US Aware of Soviet Lessons in Afghanistan: BushPresident George W. Bush said on Friday that the United States is fully aware of the lessons which the former Soviet Union learned from its occupation of Afghanistan."I am fully aware of the difficulties the Russians had in Afghanistan. Our intelligence people and our State Department people are also fully aware," Bush said when meeting with reporters with King Abdullah of Jordan at the Oval Office. "It is very hard to fight a conventional war -- a guerrilla war with conventional forces, and we understand that. That's why I have explained to the American people that the new war on terror is going to be a different war; it will be fought on a variety of fronts," Bush said. "There may or may not be a conventional component to it. I said loud and clear, sometimes people will be able to see what we do on the television screens; other times the American people won't be able to see what we're doing," he explained. But Bush noted that the US will be persistent in fighting terrorism and those who harbor terrorists. "Make no mistake about it, we're in hot pursuit," he said. King Abdullah, the first Arab leader to visit the US since the September 11 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, said that he was here to see what support his country can offer for the United States in fighting terrorism. Abdullah condemned exiled Saudi billionaire Osama bin Laden and his terrorist network, saying that what they stand for "is completely against all the principles that Arab and Muslims believe in." |
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