[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 154 (Thursday, November 8, 2001)]
[Senate]
[Pages S11607-S11609]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




       ADDRESS TO THE NATIONAL PRESS CLUB BY WINSTON S. CHURCHILL

  Mr. CLELAND. Madam President, I rise to day to pay tribute to a great 
friend of the United States and a man whose unique perspective on the 
current events of the world is worthy of our attention. Recently, I had 
the rare honor of spending some time with Winston S. Churchill. His 
grandfather, former Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill is a hero to 
many Americans including myself. Sir Winston's leadership of the 
British people in their darkest hours are a source of inspiration for 
all of us in these uncertain times. His picture hangs on the wall of my 
office and a recording of his speeches remains ready to be played in my 
car should I need inspiration for the day ahead. In the face of 
adversity and as his country was faced with the most brutal of all 
enemies, Churchill steadfastly ``held the line.'' In October of 1941, 
just over 60 years ago, Churchill spoke these words to the young men of 
Harrow school:

       Never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never. 
     In nothing, great or small, large or petty--never give in 
     except to convictions of honor and good sense. Never yield to 
     force; never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of 
     the enemy.

  Those words inspire me to keep fighting in the Senate for what is 
right and for what is good. Those words inspire me to keep working 
toward the righteous goal in the conflict in which the United States 
and the United Kingdom are fighting today. I have no doubt that, were 
Sir Winston alive today, he would be standing beside our country in 
this crisis, just as Prime Minister Blair has done.
  Last month, at a dinner hosted by the Churchill Center, I had the 
honor of meeting with Winston S. Churchill. Just like his grandfather, 
Winston S. Churchill has led a remarkable life. His experience as a 
former war correspondent and Member of Parliament has, I believe, given 
him a unique insight into our current War on Terrorism. He has traveled 
the globe and has a deep understanding of the different peoples and 
cultures of our world. In particular, my colleagues may benefit from 
his interesting and thought provoking assessment of the current 
situation he made in an address to the National Press Club on October 
11, 2001.
  I ask unanimous consent this address be printed in the Record and, on 
behalf of the American people, I offer Winston S. Churchill my sincere 
appreciation for everything that he has done to further the ``special 
relationship'' between the United States and Great Britain.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                 Confronting the Challenge of Terrorism

 (Address to the National Press Club, Washington, DC, on Thursday, 11 
                 October 2001, by Winston S. Churchill)

       I find it a remarkable honour, as a former war 
     correspondent of the 1960s and early 1970s, to be your guest 
     here today. At the time I received your invitation back in 
     May, it was my intention to speak to you on the theme of the 
     Special Relationship, which it was fashionable--especially in 
     media circles--to regard as finished. Though that remains an 
     underlying theme, the subject of my address to you today is: 
     Confronting the Challenge of Terrorism.
       Precisely one month ago today, the vilest and most 
     devastating terrorist attack was

[[Page S11608]]

