Herald news services
WASHINGTON – Condemning the Taliban anew, President Bush delivered a progress report Saturday on the war against terrorism, saying that advances are being made “on many fronts.”
In his weekly radio address, broadcast from Camp David, Md., the president also asked Americans for patience but expressed his determination to prevail.
“We did not seek this conflict, but we will win it. America will act deliberately and decisively, and the cause of freedom will prevail,” Bush said. “In recent days, many members of our military have left their homes and families and begun moving into place for missions to come.”
Thousands of U.S. military personnel, including reservists, have been deployed to central Asia and the Persian Gulf region – “ready to answer when their country calls,” Bush said.
As usual, the president gave no specific details of his war plans, other than saying, “Our weapons are military and diplomatic, financial and legal.”
Bush also said the Taliban, not the Afghan people, would be held responsible for harboring terrorists.
“The United States respects the people of Afghanistan, and we are their largest provider of humanitarian support,” he said. “But we condemn the Taliban and welcome the support of other nations in isolating that regime.”
Bush’s condemnation of the Taliban followed two weeks of unsuccessful efforts to convince the Muslim rulers to hand over bin Laden.
The United States moved more equipment to the central Asia region, and more reservists donned uniforms after Friday’s call-up. The Pentagon said the Marine Corps would mobilize 191 reservists and the Navy 250 more to bring those activated so far to more than 16,600. An additional 5,000 National Guardsmen were being trained for security duty at America’s commercial airports.
In addition, Bush has asked retired Army Gen. Wayne Downing, a career specialist in counterterrorism, to join the staff of the National Security Council as assistant to the president and national director for combating terrorism, officials said.
Downing wrote a scathing 1996 study of security lapses by U.S. commanders in the Middle East after a bomb in June 1996 killed 19 members of the Air Force in a barracks in Saudi Arabia called Khobar Towers.
Downing is a former commander of Special Forces troops in combat in Panama and the 1991 Persian Gulf War, and later was chief of the Special Operations Command. The NSC already has a counterterrorism adviser, but an administration official said Downing will be part of “an increased focus and more division of responsibility.”
Also Saturday, Al Jazeera, an independent Arabic-language television service, reported that three U.S. special operations troops had been captured by Afghan security forces. The report was immediately denied by the Taliban government of Afghanistan. The Pentagon, which has refused to confirm or deny reports that there are special troops already in Afghanistan on a reconnaissance mission, refused to comment on the report that some had been captured.
Al Jazeera, which broadcasts uncensored news 24 hours a day from the Qatari desert, said it stood by its report.
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