U.S. – Australia Relations
U.S., Australia Share Stake in Asia's Future, Armitage Says
Washington, D.C. — 10 June 2004
State Dept. official stresses need for partnership in war on terrorism (3070)
The United States and Australia have a long history of joint effort and shared responsibility in the major conflicts of the 20th century, and that partnership continues in the global struggle against terrorism, Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage told the Australian American Leadership Dialogue in Washington on June 11.
"[W]e're both Asian powers with a common stake in the future of an Asia that is prosperous, democratic, and increasingly at peace," Armitage said. "We're destined for partnership, in Asia, in the Middle East, and in a whole host of challenges and opportunities that defy narrow geographic definition." Armitage noted that military operations in Iraq have become the central issue of American foreign policy, and he stressed the importance to that endeavor of the "sacred" alliance between the United States and Australia. "The future of Iraq, and of the Middle East, matters to the whole world," he said. "America is being tested in Iraq, but we welcome this test. ... And we certainly have no more cherished ally in this crucible than Australia."
Armitage acknowledged that Australians are debating the direction of the bilateral partnership with the United States and are concerned about matters such as the revelation of abuses of Iraqi detainees at the Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad. "We welcome debate," he said. "That ultimately makes our partnership stronger and better." "We don't have to agree with one another in all instances," he added. "But we need to agree that neither of us shall try to go it alone. ... There's no avoiding our partnership, so let's try to make the best of it." The deputy secretary suggested that the alliance between the United States and Australia is one of equal affection for "ideals and values, and for the belief that we have something special to offer the world and a unique responsibility to do so."
After a period of difficulty in April and May, Armitage said, June has offered the promise of progress in achieving such ideals in Iraq. Of greatest importance, he said, is the fact that democracy is taking hold at all levels of government. He cited the formation of an interim Iraqi national government, which gained unanimous recognition from the U.N. Security Council on June 8, an action that sets the stage for the handover of sovereignty on June 30.
"June 30th will mark an important watershed," Armitage said. "But we still have a long way to go to elections for a transitional government, to the writing of a new constitution, and to fully democratic national elections before the end of next year under that constitution."
"Whatever the challenges still ahead, we're going to stick with this mission until we've done what we came to do: give the Iraqi people a fair chance to build a new life, with a legitimate government. Iraq can be a genuine democracy ... that can serve as a model and inspiration for Arabs everywhere," he said. The Australian American Leadership Dialogue, founded in 1992 by Australian businessman Phil Scanlan, is funded by two non-profit education foundations: the American Australian Education Leadership Foundation in Washington, and a counterpart organization in Melbourne, Australia. The initiative is held annually on a rotating basis between Australia and the United States, bringing together leaders of business, government, think tanks, and the media from both countries to focus on strategic aspects of the bilateral relationship. Following is the text of Deputy Secretary Armitage's remarks, as prepared for delivery:
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Remarks to the Australian-American Leadership Dialogue
Richard L. Armitage, Deputy Secretary of State
Oriental Mandarin Hotel
Washington, DC
June 11, 2004
Now, it's telling no tales out of school to say that we've been occupied heavily with the aftermath of Operation Iraqi Freedom. America's standing in the world, based on judgments about the purposes to which we apply our power, is being tested in Iraq. So it's front and center for Iraq if we're going to talk seriously about American foreign policy right now.
In the famous journal of Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, who set out from near St. Louis just over 200 years ago to explore the American West, here's an excerpt from June 9, 1804: "This is a beautiful country." Here's an excerpt from June 10: "Found the prairie composed of good land and plenty of water. . . . Great number of deer in the prairies, our party in high spirits." But here's the entry for June 11, 1804, exactly 200 years ago today: "Wind blowing too violent for us to proceed."
There's no predicting the weather, literally or metaphorically. Ten months ago the insurgency phase of the Iraq war was just beginning, although we hoped at the time that it was just ending. A few days before I spoke to you on August 11, the first big truck bomb exploded in Baghdad, near the Jordanian embassy. And just a few days later, on August 19, came the attack against the United Nations mission in Baghdad, and the murder of Sergio Vieira de Mello, a beloved colleague of ours.
August 26th 2003 was the day when U.S. casualties after the major combat phase of the war first equaled and then exceeded those during the major combat phase. And major lethal attacks followed, some designed to chase away coalition partners and some to stimulate internal division.
On December 13th, Saddam Hussein was captured, bedraggled and dirty, but the level of resistance from an Iraqi military and intelligence corps that melted away before it could be decisively defeated continued. Allies have also encountered difficulties elsewhere in the global war on terrorism. In the past ten months terrorists have murdered hundreds of innocent civilians in several countries: in Turkey, in Morocco, in Saudi Arabia, in Israel, in Thailand, the Philippines, Uzbekistan -- and, of course, in Spain. The relationship of the perpetrators of these acts to al-Qaeda and its transnational affiliates isn't always clear. We understand there is a difference between Islamist terrorists, and other terrorists wed to narrower national causes. But we oppose terrorism everywhere. For that reason we seek the cooperation of decent, free peoples everywhere to defeat terror.
