Global terror and security in the region

Paul Wolfowitz, Deputy Secretary of Defense, United States

We are determined to fight so hard because what we share and what we stand for is worth fighting for. Our founding fathers understood that a new nation would have lasting meaning only if the character of the nation matched the sacrifice of those who fought for its independence. Only if the independence of that new nation were secured on the pillars of justice and freedom. America is a place where people can live free from persecution and fear, where religion is a matter of personal conscience, where people may enjoy peace and prosperity.

But, these values are not exclusively American. We would like nothing better than to see the people of other nations enjoy the benefits of selfdetermination, justice and freedom ... With the support of allies and friends, we will win this war on terrorism.

I have long noticed in Asia a similar optimism, tempered by realism -- an enormous talent for solving problems and preparing for the future. This conference is one of many efforts to begin creating Asian structures and institutions. In building that better future, the Asia-Pacific has great intrinsic strengths of which five are worth particular mention.

First: The critical U.S. commitment to our alliances in the region, and to stability and progress, is supported by a strong bipartisan consensus among Americans. Fears that the end of the Cold War might lead to an American retreat from Asia have been laid to rest. America's long-standing relationships with its treaty allies in the Pacific -- Japan, Australia, South Korea, Thailand, and the Philippines -- are no less critical to regional stability today.

Second, the countries of the region have shown by their response to a variety of challenges that cooperation is becoming a kind of a habit. We can see this in the response of the wealthier countries of the region to the 1997 financial crisis; (and) in the willingness of so many countries to contribute peacekeepers to secure the future of an independent East Timor.

Third: one important example of that habit can be seen in the way the region has responded to the prospect of China's growing power. The emergence of major new powers has frequently threatened the stability of the existing order, but in China's case all of the countries of the region are prepared to welcome a strong Chinese role in a constructive regional order.

China has a substantial private sector. And it is in the interests of all of us in the region to encourage that growth and trade with the world. (Yet) we cannot ignore our differences, especially on the issues of human rights, the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and Taiwan. It will become increasingly important to encourage Beijing to see that a continuation of the peaceful status quo in the Western-Pacific best serves China's own interests.

The U.S. opposes any effort to determine the future of Taiwan by other than peaceful means. We have reiterated our one China policy. And we expect Taiwan's future to be determined in a manner acceptable to the people on both sides of the strait.

Fourth: Russia and India are positioned to play important roles in East Asian security. The relationship between the U.S. and Russia has been strengthened by our common response to the tragedy of Sept. 11. The effects of this relationship have been felt most dramatically in Europe, where the recent signing of the Rome Declaration established the NATO-Russia Council. Russia is a Pacific power that can play an important role in shaping the future of the region and whose own future will be shaped by what happens in this region.

Our relationship with India has also entered a new era. We look forward to strengthening this relationship, based on the fundamental principles we share.

Finally, the half billion Muslims in the Pacific Rim can be key allies in the war against terrorism, since they represent some of the most moderate and tolerant traditions in Islam. Indeed, they can be our allies in bridging what I referred to a month ago in the World Affairs Council in Monterey, California, as the "dangerous gap" between the West and the Muslim world.

To succeed in winning the war against terrorism, we must win the larger struggle -- the battle of ideas. This larger war is a struggle against the enemies of tolerance and freedom, the enemies of modernity and secularism, of pluralism and democracy, and real economic development.

We must speak to the hundreds of millions of moderate and tolerant people in the Muslim world, who aspire to enjoy the blessings of freedom and democracy and free enterprise. These are universal values borne of a common human aspiration. And more than half a billion Muslims live in Indonesia, India, Bangladesh, China and other countries of the Pacific Rim.

Terrorists also target their fellow Muslims, upon whom they would impose a medieval, intolerant and tyrannical way of life. Those hundreds of millions of Muslims who aspire to freedom and prosperity are, in many cases, on the frontlines of the struggle against terrorism. We have an obligation to help them -- and we have a self-interest to do so. We help to lay the foundations for the just and peaceful world after the war against terror has been won.

It would be a mistake for the nations of the West to think we could be the ones to lead the way, but we must do what we can to encourage the moderate Muslim voices that can. This is a debate about Muslim values that must take place among Muslims. But, it makes a difference when we encourage those who are defending universal values.

According to a Malaysian scholar Karim Raslan, "The vile interpretations of the Koran, that spawned Osama bin Laden and his Qaeda terrorist network, can be addressed and rebutted only from within the faith. Muslims," he continued, "must promote serious Islamic scholars and thinkers, such as Indonesia's Nurcholish Majid and Iran's Abdul Saroush. They are engaged in a battle for the hearts and minds of Muslims, trying to extract the prophetic truths from the Koran to show the inherent compatibility of modern-day concerns with the sacred texts."

And Barry Desker, Singapore's former ambassador to Indonesia during the time I was U.S. ambassador, and his co-author Prof. Kumar Ramalcrishna write that the war of ideas must project success outward from Southeast Asia. "It implies ... promoting Southeast Asian Islam ... as an ideological counterweight to the worldview of the radical Islamic exclusionists."

The gap is not a clash of civilizations -- but a collision of misunderstanding. The campaign on-terrorism is (not) a war against the people of Afghanistan, or a war against Islam. If the people of Afghanistan were not happy to have been delivered from the tyranny they endured so long, they would not have met their liberation with such joy.

The U.S. has tried to help others achieve the dream of peace. In the last decade or so, on six different occasions, the men and women of America's Armed Forces risked their lives to defend others against aggression or war-induced famine. We did so, not only because it was in America's interests, but because it was the right thing to do.

But whether it was Kuwaitis, Iraqi Kurds, or Somalis, or Bosnians or Kosovars or, most recently, Afghans -- the people we were defending were predominantly Muslim. And we helped them, not because they are Muslims but because they are human beings.

The ideals of freedom and democracy have been the most powerful engines of change in the last 50 years, and should also give us hope for further development in the Muslim world.

One possible model can be found in a country that straddles the strategic crossroads between East and West -- Turkey. Indonesia is (also) seeking to build a democratic government, even in the face of severe economic obstacles. We must also support countries in the Arab world like Morocco. Although a monarchy, Morocco has held open elections for the parliament. Pakistan has much further to go, but has possibly more at stake in this fight against terrorism than any other. No leader has taken greater risks than President Musharraf.

Jordan is another Muslim country that is making one of the largest contributions to the coalitions in Afghanistan. Even in a portion of Iraq -- in the Kurdish-controlled areas in the North -- we see the kind of self-government Muslims can achieve.

We must also appeal to a broad population, as well as the voices that tell us the Islam of Muhammad is not the religion of bin Ladan and suicide bombers. The majority of the world's Muslims have no use for the extreme doctrines espoused by groups such as al Qaeda or the Taliban. They abhor terrorists who have attempted to hijack one of the world's great religions. They have no use for people who deny fundamental rights to women or who indoctrinate children with superstition and hatred.

The single greatest threat to peace and freedom in our time is terrorism. So the future does not belong to the terrorists. The future belongs to those who dream the oldest and noblest dream of all, the dream of peace and freedom.

The above is abbreviated from the writer's presentation on Saturday at the Asia Security Conference held by the International Institute for Strategic Studies Asia in Singapore. The talks took place from Friday to Sunday.