     perpetrated against innocent civilians. Let there be no 
     doubt: in striking at New York's Twin Towers and at the 
     Pentagon here in Washington, the terrorists were striking at 
     us all, all that is who value freedom, decency and democratic 
     government.
       I happened to be in New York at the time and watched in 
     disbelief as, one after the other, these two proud icons 
     disappeared from New York's skyline. I saw the courage of the 
     men and women of New York's Fire and Police Departments and 
     the calm resolve of the ordinary citizens in the face of 
     terror, which came without warning out of a clear blue sky.
       It evoked for me memories of wartime London. I was a Blitz 
     baby, born in 1940, and my earliest memories are of bombs 
     falling on London, of blazing buildings, of anti-aircraft 
     tracer crisscrossing the night sky and of many a night spent 
     in public shelters beneath the streets of London.
       Indeed I understand that Mayor Guiliani, who has been such 
     a tower of strength to New Yorkers in their hour of crisis, 
     has become so fond of quoting my Grandfather, that he has 
     earned the accolade of ``Churchill in a ball cap''. The words 
     of Winston Churchill, in a speech to the House of Commons--
     following Hitler's orders to the German Luftwaffe to begin 
     terror-bombing the civilian population of Britain--are indeed 
     most apposite. They apply every bit as much to New Yorkers 
     and the people of America today:
       ``[Hitler] hopes by killing large numbers of civilians, and 
     women and children, that he will terrorise and cow the people 
     of this mighty imperial city. . . . Little does he know the 
     spirit of the British nation, or the tough fibre of the 
     Londoners. . . .
       ``This wicked man, the repository and embodiment of many 
     forms of soul-destroying hatred, this monstrous product of 
     former wrongs and shame, has now resolved to try to break our 
     famous island race by a process of indiscriminate slaughter 
     and destruction.
       ``What he has done is to kindle a fire in British hearts, 
     here and all over the world, which . . . will burn with a 
     steady and consuming flame until the last vestiges of Nazi 
     tyranny have been burned out of Europe, and until the Old 
     World--and the New--can join hands to rebuild the temples of 
     man's freedom and man's honour, upon foundations which will 
     not be soon or easily overthrown. . . .''
       The reference to ``the temples of man's freedom'' has a 
     haunting echo about it, and I could not help but notice the 
     date of that 1940 speech: poignantly, it was 11th of 
     September.
       However much we may wish our lives to return to normality, 
     things can never be the same again. What happened on Tuesday, 
     11 September 2001, is something that has changed the lives of 
     us all. There is a new sense of vulnerability and a 
     realisation of how tenuous a hold each one of us has on life 
     when--with barely a split second's warning--death can come 
     upon us out of a clear blue sky. It is not just New Yorkers, 
     Washingtonians or Americans, who have been touched by this 
     outrage, but all of us, wherever we may live.
       Jogging round London's Hyde Park the other day I noticed--
     just as I had in Central Park a few days earlier--how much 
     more friendly we have suddenly all become. There was a smile 
     or ``good morning'' from total strangers who, previously, 
     would just have gone about their business like planets 
     spinning in their own orbits, heedless of the rest of the 
     universe. All at once we have come to realise how much we 
     depend upon each other. More than ever before, we are 
     extending the hand of friendship to total strangers.
       Even at national level, new friendships and alliances are 
     being forged, while old ones are being put to the test. 
     Suddenly President Putin is our friend and Russia has become 
     our ally in encompassing the defeat of the Taliban in 
     Afghanistan, giving its blessing to Uzbekistan providing a 
     base for a major U.S. military build-up in what was a former 
     Soviet republic. What we are witnessing is nothing less than 
     a revolution in Russia's relations with the West. Even the 
     People's Republic of China appears as an ally for, like 
     Russia, she feels threatened by the spread of Islamic 
     fundamentalism on her borders.
       The 15 nations of the European Union have pledged their 
     full support for America and the 19 NATO allies have vowed to 
     stand right behind her. What this will mean in practical 
     terms remains to be seen. As someone once very truly 
     remarked: ``It is only at the height of the storm, by the 
     lightning's flash, that you can turn round and see your 
     friends''.
       In recent years it has become fashionable among the 
     chattering classes on both sides of the Atlantic to declare 
     that the ``Special Relationship'' between the United States 
     and Great Britain was something of the past, indeed 
     effectively dead. Well, to paraphrase Mark Twain, events of 
     the past month have only gone to show that reports of its 
     death were ``greatly exaggerated''.
       Today, as action continues against the Taliban regime of 
     Afghanistan, United States and British forces stand shoulder 
     to shoulder once again, united as never before. Britain has 
     in place a military force of 24,000 Army, Navy and Air Force, 
     deployed to southern Arabia. Our nuclear submarines, H.M.S. 
     Triumph and Trafalgar, have already engaged the enemy with 
     Tomahawk cruise-missiles, elements of our Special Air Service 
     have undoubtedly, for some time now, been covertly on the 
     ground inside Afghanistan, while our air and ground forces 
     are standing by to attack.
       Despite the brave words of support from other nations, it 
