PM calls for worldwide terror war

Prime Minister Tony Blair is to call for a worldwide battle of "values and ideas" to combat the global threat of terrorism.

He will defend Britain and America’s intervention in Iraq and Afghanistan and criticise those opposed to his vision of an "activist" foreign policy.

Mr Blair, in the first of a series of three major speeches outlining his approach to foreign policy, will also warn: "This is not a clash between civilisations, it is a clash about civilisation."

He says terrorism must be confronted both in Britain and abroad, whether in Lebanon or Palestine, or Madrid or Paris.

He will attack the terrorist ideology for its "absurd" anti-Americanism, its pre-feudal approach to government and its approach to the role of women and intolerance of other faiths.

In his speech, Mr Blair will seek to explain what links the Government’s approach to issues such as Kosovo, Sierra Leone, Iraq, Afghanistan, climate change and poverty in Africa.

According to a resume and extracts released by the premier’s official spokesman, Mr Blair will in particular underline his belief in an activist approach to foreign policy based on values as well as interests. He will say such an interventionist approach is an essential pre-condition to our future prosperity and stability.

Mr Blair will argue that Britain and the world needs to develop "the politics of globalisation" to match the economics of globalisation.

And he will contrast that approach with what he labels "the doctrine of benign inactivity", which he says views America’s response to September 11, 2001 as a gross over-reaction and each setback in Iraq and Afghanistan as a reason why Saddam Hussein and the Taliban should have been left in power.

The Prime Minister will say such an approach ignores the "life choices" each country faces between completing the transformation to democracy or returning to misery for millions.

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