Now, the Lewis & Clark Expedition ended well. The group made it to the Pacific Ocean and back again to tell their tales, and to turn their journal over to President Jefferson. So, too, will we prevail against the bad weather we've experienced lately. We're doing so already.
Our intelligence and law enforcement cooperation with many dozens of countries is improving all the time. Together we've made deep and strategic progress against al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups. NATO is effectively involved in securing Afghanistan, and in helping its people to move from their new constitution to a national election under its aegis this year.
The G-8 Summit shows that, we're seeking new ways to work with our partners to support those in the Middle East who seek to reform their own societies. That goes for governments and those in civil society who are determined on educational, economic, social and political reform. And we'll pursue that agenda at the U.S.-EU Summit in Ireland and at the NATO Summit in Istanbul, both later this month.
We're working hard to limit the danger of WMD proliferation and transfer worldwide. The President's Proliferation Security Initiative is building its scope and capacities, and it's already contributed to one major breakthrough: the decision of the Libyan government to give up its WMD program, lock, stock, and barrel. Along with our British allies, we managed to turn our success in ousting Saddam Hussein and the Ba`ath Party from power into a dramatic diplomatic object lesson -- and the Libyans, to their credit, got the point. We've also shut down the A.Q. Khan proliferation network with the help of the Pakistani government. The Khan network was a kind of demonic K-Mart, dispensing wholesale evil and mayhem throughout much of the world. Now it's gone.
And while the Coalition has not yet found stockpiles of WMD in Iraq, we have put the Iraqi Ba`ath permanently out of the WMD business. There's no question that Saddam had WMD programs, that he used WMD against both neighbors and his own people, and that expertise, finances, and intentions with regard to WMD remained intact. With the erosion of the sanctions regime, it was only a matter of time before Saddam would have been back, full-tilt, in the WMD business. That's not going to happen now -- not ever.
We're absolutely determined not to let any two of the three lines of WMD proliferation, despotic and irresponsible regimes, and terrorism cross each other. The Taliban got the point of our determination, Saddam got the point, and in a more exemplary manner, the Libyan government got the point. And still others may be starting to get the point. Iran has begun to divulge some of its illegal and dangerous nuclear weapons activities to the IAEA.
Our expanded efforts to fight HIV/AIDS, and to combat the miseries of acute poverty through the President's Millennium Challenge Account, are also part of the war on terrorism. The way to defeat evil is with a greater good. The way to diminish the support for terrorism as a political instrument, and to undermine the insidious acquiescence to it in many societies, is to demonstrate that a better, freer, and more just future is possible. And to demonstrate that we in Western societies care about the repression, the injustice, and the despotism that are holding other societies back.
It's in Iraq itself, however, where the most important progress has been made over the past ten months. Despite all the difficulties, the Iraqi people have stood up for their rights, their future. A host of allied troops and diplomats and civilian contractors and NGOs have been helping the Iraqi people rebuild their country after more than three and a half decades of nightmarish misrule. It doesn't often make the headlines, but take any measure of normal life and Iraq has made great strides: electricity generation and distribution, health care, education, a free press, a justice system that works for the people, the banking sector and the growth of a private economy -- you name it, and it's better today than at anytime in recent decades.
Most important, democracy has taken hold in Iraq at the village and municipal levels. And it's taking hold at the center, too. Brave people have served as part of the Iraqi Governing Council. Two Council members have been murdered. But none of their colleagues were intimidated into resignation, and now others have come forward to form an Interim Iraqi Government, which the international community now recognizes -- with a 15-0 UN Security Council vote on Tuesday -- as the legitimate recipient of Iraqi sovereignty on June 30th, just 18 days from now.
June 30th will mark an important watershed. But we still have a long way to go to elections for a transitional government, to the writing of a new constitution, and to fully democratic national elections before the end of next year under that constitution. We must get a firmer grip on the security situation. A handle not just on politically-motivated violence, but on criminal activity as well.
We're training Iraqi soldiers and police as a very high priority, but we can go only so fast. People put in positions of authority must be adequately trained to exercise that authority, or we'll end up doing more harm than good to a healthy civic culture. It's a tough slog, all parts of this mission are a tough slog.
Just a few days ago we reached a critical milestone when Prime Minister Allawi announced the agreement to disband 9 major Iraqi militias, and to integrate them into new Iraqi national security forces. As bad as April was, particularly with the revelations of prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib prison, and as shaky as May was, June so far has turned out to be promising for progress in Iraq.
