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'Bush Doctrine' Established
White House officials gave a name Monday to the rules of engagement driving the U.S. war on terrorism ¡ª the "Bush Doctrine." The policy makes any nation or group that tolerates terrorists a potential target.
As the second day of U.S.-led airstrikes hit targets in Afghanistan, administration officials said the results sought by Washington involve more than Osama bin Laden, his followers and the Taliban government in Kabul. They said their words were designed as a warning to other nations that they should not allow bin Laden or members of his terrorist network to take refuge within their borders as the attacks in Afghanistan escalate. "The mission is defined by the adversary in some ways," said Karen Hughes, White House counselor to the president, in defining the administration's policy.
"A country that harbors terrorists will either deliver the terrorists or share in their fate. ... People have to choose sides. They are either with the terrorists, or they're with us."
Hughes said the president told her last week, "The Bush administration will enforce its doctrine."
As officials in Washington were explaining the policy, John Negroponte, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, sent a letter to the members of the 15-member Security Council driving home the same point. "We may find that our self-defense requires further actions with respect to other organizations and other states," he said.
Some Bush advisers say they believe the scope of the retaliation should be expanded to include Iraq because of President Saddam Hussein's past support for terrorism. The State Department issued a report in April that identified Iraq as one of the seven leading state sponsors of terrorism.
There was a subtle shift in the tone of the rhetoric at the White House on Monday. Officials de-emphasized bin Laden and stressed instead the need to eradicate terrorism in all its forms.
The change in emphasis may make it easier to claim victories along the way without first finding the Saudi exile.
Bush saw the videotaped message by bin Laden in which the suspected terrorist called the president the "head of international infidels," but does not intend to respond, spokesman Ari Fleischer said. "His reaction was first that this was much bigger than any one person, that this is not a war against Osama bin Laden. This is a war against terrorists on multiple fronts," Fleischer said.
Bush, who at one point suggested he wanted bin Laden "dead or alive," has been less personal recently. He has stressed the need to wipe out the al-Qa'eda terrorist network. The president's speech announcing airstrikes on Sunday included no reference to bin Laden.
White House national security adviser Condoleezza Rice told reporters, "The goal here is to root out the terrorists so that they cannot do the kinds of things that they did on Sept. 11."
She listed objectives that include "bringing down the al-Qa'eda network and its leadership" through a variety of methods, from military action to cutting off its financial network. But she made no mention of bin Laden. Administration policy
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