to build coalitions there are some countries who don't particularly you know go rushing into this kind of thing. France sometimes has its own reservations. Germany has its own reservations. Do you think there will be a cohesive Gulf War style alliance?

BLAIR: I do think that the whole of the civilized world will stand together. Yes. I spoke to President Chirac myself on the phone yesterday and I can assure I think that the whole of Europe will stand with America on this. Because people know that what happened was not just aimed at America. It was aimed at all of us.

These people believe they can achieve by mass terrorism what they cannot achieve by peaceful democratic means. And therefore even though it is in our nature to be reasonable, to proceed very cautiously and carefully, we haven't sought this conflict when the conflict comes then as we learned before from our history we have to be prepared to face up to it. And I think that for a long period of time the world has turned a blind eye being somewhat indifferent to the menace of international terrorism and I think we're all to an extent culpable in that.

But what we've got to do now is to realize that it exists, look at its full power and potency, realize that these people incidentally if they could do worse would do worse. The number of people they kill is not limited by anything other than purely technical capability. There's no morality so far as their concerned. And once we understand that then I think it is important that we not merely as I say pursue those people who have been directly responsible and hold them to account but then look at the way that terrorism operates, how it's financed, where it is and how we pursue it and dismantle it.

AMANPOUR: Today there are reports for instance that even in England there's a bank -- at least one bank, maybe more that is being used to channel funds for propaganda for this group. There has been some radical voices in the Islamic community here calling for martyrdom and you know standing against the United States in this matter. What does a democracy such as yours and other democracies, what can you do? Do you have to sort of encroach on perhaps some of the things that make a democratic world stand apart, some of the civil liberties, some of the protections on individual freedom of speech, freedom to act, freedom to hide under the banner of religious organizations? And will you crack down here?

BLAIR: We will certainly look as I think most countries will, our own domestic laws and see how in a sense they measure up to the scale of the problem we now face. And I think we can proceed in a sensible way which is to say people are perfectly entitled to express their views and if people want to be anti-British or anti-American you know we're democrats we believe that people have the right to express their views. But if they are engaged in organizing terror or acts of terrorism then we have got to act against that.

And you're right I think a lot of people will look at for example how terrorism is financed, how some of these people do shelter in our country and not just our country but other countries -- democratic countries around the world. And if this evil of mass terrorism is as we say it is then we have got to exercise the power and vigilance to ensure that it's restrained and defeated. Now I don't believe that that is to act in contradiction of our civil liberties. I believe it is in part pursuing the basic civil liberty that people have to go about their business free from terror.

AMANPOUR: Do you think there might be I don't know a system of identity cards or something similar to that?

BLAIR: Well I think there are a whole series of things that people will look at in the wake of this. And I don't -- I think this is the time as it were to set an objective and then to consider very carefully how we meet that objective.

AMANPOUR: Let's go back and talk about the alliance. How do you keep an alliance cohesive over what you've all described as a sustained long and difficult campaign? It's going to take a long time apparently to do what you've described.

BLAIR: Well of course it's right in a sense that when we're merely offering words of support that is -- in a way as I've been saying to people in the last few days that's the easy part in one sense. I mean the hard part starts when we actually take the action. But I think that support will be there not just because of people's sense of horror and outrage at what has happened but also because of their realization that unless we take action then we are all at risk.

And so it is right for reasons of justice but it's also right for reasons of self protection. Now I'm not saying there won't be difficulties along the way, there always are in these situations. But certainly so far as Britain is concerned -- now I really do believe the vast bulk of the civilized world will stand with America.

AMANPOUR: Have you spoke to your Russian counterpart? Have you spoken to President Putin?

BLAIR: Yes. I have spoken to President Putin...

AMANPOUR: And what are they prepared to do?

BLAIR: Well I think obviously you have to talk to President Putin about the specific things that the Russians will do to help in this situation. But I don't think you should be in any doubt that President Putin and the Russian people were utterly horrified by this. And of course they themselves have suffered terrorist outrages in Russia too.

