FOREIGN Secretary and Blackburn MP Jack Straw was in New York today to mark the tragic events of September 11. Here he writes exclusively about his hopes for the future.
WHEN I visited New York last November, the smoking ruins of "Ground Zero" conjured a vision of hell on earth.
I will take this vision -- and the images of 11 September -- to my grave.
The enormity of the loss of life and the sheer immediacy of an atrocity which television pictures brought to our living rooms will make the day one of the definitive moments of the 21st century, forever fixed in the memory.
I also hope and believe that future generations will say that the international response measured up to the enormity of the events -- that the global community responded effectively, did defeat the enemies of civilisation and, in the Prime Minister's words, did "re-order the world."
Thus far the most visible manifestation of the war against terrorism has been Allied intervention in Afghanistan. But the routing of the Taliban and the action against Al Qa-ida marks only the beginning of what must become an implacable global stand against the scourge of terrorism.
Our role in helping Afghanistan rejoin the world community is bringing hope to a nation which endured conflict and repression for too long.
The Afghan people are signalling their overwhelming approval for the changes wrought by international action. A record number of Afghans have returned to their homeland since January.
The campaign against terrorism has to stretch far beyond the borders of Afghanistan. We want to ensure that the terrorists are not allowed to regroup in other countries.
We will achieve this by working directly with key states, by raising the counter-terrorism game of the international community and by co-ordinating intelligence and law enforcement efforts.
We also want to ensure that the terrorists cannot acquire the world's worst weapons.
For the past two decades, Saddam Hussein has shown an insatiable appetite both to develop and use weapons of mass destruction. He used them without restraint during the Iran-Iraq war during the 1980s.
He has used chemical weapons against his own people to suppress their desire for freedom. And between 1991-98, UN weapons inspectors unearthed evidence of a vast programme to develop nuclear, chemical and biological weapons. Experts have suggested that without Operation Desert Storm in 1991, Iraq could have acquired a nuclear device later that year.
In the coming weeks Britain will be increasing the pressure on Baghdad to readmit inspectors and meet the UN obligations it has persistently ignored. We will make clear to Saddam that our patience is not unlimited; because the threat posed by Iraq's weapons of mass destruction places at risk the lives of civilians in the region and beyond.
The abiding lesson of 11 September is that the world cannot afford to ignore threats to the global order, whether they come from terrorism or states.
On the first anniversary of the attacks, we should remind ourselves that turning a blind eye to the breakdown of order in any part of the world, however distant, is not an option.
Preventing states from failing and reviving those that fail is one of the challenges of our times.
Of course, rescuing states is an enormous undertaking. We are not equipped to tackle this challenge alone. But by building on the international sense of unity engendered by the horrors of 11 September, we can work with all peace-loving nations to bring freedom and order to all corners of the world.
Out of the most appalling tragedy we can create a new era of global security and prosperity.
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