The Rt Hon Adam Ingram MP
Minister of State for the Armed Forces, United Kingdom
Address to the IISS Shangri-La Dialogue
3 June 2006
(1587 words)
Ladies and Gentlemen,
It’s a pleasure to be in Singapore once again for this important and stimulating conference.
Like many of you – I hope – I had a comfortable and trouble free journey here yesterday. A reminder of how modern travel has helped make the world a smaller place. We really do live in a global village.
And like any village community, interdependence is a fact of life. That interdependence is central to my comments today.
All of us, even the largest of nations, are affected by events around the world. And all of us will be affected by the challenges of the new century – mass migration, energy security, climate change, failed states, ungovernable territory, global terrorism and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.
Acting alone, none of us will be able to face up to these challenges. They can only be tackled together. And they are best tackled proactively and pre-emptively, using all the collective instruments available to us, with the military response as the last resort. The truth is, the stakes are simply too high for us to sit back and wait; to see how things develop. Hoping for the best and only reacting at the last minute is a luxury we will not be able to afford. History and recent events teach us this invaluable lesson.
But for us to be able to tackle these issues together, we will need to share a common understanding of the challenges they present. We will need to share common values for their resolution. We will need to ensure our international institutions – not least the UN – evolve in a way that enables them to meet these challenges head on.
And, on occasion (and as the ultimate remedy), we will need to be prepared to deploy our Armed Forces.
It is against this backdrop that it will come as no surprise when I say that the last few years have been a particularly challenging time for Britain’s Armed Forces.
I’m proud of the contribution they made in Kashmir and Northern Pakistan following the earthquake there last year. This was a disaster on a huge scale. The kind of disaster that reminds us how much we depend on one another. And, I hope, the kind of response that reminds us how much we can rely on one another.
Of the $5.8BN pledged in aid to that disaster, Britain committed the fourth largest amount to cover both the relief effort and reconstruction.
We also flew out search and rescue experts and deployed three Chinook helicopters. British transport planes delivered over 20,000 ration packs, bottled water, tents, blankets and baby care equipment. We deployed medics to help with casualties and Royal Engineers and Royal Marines to build cold-weather accommodation.
And of course, this came just a short period after the terrible tsunami, when our forces worked alongside many others to assist victims in Sri Lanka, Indonesia and elsewhere in the region.
Finding common cause in response to the tragedy of natural disasters is relatively easy. And this has been proven yet again in the international response to the recent earthquake in Indonesia. The upwelling of human tragedy strikes a deep chord in all our nations and drives the imperative for immediate action. But, of course, it isn’t only in response to natural disasters that we have deployed our forces, and it is on this point I now want to comment.
In Afghanistan, the deployment of Britain’s Armed Forces was initially in response to the worst single terrorist attack the world has seen, on September 11th 2001. Indeed, this was the first time Article V of NATO’s Treaty was invoked in its 57 years of existence. Today, we are increasing our commitment to Afghanistan, by helping the elected Government bring security, reconstruction and economic growth on a progressive programme throughout that proud country.
And it’s not just the threat from the Taleban and Al Qaida that concerns us. We are also helping the Afghan Government tackle a narcotics industry that feeds 95% of the heroin trade that plagues the streets of Britain and other European countries. And, as we know, hard drugs don’t just cause human misery for the users. They impose huge costs in social and economic terms, estimated to be in the region of £13BN a year in the UK alone.
In Iraq, UK forces are now helping to ensure that a Government of national unity can deliver the results more than twelve million people voted for. We are doing so consistent and in accord with the UN mandate under UNSCR 1637. We are determined as part of the Coalition nations to play our part and see it through, in line with the wishes of the Government of Iraq and the Iraqi people.
Looking further back, we intervened, alongside others, in Kosovo and have helped bring stability to the Balkans. We intervened in Sierra Leone and retain a military presence there to help train their national army.
Elsewhere in Africa as part of an international effort, the UK is committed to helping the African Union generate 20,000 peacekeeping troops by 2010. For example, in Kenya we are engaged in de-mining training. And in South Africa, Nigeria, Ghana and Malawi we have similar initiatives. These are all small, incremental steps towards building stability in Africa – creating the capacity for Africans to build their own capability and to rub away the conditions in which terrorism spawns all too easily.
And this isn’t just happening in Africa. Around the world, our Defence relations strategy is aimed at enhancing regional security through co-operation, capacity building and Security Sector Reform.
In the Asia-Pacific region alone:
· We mount regular naval visits. In the last month, a UK carrier task force has been taking part in highly successful exercises with the Indian Navy.
· We exchange intelligence and strategic views with our close partners in the region.
· We run training programmes to assist friendly states in modernising and developing their security sectors.
· We remain an active member of regional security organisations, such as the Five Power Defence Arrangements.
· And at the invitation of the Sultan of Brunei, we maintain a Gurkha garrison there. Indeed, troops from there deployed to East Timor in 1999 and Sierra Leone in 2002.
So what does the future hold? No doubt, tragically, there will be further natural disasters. No doubt the dramatic economic growth of India and China will bring unquestionable and desirable rewards, but it will also bring challenges. Boosting international trade has many benefits, but it will demand solutions to the pressures on natural resources and energy security. And there will certainly be further terrorist atrocities that are determined to undermine the new global inter-relationships between East and West, North and South.
While it is already possible to identify a number of failed and failing states, we need to continue developing a better understanding of the terrorist threat we face and how it might develop. There are, as we know, countries with ungoverned territory that offer an existing and potential haven for terrorist groups and organised crime. Each of us will have our own analysis of where the real threat exists. What we need to do is better share that analysis so that no area of the globe collapses into a black hole, which (however inadvertently) creates new levels of threat, which will dictate a heightened level of response.
And of course, for that response to be effective it has to be flexible, deployable and fully capable. The generation of such a force, whether nationally or internationally, comes at a price, and the investment realistically has to happen now, not at some point in the future.
Let me close with these final points. The threat is a very real one. We face an enemy that can’t easily be identified and is often prepared to blow him or herself up, in order to kill and maim civilians on trains, in restaurants or in market places.
And we face an enemy who would use weapons of mass destruction if only they could get their hands on them. The threshold of terrorist outrage now knows no boundaries. The bar has been lifted and we all have to consider the implications of radiological, nuclear, chemical or biological attack.
We will not defeat global terrorism by the use of force alone. The decisive battle will be the one for hearts and minds – for values. This means using our Armed Forces to create a secure environment in which other agencies, both Governmental and NGOs, can then play their part in building a stable society, free from fear and repression.
Ladies and gentleman, I said at the outset that we will need to face these challenges together. For those who cannot find common cause with all of the actions we have taken in recent years, I would ask two things.
First, when you think of the possible alternative courses of action, do not think only of the best case scenario. Do not think only of what you hope might have happened had we not acted with our Allies. But think also of the worst case scenario – what you fear could have happened had we not acted.
Secondly, notwithstanding our differences, consider how many common values we share. Values that we can best protect by working together – and by working together proactively. Just as we have shown our will to act decisively in support of international order, so I urge others to do so too.
Rest assured, my country will continue to play its part.
