US planning multi-year war on terrorism: officials

19/04/2001| IslamWeb

WASHINGTON, (Isalmweb & News Agencies) -An expected retaliatory strike at the authors of the worst attack on US soil will be just the starting point for a multi-year war to wipe out the scourge of global terrorism, US officials declared Thursday.
"Now that war has been declared on us, we will lead the world to victory," US President George W. Bush, holding back tears, told reporters in the Oval Office two days after hijackers used commercial jetliners as guided missiles, levelling the twin World Trade Center towers and leaving a smoldering hole in the Pentagon. (Read photo caption below)
Many analysts have likened Tuesday's devastating attacks to the surprise 1941 raid by Japanese forces on the US fleet at Pearl Harbor, which led to the United States' massive mobilization and entry into World War II.
Comments from US officials, including Bush, appeared to suggest a response of similar scope: marshalling the resources of the world's lone superpower in a bid to eradicate global terrorism in what he has dubbed the "first war of the 21st century."
"Now is an opportunity to do generations a favor, by coming together and whipping terrorism; hunting it down, finding it and holding them accountable," said Bush, who has been seeking international assistance for that purpose.
The president has received expressions of support from leaders of Britain, Canada, China, Egypt, France, Germany, Italy, NATO, Saudi Arabia, and from Russian President Vladimir Putin, to whom he has spoken twice, US officials say.
"Intelligence cooperation is extremely important, for instance. Cooperation on financial assets is extremely important, for instance. So there are a lot of different things that different partners might be able to do," a senior administration official said on condition of anonymity.
"You cannot, in one action or even in several actions, begin to really cripple terrorism in the way that we hope, along with partners around the world, to be able to cripple terrorism," explained the anonymous official.
"If it takes multi-year, we'll devote multi-year. And I think it's probably a good thing to think that it probably will," the official said.
The president enjoys "unanimous support" from the US Congress for a sustained campaign, said Democratic Senator Joseph Lieberman, an outspoken backer of the 1991 Gulf War under Bush's father, former president George Bush.
"We all agreed that when that response is over, the war against terrorism has just begun ... we have to stay in the battle so that we will prevent such an occurrence from ever happening again," he said after meeting Bush Thursday.
In another sign of the wide scope under consideration, Bush and senior aides have repeatedly warned that Washington will draw "no distinction" between states that aid terrorists and the terrorists themselves.
"It's not just a matter of capturing these (terrorists) and holding them accountable but removing the sanctuaries, the support systems, ending states who sponsor terrorists and terrorism," Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz said.
The anonymous official said the message to nations like Pakistan and Afghanistan -- where Osama bin Laden, the chief suspect in Tuesday's attacks, resides -- is "you can't be on both sides of this struggle," said the official.
"You can't harbor terrorists and wink at terrorists and let terrorists use your territory and let them use your financial networks and do all of those things and, at the same time say, 'we're a friend of the United States,'" the official said.
The US State Department officially lists Cuba, Iran, Iraq, Libya, North Korea, Syria and Sudan as state sponsors of terrorism. Of those, only Iraq has not condemned Tuesday's attack.
PHOTO CAPTION:
An emotional U.S. President George W. Bush speaks with reporters in the Oval Office of the White House September 13, 2001. Bush became emotional when speaking of the families and victims of the attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon. Bush said "I'm a loving guy and I'm also someone, however, who has a job to do and I intend to do it." REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
- Sep 13 1:33 PM ET