JACK Straw today defended the war in Iraq and said people who believed the US shouldn't take an interest in other countries were misguided.

The Blackburn MP and Foreign Secretary spoke as anti-war protests marked the first day of American Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's visit to the town.

Mr Straw's comments were made in a speech on the government's foreign policy at Ewood Park, where the two politicians launched a Chatham House lecture series for BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

Secretary Rice delivered the inaugural lecture.

Mr Straw said: "I do not accept that democracy, human rights or any of the values we cherish are in some way alien to Muslims.

"If we are to persuade others to subscribe to these values then our own commitment to them must be consistent.

That includes having the courage of our convictions when there are difficult decisions to be made.

When we face determined terrorists and terrible threats to our national security, our response needs to be proportionate and in line with our commitments under international law, including international.

"I know the military action we took was controversial it was here in Blackburn but I happen to believe that it was the right thing to do.

Three years on, we must not allow the terrorists operating there to lead us to forget what went before.

"If we blind ourselves to that we risk giving the terrorists the victory they crave. The terrorists are the enemies of democracy; the freedom it offers is their most deadly foe."

He added: "The idea that the world would somehow be better off if the United States didn't take an interest in the problems outside its borders is utterly misconceived. That doesn't mean that we agree with the United States on everything, or that they agree with us: but it does mean that fundamentally we share the same goals and objectives."

Reports and more pictures of Condoleezza Rice's East Lancashire visit in your final edition of today's Lancashire Evening Telegraph.

Exclusive - Condoleezza speaks to the Lancashire Evening Telegraph. See Saturday's L.E.T.

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