US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said today that one nation alone could not defeat radical Islamists and their "totalitarian" aims.
In a speech in Germany, which strongly opposed the US-led invasion of Iraq, Mr Rumsfeld went out of his way to stress the value of the NATO alliance and the efforts of many countries working alongside the United States in the war on terror.
"Radical Islamists do not seek an armistice with the civilised world. They will not negotiate a separate peace. Rather they seek to impose the totalitarian rule George Orwell described as 'a boot stomping on a human face - forever'," Mr Rumsfeld said.
"By now it must be clear that one nation cannot defeat the extremists alone. Neither can any one nation successfully combat the asymmetric threats of this new era."
He said military and intelligence cooperation had led to the killing or capture of some three-quarters of known al-Qaeda leaders.
But he added: "It will take many nations to help Afghans and Iraqis succeed in bringing democracy to places where tyrants once ruled and terrorists once trained."
Mr Rumsfeld was speaking at the Munich Security Conference, the same forum where he memorably clashed two years ago with German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer over Iraq.
Mr Rumsfeld, who upset France and Germany in the run-up to the Iraq war by questioning the relevance of "old Europe", raised laughter when he referred to his past as "old Rumsfeld".
Recalling a series of crises within NATO from the 1960s onwards, he said the differences over Iraq were nothing new. "Our Atlantic Alliance relationship has navigated through some choppy seas over the years. But we have always been able to resolve the toughest issues," he said.