Share this Story : National Post Copy Link Email X Reddit Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr

Marco Rubio: The greatest terror threat facing the world now comes from the far left

Full text of U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio's speech at the Ministerial on the Resurgence of Political Terrorism conference

You can save this article by registering for free here. Or sign-in if you have an account.

The following remarks were given by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio in front of leaders from 60 countries, during the Ministerial on the Resurgence of Political Terrorism hosted at the State Department in Washington, D.C., on July 16. 

Enjoy the latest local, national and international news.

Exclusive articles by Conrad Black, Barbara Kay and others. Plus, special edition NP Platformed and First Reading newsletters and virtual events.

Unlimited online access to National Post.

National Post ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on.

Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword.

Support local journalism.

Enjoy the latest local, national and international news.

Exclusive articles by Conrad Black, Barbara Kay and others. Plus, special edition NP Platformed and First Reading newsletters and virtual events.

Unlimited online access to National Post.

National Post ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on.

Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword.

Support local journalism.

Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.

Access articles from across Canada with one account.

Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments.

Enjoy additional articles per month.

Get email updates from your favourite authors.

Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.

Access articles from across Canada with one account

Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments

Enjoy additional articles per month

Get email updates from your favourite authors

Sign In or Create an Account

The most essential duty of the state, the first responsibility, frankly, of any government of any kind, is the protection of its people. It’s the protection of its country. This is a sacred obligation that should transcend all political and all ideological divisions. It is why, for example, we have militaries. It’s why we have intelligence agencies. It’s why counter-terrorism bureaus exist, why police forces exist. Keeping our people safe is the reason why every country represented here has all of these things.

Marco Rubio: The greatest terror threat facing the world now comes from the far left Back to video

We are all very well acquainted … with what has been described as “traditional terrorist threats.” For 25 years, the term “counter-terrorism,” at least in the West, has meant first and foremost the fight against radical Islamist extremism. And there’s a very poignant reason for that: on the 11th of September, in the year of 2001, 19 men murdered 3,000 people here in my country. Then that same enemy struck Europe, murdering nearly 200 commuters aboard trains in Madrid in 2004 and 52 more aboard London buses and the underground in the following year. The entire architecture of western counter-terrorism was rebuilt from the studs around the singular, traumatic event. That made sense at the time. Our job was to keep our people safe, and the realm of terrorism, the spectre of global jihad, was the premier threat to their safety.

The National Post newsletter that doesn’t hold back, giving readers the unvarnished truth on media, politics and culture.

There was an error, please provide a valid email address.

By signing up, you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc.

A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder.

The next issue of Right? will soon be in your inbox.

We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try again

Interested in more newsletters? Browse here.

And so we went to work. And we assembled a global coalition, working with many of the friends that are represented here in this room today. And we destroyed the ISIS caliphate. We killed al-Baghdadi and al-Zawahiri and bin Laden. And we built intelligence and law enforcement systems capable of anticipating and stopping attacks before the public even hears about them. Every country represented here today has disrupted a terrorist threat at some point emanating from this source. Jihadist attacks and plots in the United States are down by two-thirds since ISIS’s peak. The number of people killed by jihadist terrorism in Europe dropped by roughly 97 per cent from the year 2015 to the year 2024. In other words, to a very great extent, our counter-terrorism strategy has worked. The threat has not disappeared, of course. It will continue to exist, particularly so long as we tolerate immigration systems that import these threats directly into our respective homelands. But this threat has been severely diminished. The world looks very different today because of it.

For far too long, however, our counter-terrorism doctrine has had a blind spot. A blind spot when it comes to extremist violence from the political left. Even today, the very idea that far-left terrorism could be a serious threat is treated as a right-wing fever dream. Or worse, as a dangerous fascist conspiracy. It’s treated this way by many in the press, by many in academia and our universities, and by many of our legacy institutions. You will no doubt see the dogma rear its head in the coverage of this very conference. In spite of the clear and the undeniable reality, in spite of the objective numbers and statistics, in spite of the fact that in this room today there are........

© National Post