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MSNBC 3 November 2001 Netanyahu says ‘resolve’ needed By COLIN MANNING, Union Leader Correspondent GOFFSTOWN, N.H., Nov. 3 - New Hampshire citizens were given a lesson on terrorism from someone who has experienced the horror for most of his life. “We must have the resolve and determination to eradicate terrorists and their sponsors from the face of the earth,” former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told a packed house at St. Anselm College’s Dana Center last night. “Can we do it? I think we can, if we stick to the mission and build the coalition around the mission instead of the other way around.” Netanyahu was the guest of U.S. Sen. Bob Smith, R-NH, at a town meeting-type forum. Smith introduced his guest by saying, “You’ve written about terrorism, fought against terrorism, lost loved ones to terrorism and you’re going to help us win the war against terrorism.” The former prime minister then spoke for most of the hour-and-a-half, outlining the ways the United States should combat terrorism in light of the events that took place on Sept. 11. “We need to ask who’s doing it, why and how do we stop it,” Netanyahu said. “First, there is no international terrorism without national states. It’s impossible. The key to understanding international terrorism is at its foundation is a national state, a sovereign state. “These terrorist groups have to have a safe haven and these terrorist leaders must have a headquarters. If you take away the state support, the whole scaffolding of the international terrorist network will collapse.” As for why the terrorists do what they do, Netanyahu said it is because of a deep hatred for the West, democracy and civil liberties. He said the international terror network’s goal is the toppling of the West and stopping at nothing less than total destruction of Western ideology and eradicating it from the Middle East. Known for his hardline views, Netanyahu said the United States and the West must strike first and “destroy” terrorism. “The militants of the terror network have the will to destroy us, but they do not have the power today. We have the power to destroy them, now we must show them we have the will,” Netanyahu said. The former prime minister is no stranger to terrorism, and he said the United States can combat terror without its citizens giving up their civil liberties. “The experience of all democracies that have fought terrorism is that it has not impaired their civil liberties. We are robust societies and the United States will continue to be a robust society,” he said. Since the Sept. 11 attacks, there has been talk in the Bush administration about the support of a Palestinian state. Smith quickly denounced any such idea. “We’re going to see a lot of walking back about a unilateral Palestinian state,” Smith told the audience, who gave him a loud ovation. Netanyahu also said the establishment of a Palestinian state will not help in the war against terrorism. “If there is a Palestinian state, the terrorists and the supporters would view this as a prize for terrorism. This is not the intention or the values of President Bush,” Netanyahu said. “You dismantle terrorist regimes, you do not create them.” |