     is likely, at the end of the day, that the bedrock for any 
     military action in the prosecution of this war against 
     terrorism--and of those states that harbour and support 
     terrorists--will be the British/American alliance, just as it 
     has been British and American pilots alone who, in the wake 
     of the Gulf War and to this day, have risked their lives 
     enforcing the ``No-Fly'' zones over Northern and Southern 
     Iraq.
       President Bush wasted no time in picking up the gauntlet 
     cast down by the terrorists on 11 September, but perhaps not 
     in the way that Bin Laden imagined. It was doubtless one of 
     his prime aims to provoke the United States into a wild, 
     furious reaction, which would--at a stroke--unite Islam and 
     all Islamic states against America and, in the process, bring 
     about the downfall of the West's friends in the Arab world, 
     including the Saudi monarchy and the Gulf Sheikhdoms, and the 
     pro-Western governments of Pakistan and Egypt.
       But the President, while declaring war on terrorism and its 
     supporters, has been meticulous and measured in his response. 
     Thus far, the Administration has handled this unprecedented 
     crisis with consummate skill. He has rightly--and 
     repeatedly--gone out of his way to stress that this is a war 
     against terror, not against Islam.
       He has emphasized that the more than 6 million Moslems and 
     Arabs living in America are, overwhelmingly loyal, patriotic 
     Americans, who love their adoptive country and who are 
     appalled by the actions of those extremist fanatics who, in a 
     telling phrase of the President, are trying to ``hijack 
     Islam'' for their own purposes. The President has set a fine 
     example by extending the hand of friendship to members of 
     America's Islamic community, as has Prime Minister Blair to 
     the 2 million Moslems living in Britain.
       It is clear that, if we are to win this war against Islamic 
     fundamentalist terrorism--and, though we are told that such 
     terminology is not politically correct, I use those words 
     advisedly--it will only be if we can win and retain the 
     support of moderate Islamic states, and the hearts and minds 
     of the overwhelming majority of Moslems in our own countries 
     and around the world.
       It is essential that we persuade them to join with us in 
     lancing this boil of fanatical extremism and to destroy the 
     incubus of terror that poses such a mortal threat, not only 
     to Western civilisation, but also to all moderate Arab and 
     Islamic states who are, each and every one of them, our 
     natural partners in this battle. This explains the trouble 
     and effort the Administration has taken to build up a 
     coalition of nations to fight the menace of terrorism. Their 
     support is vital--and I believe it can be won.
       But we must also realise the extent to which we are walking 
     on eggshells. In my days as a war correspondent in the 1960s, 
     I saw both sides of war. I have seen it from the cockpit of 
     U.S. Air Force Phantom and Super Sabre fighter-bombers, while 
     taking part in air strikes in Vietnam.
       I have also, at the time of the Nigeria/Biafra civil war, 
     been on the receiving end. I have seen the bomb-bay of an 
     Iluyshin bomber opening up above my head and the bombs 
     cascading down to land a few hundred yards down the street on 
     a maternity clinic, killing dozens of nursing mothers and 
     their babies.
       Together with New York Times correspondent, Lloyd Garrison, 
     I had the horrific task of reporting and photographing the 
     consequences of a deliberate raid by another Iluyshin on a 
     market place containing some 2,000 civilians, the great 
     majority of them women and children. It was by far the most 
     harrowing task I have ever undertaken in my life and one, 
     which I shall never forget.
       Those were, of course, the days before the omni-presence of 
     CNN, and before such graphic scenes of horror could be 
     transmitted to our homes in real time. Today it would take 
     only one or two such outrages, in which a school or hospital 
     was hit by accident, for Mr. Bush's elaborately constructed 
     coalition of moderate Islamic states to fall apart and for 
     support to start ebbing away in Europe and even on the home 
     front.
       It is impossible to guess how long it will take to 
     apprehend Bin Laden and his henchmen, and bring them to 
     justice. That it will be done in time, I have no doubt. 
     Meanwhile the overthrow of the cruel, barbaric Taliban 
     regime, which harbours him, is clearly the top priority. This 
     is an alien regime, established only in the past five years, 
     with funding and arms from Arab countries, by way of 
     Pakistan, which acted as ``godfather'' to the Taliban.
       Their rule has been so brutal and disastrous that an 
     estimated one in four Afghans have fled as refugees to Iran 
     or Pakistan, creating a massive humanitarian crisis in the 
     region. Once the Taliban have been overthrown, a high 
     priority must be to cut off the funding, not only for the 
     terrorists, but also for the fundamentalist madrassas--the 
     theological schools, established in numerous countries around 
     the world, where the gospel of Islamic purity and anti-
     Western hatred is preached.
       Unbelievable though it may seem, no country has been more 
     responsible for this than Saudi Arabia--the West's principal 
     ally in the Middle East. In order to appease and deflect 
     criticism of their pro-Western leanings and opulent 
     lifestyle, the Saudi ruling family--in an act of consummate 
     folly--has poured vast resources into the establishment of 
     these schools and religious universities, in their own 
     country and overseas. They now

