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Lord Mayor Tiefensee, thank you for your gracious words of greetings. My thanks also to the President Schulte and the Marketing Club Leipzig, Chairperson Benner and the American Chamber of Commerce Leipzig Chapter, and Mr. Rahmen and the Leipziger Messe for helping to arrange this evening.
It is an honor to be in Leipzig on the eve of the 12th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.
Your Monday demonstrations swelling out from the Nikolaikirche were unparalleled displays of civic courage in the quest for freedom.
Your chants - "Wir sind das Volk; wir sind ein Volk" - recalled the initial words of my own country's Constitution: "We, the people...."
We share much in common. But this is not something new.
Frederick Muhlenberg, son of a Lutheran minister from Halle and a student in your neighboring city, was a member of our Continental Congress and the first speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives. His brother, John, who also studied in Halle, was one of George Washington's generals and fought at the decisive battle of Yorktown.
The celebration this year of the 175th anniversary of the opening of the first American Consulate in Leipzig bore eloquent witness to the resilience as well as long-standing nature of our ties and our ideals. Not even five decades of forced separation, beginning in 1941, were able to sever shared perspectives and common values uniting America and this part of Germany.
The reopening of our Consulate General in Leipzig ten years ago was an act of reaffirmation. A decade later, the ties between America and eastern Germany have grown stronger, become more vibrant and blossomed in manifold ways.
Today, the German-American partnership - encompassing Saxony and the other New Federal States - remains as essential as ever. Only recently emerging from the shadow of the Cold War, we have quite unexpectedly entered a period that looks somber and dangerous. Yet the challenges of the new century offer unique opportunities as well. Germany and the United States are again joined in a major alliance -- this one of global dimensions -- that protects not only our people, but also our way of life and basic values.
There is a renewed commitment to transatlantic solidarity and common purpose. Our bilateral relationship is one of unqualified government cooperation, commitment and solidarity. As President Bush noted during Chancellor Schröder's visit to the White House last month: "There is no more steadfast friend in this coalition than Germany."
Against this background, I would propose to discuss three challenges for this new century: our common campaign against terrorism and for liberty and security, opportunities to re-shape the international system, and sustaining growth and confidence.
Our first and most urgent challenge is the Campaign Against Terrorism and for Liberty and Security:
The barbarous acts of September 11th shocked us all. They reverberated around the world - and changed the world. They showed us the dark side of humanity.
Neither of our countries, nor any of the 80 states that lost citizens, sought a fight with the terrorists. They attacked us. Now as President Bush said in his address to the
Congress, we seek to bring them to justice, or justice to them.
There has been some muddled talk about al-Qaida's ongoing campaign of terror and about the stakes in our conflict with international terrorism. Let me address this directly.
Al-Qaida is not fighting for Islam. Its victims have included thousands of Muslims and its methods are antithetical to Islam, indeed all religions.
Al-Qaida is not fighting for the Palestinians. Bin Laden was never before committed to helping the Palestinian people find peace - and certainly is not now.
Al-Qaida is not fighting for the poor. Rather, it spends huge sums spreading hatred, mayhem and murder in the Middle East, Asia and around the world in its quest for power.
The forces driving al-Qaida won't be found in scriptures, the Palestinian cause or poverty. Instead, they are political and ideological. Al-Qaida is fighting for al-Qaida
Al-Qaida seeks to drive the United States and Europe out of the Middle East so it can topple regimes throughout the region and destroy Israel; then it aspires to impose its rule. That is its declared aim. Bin Laden and his minions cannot abide by the freedoms we take for granted: freedom of speech, of religion, even the freedom of women to be educated. The Taliban's Afghanistan is their vision of the future - and civilization's nightmare.
The people in eastern Germany understand perhaps better than most what the stakes really are. As President Bush noted in remarks to the Warsaw Conference on Combating Terrorism earlier this week: "For more than 50 years, the peoples of your region suffered under repressive ideologies that tried to trample human dignity. Today, our freedom is threatened once again. Like the fascists and totalitarians before them, these terrorists - al-Qaida, the Taliban regime that supports them, and other terror groups across the world - try to impose their radical views through threats and violence. We see the same intolerance of dissent; the same mad, global ambitions; the same brutal determination to control every life and all life."
The threat posed by al-Qaida and other such terrorist networks is universal. Their goals cannot be met by traditional foreign policy means of negotiations and compromise. So let us be clear on why military action is necessary. The Taliban is actively barring justice to the perpetrators of mass murder and offers sanctuary for future terrorism. They reject not only the legitimate demands of President Bush, but also of the United Nations.
Moreover, al-Qaida and associated terrorist groups are seeking chemical, biological and nuclear weapons. Given the means, they would be a threat to every nation and, eventually, civilization itself. "So," as President Bush has pledged, "we're determined to fight this evil, and fight until we're rid of it. We will not wait for the authors of mass murder to gain weapons of mass destruction. We act now, because we must lift this dark threat from our age and save generations to come."
No one likes the use of force. But at times like this it is not only morally justified, but also the only realistic course. As an act of self-defense, military action is appropriate and is recognized as such under the UN Charter and international law. Not only do we Americans and Germans, who come largely out of the same philosophical traditions, understand this. It is understood by most people and cultures, including our many Islamic friends, who are with us in this fight.
Let me stress that our efforts are directed at terrorist and military targets because - unlike our enemies - we value human life. We do not target innocent people, and we are witness to the terror and deprivation the Taliban has brought to it's own people. Thus, the quickest and most effective means of addressing the human crisis that currently exists in Afghanistan is to remove the current Taliban regime.
