Embassy News & Events
30 May 2008
Oxford University Students Hear from Homeland Security Chief
In remarks to students at the Oxford Union Society on May 30, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff spoke candidly about terrorism: "We do take the offensive against the enemy. To the extent we have killed or captured [fighters] in Afghanistan, we have measurably decreased terrorism."
Secretary Chertoff spoke to a full-house of students and media in the Oxford Union hall, built in 1878. He explained how the U.S. security posture has radically changed since the World Trade Center, Pentagon and Pennsylvania attacks on September 11, 2001.
Secretary Chertoff said the goal is to raise the risk as high as possible for terrorists to be discovered at the U.S. border without impeding legitimate travelers. "Terrorists exploit the ability to move around the world to achieve their goals, so we have to use a network to beat a network. We're working globally," he said.
"A person who's willing to lose his life won't be deterred by the threat of being punished. ...The challenge is to prevent [terrorist] acts from taking place."
In response to a question regarding efforts "to change hearts and minds" following his remarks, Secretary Chertoff said, "We know in the end that in order to eliminate this [extremist] ideology, we have to dry up the pool of potential followers." He noted that communities themselves need to take responsibility for that because governments "can't manage ideology." He cited the example of Islamic scholars who are "standing up and talking about how it's not justified to blow up innocent lives."
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