Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-11-14-Speech-1-108"
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"en.20051114.15.1-108"2
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"Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, in my view a complex and multi-faceted problem such as terrorism cannot be tackled with a single, one-dimensional strategy. Citizens of a sovereign State or States have a legitimate right to live in peace, devoting their lives to their work, to their families and to their freely-chosen lifestyle.
Wars have been – and still are – critical periods in the life of society; they upset all the normal benchmarks, but they involve precise military positions, clearly-delineated battlefields, a visible enemy and rules of engagement. Terrorism, on the other hand, does not follow the rules of official war, does not only involve the military and does not operate on the battlefield. It uses underhand tactics to strike the innocent at home, when and where they are least expecting it, with no specific aim, no social purpose and no values.
It is obvious that everyone must respect the rules, laws and sovereignty of the State. It is undeniable that we all need to uphold not only the most elementary human rights but also the principles underlying all civil society and all relationships between nations.
However, before levelling accusations at what are undoubtedly democratic countries, we must firstly have full knowledge of the facts and circumstances. We also need to think of the families of the defenceless victims of terrorism in recent years, and of the millions of citizens who are still living under the threat of attack.
We cannot use kid gloves to fight terrorism, but nor can we throw accusations at democratic countries solely on the basis of conjecture. Faced with a choice between terrorism and democracy, I believe we would all choose democracy.
Mr President, we should allow the courts to do their job without looking for grounds to ascribe blame to countries which certainly do not deserve it. I agree with the position of Commissioner Frattini and hope that, here in Parliament, we shall only make decisions in this matter once we can be sure we are acting democratically."@en1
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