[[Page S11609]]

     find that they are riding a tiger of extremist 
     fundamentalism, entirely of their own creation, which 
     threatens the very foundations of their hold on power. As a 
     result, today almost half the young Saudi males coming onto 
     the jobs market have only religious qualifications, making 
     them not only unemployed, but unemployable. In consequence, 
     barely one in four is able to find a job. The rest make a 
     fertile field of disaffection, from which bin Laden is able 
     to recruit new generations of suicide-bombers, hijackers and 
     terrorists, and it is no coincidence that many of last 
     month's hijackers were Saudis.
       More horrifying yet, if estimates attributed to the CIA are 
     to be believed, in recent years some 70,000 militants have 
     passed through bin Laden's terrorist training camps in 
     Afghanistan and are currently dispersed across no fewer than 
     55 countries around the world, including our own. New attacks 
     are inevitable--and some, undoubtedly, will succeed--
     before this hydra-headed monster of international 
     terrorism is destroyed.
       While it will be difficult for the Saudi government to 
     bring it's extremist theological schools under control and 
     integrate them within the state education system, if it fails 
     to do so, it is inevitable that the Saudi ruling family will, 
     sooner or later, forfeit its hold on power, and be drowned by 
     a tidal wave of fundamentalism.
       Beyond that, intense international and economic pressure 
     will have to be brought to bear on those powerful Islamic 
     states that provide bases and backing for terrorism, 
     especially Iraq, Iran, Syria and Sudan, some of which--such 
     as Iraq--have been working for 30 years or more on obtaining 
     or developing weapons of mass destruction.
       Indeed, as long as twenty years ago, I was the first to 
     report in the London Times that the French Government, in an 
     act of breath-taking irresponsibility, had sold Saddam 
     Hussein 72 kilograms--or some 160 lbs.--of weapons-grade 
     uranium, sufficient for the manufacture of three nuclear 
     bombs. It was this that, a few months later, prompted the 
     long-range strike by Israeli Air Force jets that took out 
     Saddam's Osirak reactor.
       Some of these rogue states are already in a position to 
     equip terrorists with weapons of mass-destruction, especially 
     with agents of chemical and biological warfare. Meanwhile, 
     they are themselves working on--or seeking to acquire from 
     North Korea--intermediate or long-range missiles, with which 
     to threaten their neighbours, including Israel and Saudi 
     Arabia, as well as Western Europe.
       It would be a mistake for the United States and her close 
     allies to set out their full agenda but, where peaceful means 
     prove inadequate to ensure the ending of these programmes 
     that potentially menace millions of innocent civilians, we 
     shall have no choice but to do so by military action.
       There will be those, both in America and in Britain, who 
     will not have the stomach for such a fight, and there will be 
     many of our coalition partners, not only in the Middle East, 
     but also in Europe, who will fall by the wayside as the 
     campaign expands in scope. But, come what may, we must have 
     the courage and resolve to see this through to victory.
       Horrific though the attacks were, that were wrought against 
     innocent civilians on 11 September, can anyone doubt that 
     what we saw in New York and Washington a month ago was but a 
     foretaste of far, far worse to come?
       It is certain that if we do not have the courage to 
     extirpate this cancer of terrorism once and for all, that our 
     children and grandchildren will live to see whole cities 
     consumed by fire and large numbers of their fellow-citizens 
     struck down by devastating, and incurable, plagues. We shall 
     not be talking of a few thousands or tens of thousands of 
     civilians being blown away in an instant, but rather of 
     millions. This has indeed been a wake-up call from hell and 
     we have no option but to heed the warning.
       At the same time it is vital that we appreciate exactly 
     what we are up against and just how high are the stakes for 
     which we are playing. In the 1930s it was fashionable to 
     dismiss Hitler's declared aims as the ravings of a mad man. 
