Tony Blair Makes New Emphasis in War on Terror

Tony Blair is coming out swinging, and reaffirming his committment to the Global War on Terror:

British Prime Minister Tony Blair on Tuesday will call for a global, interventionist approach to confront terrorism head on and win a battle over values and ideas.

"This is not a clash between civilizations, it is a clash about civilization," Blair will say in a speech this afternoon, according to extracts released by his official spokesman.

"'We' is not the West. 'We' are as much Muslim as Christian or Jew or Hindu. 'We' are those who believe in religious tolerance, openness to others, to democracy, liberty and human rights administered by secular courts," he will say.

The speech, due to be given at a Reuters Newsmaker event, is the first of three that Blair plans to deliver on terrorism and the significance of Iraq and Afghanistan. The second will be given in Australia and the third in the United States.

"The only way to win is to recognize this phenomenon is a global ideology; to see all areas in which it operates as linked and to defeat it by values and ideas set in opposition to those of the terrorists," the speech will say.

Blair will say a belief in an "activist approach" to foreign policy, based on values and interests, is the theme underlying the government's approach to issues from Kosovo, Sierra Leone, Iraq, Afghanistan, to climate change and poverty in Africa.

Blair's spokesman played down fears the speech might ring alarm bells in Iran, which is locked in a battle of wills with the United States and Europe over its nuclear program.

Of course, the bad guys have been hoping that the anti-war crowd would cause Blair and Bush to back off, but it doesn't look like that's going to happen. I expect the head nutjob in Iran will be speaking out about this real soon.