As the Chief of the Defence Staff says, you don't defend on the goal line. Defending the interests of the U.K. means tackling threats early and at source, and that means intervening overseas.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
In practice, the U.K.'s most consistent strategic objective in relation to Iraq was to reduce the level of its deployed forces.
I believe in not attacking a country pre-emptively unless you're sure of what you're doing and you're working with allies.
So we mustn't lower our guard in any sense because of what has happened in terms of the death of Osama Bin Laden and we are certainly not doing that. The terror threat level here in the U.K. remains at severe and we're very conscious of the need to continue that.
No one can truly be prepared for such devastation and pure malevolence, but the United Kingdom can always look to the United States as an ally resolved to stand firm in the war on terrorism.
My submission to you is we're fighting the war on terror not overseas but in our own streets, and we'd be spending vast more fortunes to try to be a defensive country to protect ourselves rather than an offensive country to spread democracy wherever people yearn for it.
Well, you have a defence attache here, that's a step forward. Your Defence Minister has been here, our defence people have exchanges with you. So friendly relations at the military level are already in existence.
Well British troops are superb in the field in terms of conflict.
You can't defend. You can't prevent. The only thing you can do is detect and respond.
It is the habit of every aggressor nation to claim that it is acting on the defensive.
Defence is our best attack.