     He was not a mad man. He was a deeply flawed genius, who came 
     within a hair's breadth of victory.
       By the same token, it would be a terrible mistake to 
     dismiss Osama bin Laden as no more than a mad mullah hiding 
     out in some cave in Afghanistan. He is a brilliant but evil 
     man, with a limitless well of hatred for everything that 
     constitutes the values of Western society, all that we hold 
     dear: freedom, democracy, prosperity and tolerance.
       His aim is to garner the resources that would enable him to 
     inflict infinitely greater damage upon the United States and 
     her allies, including especially Israel. Already bin Laden 
     and the Taliban, which works hand-in-glove with him, control 
     70 percent of the world's opium production. By way of 
     example, 90 percent of heroin sold on the streets of Britain 
     today comes from Afghanistan and it is this that constitutes 
     the primary source of funding for his campaign of terror 
     against the West. But his ambition ranges far higher. Can 
     anyone doubt but that he has his sights set on the nuclear 
     arsenal of Pakistan and the oil wealth of Arabia?
       The importance of seeing this war through to victory cannot 
     be overstated. The price of failure would be terrible: far, 
     far more terrible than stopping half way to Baghdad, as we 
     did in the Gulf War. If, for example, faced with mounting 
     casualties--to our forces in the field and to our civilian 
     population at home, as a result of further terrorist 
     outrages--we were to falter or fail, let no one doubt what 
     would be the consequence.
       Were we to withdraw leaving the job unfinished, bin Laden 
     and his henchmen would be the heroes of Islam. America and 
     her allies would be seen as no more than paper tigers. 
     President Pervaiz Musharraf and the pro-Western elements in 
     Pakistan's armed forces would be swept aside, while those who 
     have long had close links with the Taliban would seize power. 
     At a stroke, bin Laden would have secured control of Islam's 
     one and only nuclear power, estimated to have some 30 
     tactical nuclear warheads each with the power of 2\1/2\ 
     Hiroshima bombs.
       Nor would that be the end of his ambition. He has avowed 
     his determination to purge his native Saudi Arabia of the 
     infidel American presence which, in his eyes, defiles the 
     Holy Land of Islam. A crisis in the ruling Al Saud dynasty, 
     could pave the way for their violent overthrow by 
     fundamentalist forces linked to bin Laden.
       Armed with the oil-wealth of Arabia--amounting to one 
     quarter of the world's reserves--the drug-wealth of 
     Afghanistan and the nuclear capability of Pakistan, in 
     addition to a terrorist network with tentacles in 55 
     countries, bin Laden would constitute a desperately grave 
     threat to the entire Western world. Now that battle is 
     joined, we have no choice but to see it through to victory, 
     however long the road, however great the cost.
       Since the words and spirit of my Grandfather have been 
     invoked already many times in the past month, I can do no 
     better than to conclude with a quote from Winston Churchill's 
     first address to the House of Commons on becoming Prime 
     Minister in May 1940:
       ``You ask what is our policy? I will say: It is to wage war 
     by sea, land and air, with all our might and with all the 
     strength that God can give us: to wage war against a 
     monstrous tyranny, never surpassed in the dark, lamentable 
     catalogue of human crimes. That is our policy.
       ``You ask: What is our aim? I can answer in one word. It is 
     victory. Victory at all costs, victory in spite of all 
     terror. However long or hard the road may be; for without 
     victory there is no survival.''
       I say to our friends and allies in Europe and around the 
     globe, this is not America's battle alone; it is a battle on 
     behalf of the whole world, and on behalf of generations yet 
     unborn. Together we have overcome far more powerful enemies 
     than those that assail us today. I have every confidence 
     that, in confronting this new challenge, America and 
     Britain--together with our allies--can prevail and shall 
     prevail, just as together we have triumphed in the past.

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