AMANPOUR: When we talk about the military component of any response do you think -- NATO has obviously unprecedentedly given its full support to come to mutual defense of one of its members. Do you envision a classic NATO style response or how would you envision a military response?

BLAIR: I think there's a process that we need to get clear here. First of all we identify those responsible. Then we work out the correct military response. And then we see the right way of putting that together. Now I think we're too premature at this stage to start speculating on the exact nature of either the response or the way that we will pursue it. But obviously as I say there will be these two components to the action that we take. The more immediate action if you like to bring to account those responsible and then over time the systematic war upon the whole machinery of terrorism.

AMANPOUR: Do you think the United States would take unilateral action or do you expect that there will be you know further consultations and sort of gathering of the coalition?

BLAIR: I think that the way that President Bush has handled this is absolutely right. He has been very calm and measured in the way that he has approached it. He has been in close consultation with allies. Obviously America has got to defend itself against such an attack. And you know we will be there in support of America in doing that and that is important.

But it has been done in a way that I think reflects very great credit to the administration because their determination is absolute but their way of doing it quite rightly is to say look this is where we stand, this is why we stand in this position and join us in it. And I think that that will of itself win a great deal of support as I say not just amongst western countries or countries that are traditional allies of the United Stats. I think they will get support for that position right across the world.

AMANPOUR: The President of the United States has talked about a fight between good and evil. And a lot is being made of sort of a clash of civilizations or a clash of fanatics against this civilized world. How do you see this clash if there is one?

BLAIR: Well I think those are two very separate things. The vast majority of Muslims are decent law abiding people who are absolutely appalled by this outrage and will be fully supportive of us taking action against international terrorism. Indeed many Muslims are victims of international terrorism.

So no sense should this be seen as if you lie one part of the world against the Islamic world. It's not like that at all and I think people understand that very very clearly. But it is a war if you like between the civilized world and fanaticism. And whatever banner that fanaticism marches under it is important that we recognize these are people who will stop at nothing. And therefore however difficult it is for us and however much we will regret the fact that we have to take this action because of the terrible thing that has happened nonetheless we have to do so. And this is a time for you know for cool heads, for calm nerves and for an absolute and fixed determination to see this thing through and we will see it through. It will be done.

AMANPOUR: On that note thank you very much for joining us Mr. Prime Minister.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

AMANPOUR: Now not just the European allies as you heard Prime Minister Blair but also many of the United States Arab allies and even countries in unsuspected quarters such as Iran, both hardliners and reformers condemning the attack. Basically to sum up there appears that there are some countries who would agree with military action with the United States but in general all the countries that have been asked have given political support. Paula.

ZAHN: Christiane I was very much struck by one question you asked the Prime Minister. And your exact question was will Britain take part militarily? And the Prime Minister didn't directly answer that question. His response was the U.S. will have very broad support. I respect the fact that he doesn't want to telegraph what Britain's actions will be to the rest of the world but what is your understanding of what British military involvement could be?

AMANPOUR: Well he was very clear that he did not want to telegraph that obviously and you're right. But just based on previous actions, essentially the British have certainly in the last 10 years in every action that the United States has taken from the Gulf War to the periodic attacks on Iraq to Bosnia, Kosovo and the other actions have stood side by side with the United States militarily. It is expected that Britain will take part in some form or fashion.

ZAHN: Well you covered a lot of territory in the interview. Was there anything in particular that caused you to think in a different way about what the Prime Minister had told you?

AMANPOUR: Not really in a different way. I thought there were several interesting things that he flagged. One this was the first time he said that it was a state of war. Two, he said that the coalition would stand firm and would work to maintain cohesion throughout what he called a long and prolonged campaign. And he did sort of seem to say that the evidence is still not yet in fully but we'll wait and see just what exactly that means Paula.

ZAHN: All right. Christiane thank you so much for that strong interview.

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