Britain urges US, Europe to heal divisions on winning peace

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Tuesday, November 11, 2003

Britain urges US, Europe to heal divisions on winning peace

British Prime Minister Tony Blair said Monday that Europe and the United States must heal their divisions over Iraq and work together on winning the peace.

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British Prime Minister Tony Blair said Monday that Europe and the United States must heal their divisions over Iraq and work together on winning the peace.

"The blunt conclusion is that like it or not, and I do, the EU and the United States much work with each other. Start from that point and a number of other things fall into place," Blair told business leaders and dignitaries at the Guildhall in central London.

"Dismiss the illusion that somehow there is an old and new Europe, the one opposed to the United States and on its way out, the other the bright harbinger of the future to come," Blair told the banquet.

"If some try to pull Europe apart from the United States, others like us will resist firmly," Blair said, adding that with Europe and America together, the world was a "darn sight safer."

"This should astonish no-one. Europe and America share the samevalues; are bound inextricably by history and culture; and now more than ever, are into each others ribs in business, trade and commerce," Blair added.

Blair, the staunchest US ally in Europe, also warned those in Europe who espouse anti-American feelings by saying that "if Europe were to let anti-Americanism define its foreign policy it would be disaster."

Reaffirming the "twin pillars" of British foreign policy, Blairtold the banquet that anti-Americanism and Euroscepticism would make Britain weaker.

"I want to reaffirm the twin pillars on which rest Britain's place in the world today: our alliance with America; our membership of the EU ... Both are necessary. Both complement each other," Blair said.

"Take either away and I believe passionately Britain is weaker for it," Blair said. "At present, I accept, there is a fairly narrow constituency for this view. The Eurosceptics deride the one.Resurgent anti-Americanism corrodes the other."

Blair, who sent about 45,000 troops to join the US-led war against Iraq, also defended the coalition's efforts to bring democracy to Iraq.

It was vital the coalition succeeded in bringing democracy to Iraq and defeating Iraqi former President Saddam Hussein's "small rump of supporters aided and abetted by foreign terrorists."

"It is the battle of seminal importance for the early 21st century. It will define relations between the Muslim world and theWest," Blair said.

A democratic Iraq would mean "the death of the poisonous propaganda monster about America these extremists have created in the minds of much of the world," Blair added.

Speaking ahead of a visit to London next week by US President George W. Bush, Blair conceded that Bush's upcoming visit to Britain would spark protests.

"For many the script of the visit has already been written. There will be demonstrations. His friends wonder at the timing, his enemies rub their hands at what they see as the potential embarrassment. I believe this is exactly the right time for him tocome, " said Blair, who also stressed that greater EU cooperation on defense matters would not undermine Britain's transatlantic alliance.

Bush and his wife Laura Bush were expected to visit Britain from Nov. 19 to Nov. 21, at the invitation of the British Queen Elizabeth II. British anti-war campaigners last month voiced determination to make a protest during the first full state visit of an American president since the British monarch came to the throne 52 years ago.

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