Our second challenge, following the tragedy and horror of September 11, is to establish new relationships that can make the world a safer place. States have an opportunity to change the way they are positioned in the world and to play a positive role. Germany has accepted this challenge, taking on new and historic responsibilities.
For states, like Iran, Sudan and Syria, that have been cited for sponsorship or support of terrorism, this is also an opportunity. Sudan is already taking positive steps to cooperate with international efforts to combat terrorism. Syria's election to the Security Council offers Damascus unique possibilities. The possibility of a more constructive relationship with Iran is being discussed.
Likewise, we are seizing this opportunity to recast our relations with Pakistan and other frontline states in this campaign. Together, these efforts are helping to redefine key relationships in terms suited to this post-Cold War, global era.
We will strive to integrate the world in such a way as to protect our common interests and to ensure that the values we believe in are embraced as standards, not exceptions. And by integrating new partners -- countries like Russia, China and India -- into a shared international order, we will expand the reach of practices and institutions that both uphold our common values and interests and, at the same time, protect against those actors and forces that threaten regional peace and prosperity.
"Results," President Bush has stressed, are what matters. Countries' and organizations' willingness to work for the future - not the animosities of the past - should guide our common efforts. And just as the challenges we face will not be surmounted quickly, we need to build structures of cooperation that will last for the long haul.
We should not lose sight of the opportunities of this era. We must use the cooperation against the threat of international terrorism to find common ground on how to respond to a host of other bilateral, regional and transnational challenges - such as developing a strategic framework that transcends the legacies of the Cold War, addressing the essential task of denying weapons of mass destruction to those who seek to use them to threaten civilization itself.
As President Bush said during his visit to the State Department in September: "In our grief and in our sadness, I see an opportunity to make the world a better place for generations to come. And we will seize the opportunity."
Russia is a prime example of how the fight against terror has recast our relationships. President Putin has joined the broad coalition against terror. He has offered intelligence information, granted overflight permissions, and promised joint search and rescue operations. We anticipate that our cooperation in the battle against terror will begin to set a pattern of cooperation and partnership that will reshape our entire relationship with Russia. We may have an opportunity to make progress on the painful issue of Chechnya. Discussion of NATO enlargement and missile defense also takes place in a new context.
From Latin America to Asia to Africa, there is an unparalleled opportunity to promote prosperity, liberty, the rule of law and democracy - in the spirit of harmony, not hegemony. In this global coalition, we welcome the assistance of every country or party that is seriously ready to cooperate. But we will not slacken our standards and will continue to champion human rights and accountability of governments, free trade, non-proliferation and the peaceful settlement of disputes. For we are above all of the view that terrorism cannot thrive in a world of democracy, hope and stability.
A third challenge is to Sustain Economic Growth and Public Confidence. It is quite clear that one of the aims of the attacks on September 11 was to deliver a blow to the world's financial markets and economic framework, with the hope of bringing the international economy to its knees. This did not happen. But we need to restore the confidence of consumers and investors in response to the current economic slowdown, even as we continue our ongoing efforts to deal with longer-term issues such as adjusting to a global economy, educating our labor force for new demands, balancing growth and environmental concerns, and sustaining public support for trade liberalization.
One step needed is the launch of a new round of trade negotiations at the World Trade Organization meeting that begins tomorrow in Doha, Qatar. It is critical that the international community unite in support of a positive, future-oriented trade agenda.
It is no accident that the terrorists attacked the World Trade Center - just as it is no accident that the venue for my remarks this evening is the Leipziger Messe, the world's oldest trade fair. Trade promotes growth and helps alleviate poverty. But, as the citizens of Leipzig have known for centuries, it is about more than economic efficiency. Trade promotes democratic values - including openness, tolerance and freedom - at the heart of our joint struggle against terrorism. And my country understands that the
staying power of our new coalition depends on economic growth and hope.
Trade helps create an environment within which nations can prosper in various ways. First, it creates wealth and perspectives. Developing countries with open trading systems have seen large drops in poverty. History gives us proof. Compare the relative affluence of South Koreans with the starvation faced by North Koreans. With higher incomes come longer lives, greater literacy, better health, improved working conditions, a cleaner environment and more stable, peaceful societies.
Second, trade supports personal freedom. The market requires government to set realistic rules, then stand back to let millions of individuals make their own decisions. This basic economic freedom, in turn, can become the thin end of a wedge for reducing restrictions in other areas of life. Likewise, the great alternative to hate is hope. And to seize the hopeful opportunities of markets and trade, people must be educated and healthy, and government must be fair and just and committed to the rule of law
Third, international trade promotes international responsibility. Countries that benefit from participation in a multilateral trading agreement have strong reasons not to take actions that threaten that agreement and their place in it.
As we promote trade, a broad challenge will be to fight terrorism within our countries, without undermining the ties of commerce and friendship between our countries. Terrorists want to turn the openness of the global economy against itself. We must not let them. We need customs, financial, immigration and transportation systems that make it easier for us to do our business, and harder for terrorists to do theirs. As President Bush observed: "Pursuing both openness and security is difficult. But it is necessary."
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I have discussed three important challenges facing us as we begin a new century. There are, of course, others that hopefully we can discuss at a different time. I thank you for your warm welcome to Marcia and me and the opportunity to address you in this historic venue.
Marsha and I look forward to getting to know Germany and the German people better. We want to work together with you, to meet the challenges of a rapidly changing world and of a new century. The challenges we face today may be difficult. But, drawing on our shared values and common interests, they can and will be overcome.
To quote President Bush once more: "Now is the time to act boldly, to build and defend an age of liberty."
So let us go forth and do so, with faith and hope and the confidence that working together our common vision of peace and freedom will be realized.
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The Ambassador
