September 11, 2002

Mr. President, Mr. Prime Minister, Your Holiness, Distinguished Members of Parliament and of the Diplomatic Corps, Distinguished Guests:

Today is a difficult day of remembrance. Last year's tragic terrorist attacks against the World Trade Center and the Pentagon seem distant. And yet even the approach of this anniversary has brought them to mind as we relive the tragedy that gripped the world one year ago today.

Immediately after the attacks, some newspapers in the United States published brief biographies of each of the thousands of innocent victims of these crimes -- a graphic reminder of the magnitude of talent and promise that was taken from the world that day. We should long recall their faces, and their names will forever be etched on a heroes' roll of honor. But a year later, the most fitting tribute to them is to ensure that such attacks can never again succeed - that the terrorism we witnessed a year ago today can no longer threaten our planet.

I thank you, Mr. President, for organizing this conference. You have been steadfast in your support in the war against terrorism, as have the Romanian Government and people. For that I thank you, on behalf of my government. I hope that our discussions this morning will point to common themes that unite not only our two countries, but the world community, in recognizing the threat of terrorism to the very foundations of our civilization.

I also hope that our discussions will reinforce the sense of unity and resolve that has made the international community's response to the events of last year so effective. In that regard, it's important to recall what the world has accomplished to bring justice for the victims, accountability for the perpetrators, and greater security for all of us.

The most visible progress has been in Afghanistan, of course. The Taliban, which provided haven to al-Qaida, has been routed. Al-Qaida's leadership has been destroyed - even if elements of that leadership still exist. American, Romanian and other forces are assuring that Afghanistan no longer exports terrorism. And international peacekeeping forces are helping Afghanistan rebuild - offering its people the liberties they had been denied -- and offering the region and, quite frankly, the world, a brighter, more secure future.

In parallel, we are tracking terrorist assets, and freezing them. We are reinforcing our borders against those who would destroy, and against the arms and other equipment needed to carry out their plots. And we are sharing rumors and intelligence that, pieced together, can prevent the needless deaths of innocent civilians.

All of this is being accomplished through an unparalleled sense of international solidarity and resolve. The UN has garnered the international community through a series of action-focused measures. Groups as disparate as the Organization of the Islamic Conference, the Organization of American States, and NATO have been involved. So have a cavalcade of individual countries - wider than the coalition that fought together in World War II, and in some ways more purposeful than those that stood together during the Cold War.

Why such solidarity? Maybe we've come to recognize that, whatever our cultural and religious divides, we are all human - and our aspirations are, in some fundamental way, the same. We know that terrorist acts are meant to destabilize, and to kill. We know the scope of their destruction is not limited by borders or by convention. We understand that their targets can be indiscriminate. And we know that there can be no neutrality in the fight for our shared civilization.

The past year's accomplishments in the war against terrorism are impressive. But the question we all hear now is "what next?" Generally the question is framed with reference to Iraq - for very good reason, given its past and present behavior. As you know, the United States is consulting with other countries on this issue, and you can expect President Bush to have more to say on that. But just as terrorism is by nature a global issue, rather than a geographic one, so the question of "what next?" must be approached at a conference like this more broadly.

First and foremost, we cannot allow the progress in Afghanistan to wither. For more than two decades, Afghanistan has been a source of repression for its people, and instability for the entire world. How very strange that such a remote and rocky terrain could be such fertile ground for hatred! Afghanistan now has a chance, if our attention does not flag. I know from our commanders on the ground what a terrific job Romania's men and women in uniform are doing, serving side by side with America's finest soldiers. And I'm amazed to see the progress in building a new government that responds to the needs of Afghanistan's long-beleaguered people. Our commitment to Afghanistan must continue -- not only to rid the region of instability, but to consolidate a stronger and constructive government that can ensure that Afghanistan never again exports terror.

Second, and in parallel, we should examine our national and trans-national structures to determine how to prevent and contain terrorism without fundamentally altering the open and democratic nature that is at the heart of our modern society. This is important. The attacks of 9/11 were driven by a fundamentalist hatred of the openness, tolerance, and mutual respect at the heart of our modern society. Our response to September 11 cannot come at the expense of who we are, and of the values we hold. And so the decisions we take are critically important: how to protect our borders, while encouraging travel and exchanges; how to enhance the security of our global trade and banking systems, without strangling world commerce; how to exclude extremism while growing and benefiting from diversity of views.

As a child, I was fond of a little toy called the Rubik's cube. Surely you've seen it - a small cube of multiple colors, the object being to turn and twist the cube's components so as to make each side of the cube a single color. We don't need to be a "one-color society." But we do need to examine what I believe are the strengths of our society - to turn the cube upside down, and to think of how the terrorists of today and tomorrow might try to make weaknesses of our strengths. Fulfilling the various UN resolutions regarding financial transactions is part of that effort. So is examining the safety of air travel, and of the delivery of products. Some of these efforts can be carried out bilaterally; others regionally, through groupings of states such as those found in SECI, which is based here in Bucharest. Eventually, however, they must be carried out on a wider international scale to be truly effective.

That leads to a third point. We'll no doubt discover, through examining our structures, that there are threats and deficiencies to address. But in addressing them, it's important to sustain our common will. That's critical, whether the problem to be addressed is functional in nature - such as banking transfers and false foundations - or legal. And yes, in some cases we may find that the source of instability isn't the system, but a particular state -- whether Iraq or another. But most of our common effort will be less about sending troops than about closing loopholes and reforming institutions, to ensure that terrorists find nowhere to hide.

Finally, as we work together, we need to understand how success in the war against terrorism can be defined. In life, some individuals are more ambitious than others. But in addressing the terrorist threat, there really can't be a low bar to clear. Look at what happened in my country on September 11. Any individual or group responsible for such ambitiously destructive feats cannot be stopped by minimalist measures, or by a half-hearted response. The scale and devastation of the September 11 attacks are, in that sense, the most convincing argument for a stringent coalition response.

I don't know that we can agree today on what will define success in this effort to preserve, in fact, our way of life. But I would suggest to you three points:

• First, one measure of success must be the full implementation of UN Resolution 1373, to render as difficult as possible the funding of terrorist networks.
• A second measure of success will be found in how we strengthen our national infrastructures to fight terrorism, and how our international cooperation is improved on a regular, sustained basis.
• Finally, we really can claim success only when terrorism no longer is considered a legitimate form of political expression. That means a change of mentality - something that the events of a year ago today already have empowered.

There will be benchmarks all along, and achievements to note and celebrate. But until we assure the security of our institutions, facilities, and global connections, our task will not be complete.

Mr. President, a year ago, the world watched in horror as the World Trade Center -- a symbol not only of America, but also of human accomplishment -- imploded. One year later, the World Trade Center is a symbol of a different sort: the symbol of a cause that we cannot, and will not, lose. The twin towers collapsed, but they have given us their strength. Together in remembrance, we will never forget those whose lives were lost. United in resolve, we will persevere. We will win this fight. Nothing less than our future is at stake.