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Roundup: U.S. Moves to Prepare for Retaliation
The United States is moving on almost every front to prepare for a military response to the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington earlier on September 11.
For the first time since the 1991 Gulf War, President George W. Bush on Friday declared a state of national emergency and signed an executive order to authorize the mobilization of as many as 50, 000 members of the National Guard and Reserve.
Although the reservists were called up mainly in the name of homeland defense, analysts said that this is a natural step necessary to take if the Bush administration wants to conduct a sustained operation.
U.S. military units performing a wide variety of important combat support functions are located in the reserves. This is designed to ensure that major military campaigns are carried out with broad civilian support.
Meanwhile, in unusual swift, the U.S. Congress on Friday approved 40 billion U.S. dollars as "down payment" to help the country recover from the terrorist attacks and retaliate those responsible.
The Senate also voted unanimously to authorize Bush to use "all necessary and appropriate force against those nations, organizations or persons" who carried out the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington. The House of Representatives has also adopted a resolution to this effect.
Addressing a national prayer and memorial service here Friday, President Bush, who had described the attacks as "the first war in the 21st century," vowed to "rid the world of evil."
"This conflict was begun on the timing and terms of others. It will end in a way and at an hour of our choosing," he said.
It was reported that Bush and his assistants will gather at Camp David, the presidential resort in Maryland, this weekend to weigh on military options to respond to the attacks on Tuesday morning which leveled the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York and left a smoldering hole on the Pentagon near Washington.
The options, which are believed to go far beyond the short-term cruise missile strikes in the past, may involve the use of military forces on land, at sea and in the air.
Addressing a press conference here Thursday, Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz said that Washington would launch sustained military strikes against those behind the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington as well as their support systems, indicating that the retaliation would be continued until the roots of terrorism are destroyed.
"These people try to hide. They won't be able to hide forever, " he said, "They think their harbors are safe, but they won't be safe forever. One has to say it's not just simply a matter of capturing people and holding them accountable, but removing the sanctuaries, removing the support systems, ending states who sponsor terrorism," Wolfowitz added.
On the diplomatic front, Bush and Secretary of State Colin Powell have been working very hard over the past two days to build up an international coalition against terrorism.
They called leaders of dozens of countries or international organizations to seek their support in the event of any U.S. retaliation to the attacks.
In particular, the Bush administration mounted pressure on the Pakistani government and urged Islamabad to share information with Washington, close its border with Afghanistan and allow U.S. planes to use its airspace in case of taking military actions against the Taliban regime.
The U.S. named exiled Saudi billionaire Osama bin Laden as a prime suspect in the attacks on Tuesday and accused the Taliban regime of providing sanctuary for him.
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