Whatever the challenges still ahead, we're going to stick with this mission until we've done what we came to do: give the Iraqi people a fair chance to build a new life, with a legitimate government. Iraq can be a genuine democracy, an Arab democracy that can serve as a model and inspiration for Arabs everywhere. President Reagan said that "the future belongs to the free," and he was right. President Bush believes that, Secretary Powell believes that, and I believe that Australians believe that, too. Sixteen members of NATO believe it is true in Iraq -- they're serving with boots on the ground. And NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said on 9 June that "the Atlantic Alliance cannot turn a blind eye."
Of course, it's the Iraqi people who need most of all to believe that, because the success of Iraq is ultimately up to Iraqis. We're confident that most are eager for a new and democratic beginning. Prime Minister Allawi has expressed not only his deep gratitude to the Coalition for ending Iraq's living hell of Ba`ath rule, but his determination -- and that of his colleagues -- not to let this opportunity pass them by. We wish Prime Minister Allawi the very best. So also to President Ghazi al-Yawer, and so to all the ministers and officials of the new sovereign Iraqi government -- the human infrastructure of a new democracy. We'll do everything we can to help them succeed.
We're going to be there when they ask for us, because the stakes of Iraq's eventual success are global. The President has said it many times: democratic governments do not harbor, aid, and abet mass murderers of innocent people, like the Taliban regime did. Democratic governments do not produce mass graves for their own people, or steal national endowments to secretly build horrible weapons and garish palaces for a pampered few, as the Iraqi Ba`athi regime did. And democratic governments do not make war on each other. The future of Iraq, and of the Middle East, matters to the whole world, and that's why we welcome allies of all shapes and sizes to contribute to the outcome. America is being tested in Iraq, but we welcome this test, we'll pass this test. And we certainly have no more cherished ally in this crucible than Australia. And if we're successful, all together, in bringing about Iraq's emergence as a democracy, what a wonderful thing to bequeath to future generations. Then every Coalition soldier, diplomat, and politician from every country in the Coalition will be able to look in the mirror and say that I, we all, made a difference. And this goes for Australia and the diggers who served, and the people who supported them.
It is not foreign for Australians and Americans to be working together. We've been through a lot over the years. Two World Wars, Korea, Vietnam, Operation Earnest Will, the Cold War, the first Gulf War. So it's no surprise to anyone that Australia is with us today in the Global War on Terrorism, in all its various aspects and theaters.
Some in Australia doubt the wisdom of so close an association with the United States. It's not an entirely frivolous debate you're having and it's not a superficial political joust. Serious, sober-minded Australians have been pondering the matter and come out on various sides. Some question America's judgment. Some question America's competence. Some question both and more. Well, in that you're just like Americans. We ponder. We debate. We question ourselves -- not least over how Abu Ghraib could have happened, and what we need to do to make sure it never happens again. That's what liberty under the rule of law is all about, and that's what Americans enjoy about Australians. You're strong-willed but good-humored. You're used to telling the truth, and you expect to hear the truth. You're suspicious of entrenched power and privilege, and you're just a little on the irreverent side. Americans and Australians are far more alike than not.
We welcome debate, argument. That ultimately makes our partnership stronger and better. Prime Minister Howard said recently that Australia does not need to choose between its geography and its history. It can acknowledge and honor both. Rather the same can be said for America, so that's an argument from Australia we like to hear, an argument we embrace.
What we don't like to hear is the argument that Australia doesn't really matter to the United States, that Australia is in a corner at the bottom of the world, that Americans don't care about Australia's opinion, this way or that. Not so, mates. You do matter. Australia is a success story, and with success always comes commensurate responsibility. You can't escape it. Like it or not, you are leaders in your part of the world, and we're both Asian powers with a common stake in the future of an Asia that is prosperous, democratic, and increasingly at peace.
We're destined for partnership, in Asia, in the Middle East, and in a whole host of challenges and opportunities that defy narrow geographic definition. We don't have to agree with one another in all instances. But we need to agree that neither of us shall try to go it alone. Neither of us is safe hiding behind the protection afforded by great oceans. Our alliance is sacred, to be treasured. There's no avoiding our partnership, so let's try to make the best of it. And in that process, not just accept whatever fate offers -- but take charge of our fates for the assurance of a better future for those who inherit our alliance. An alliance of equality -- not equality of population; not equality of military strength -- but equality of our affection for common ideals and values, and for the belief that we have something special to offer the world and a unique responsibility to do so. And this is why we so often end up in the same place at the same time -- in difficult, sometimes dangerous endeavors -- Values and Ideals.
Thank you very much.
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Last update: Monday, 19 November 2007 GMT+1000
