WASHINGTON/NEW YORK, 16 September — President George W. Bush vowed yesterday to “smoke out of their holes” those behind this week’s attacks on the United States, as Pakistan came on board an emerging coalition to fight terrorism.
Bush for the first time said the United States was “at war,” singling out Osama Bin Laden, based in Afghanistan under the protection of its radical government, as a prime suspect behind the attacks.
Invoking words made famous by his father, former President George Bush, shortly after Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990, the president said: “This act will not stand. We will find those who did it. We will smoke them out of their holes, we’ll get them running, and we’ll bring them to justice.”
In his weekly radio address, Bush said: “We are planning a broad and sustained campaign to secure our country and eradicate the evil of terrorism, and we are determined to see this conflict through,” Bush declared.
“I will not settle for a token act. Our response must be sweeping, sustained and effective. ... You will be asked for your patience, for the conflict will not be short. You will be asked for resolve, for the conflict will not be easy. You will be asked for your strength because the course to victory may be long,” the president said.
Stepping up diplomatic efforts to build an international coalition for the forthcoming military campaign, the United States secured the crucial agreement of Pakistan, which borders Afghanistan, to back its efforts.
Secretary of State Colin Powell said Pakistan had agreed to help the United States “in whatever might be required” in dealing with Afghanistan. “We put before the Pakistani government a specific list of things that we would like cooperation on, and they’ve agreed to all of those items,” said Powell during a meeting with Bush and other national security chiefs at Bush’s Camp David retreat.
“I’m not prepared to announce today what those specific items are,” Powell said. US officials have said Washington wants Islamabad to allow military overflights and close its border with Afghanistan, He said he wanted to “thank the president and people of Pakistan for the support that they have offered, and their willingness to assist us in whatever might be required in that part of the world.”
In Islamabad, Pakistani Foreign Minister Abdul Sattar said the government would comply with all UN Security Council resolutions to combat terrorism and “discharge its responsibilities under international law.”
Pakistan did not specifically say it would cooperate with the US requests, but US officials said they recognized the country’s leaders faced major potential domestic resistance to announcing compliance with the US requests. “We asked them to do some very specific things. Whether we seek a Security Council resolution or not, we think we have their pledge to do what is necessary,” one senior US official said.
Crown Prince Abdullah, deputy premier and commander of the National Guard, yesterday received a telephone call from the Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf. “The two leaders discussed international developments as well as bilateral issues,” the official Saudi Press Agency reported.
Bush’s spokesman said the president has not ruled out using US ground troops in his planned war on global terrorism. Asked whether Bush’s rhetoric aimed to prepare the nation for the possibility of deploying ground troops, Ari Fleischer replied: “The president is preparing the public for all eventualities.”
The unprecedented coalition of international support was warily eyeing the wounded giant yesterday. As the shock and fury inspired by the slaughter subsides, US allies are cautioning that their support for military action does not amount to carte blanche for Washington to lead their men on an ill-focused campaign.
Support for Bush’s stance was strongest in Europe, particularly in Britain which sees itself as America’s closest ally. France’s Prime Minister Lionel Jospin has said his government’s “solidarity does not deprive us of our freedom of judgment” and Germany’s Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder admitted: “I will have to make one of the most difficult decisions of my life next week.” Russia signaled that it would back US action against terrorist training bases in Afghanistan.
Iran said it is sealing off the border with Afghanistan to prevent an influx of refugees. The official IRNA news agency cited an Interior Ministry statement saying that army and police forces have been deployed to close Iran’s eastern border with Afghanistan.
The number of missing in New York’s World Trade Center climbed to 4,972, or 255 more than estimated on Friday, according to Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik. Remains of 152 people have been recovered and 92 of those have been identified, he said. Only five people have been pulled out alive, two on Tuesday and three on Wednesday.
Twenty-five people who have been or will be questioned by the FBI about the hijacked airline attacks are in custody for possible immigration violations, US law enforcement officials said yesterday.
In addition to the 25, the FBI has arrested an unidentified person in New York, described as a Middle Eastern man who had a fake pilot’s license, as a witness with “material” information, the officials said, adding that he has been the only arrest so far in the massive investigation.
Of the 25, some are cooperating, Justice Department spokeswoman Mindy Tucker said. She was unable to say how many, and said none of them has yet been charged with immigration violations.
Other federal law enforcement officials said most of the 25 were on the list of more than 100 people who Attorney General John Ashcroft has said the FBI wants to talk to because they may have information helpful to the investigation.
The officials said the FBI was not ready to charge any of the 25 with being complicit in or as suspects in the four hijackings of commercial airplanes. The 25 include two men who were taken off a train in Texas and questioned for two days by the FBI in connection with the attacks and then moved to New York for further questioning, they said.
The two men have been detained since Wednesday, when they were taken off an Amtrak train in Fort Worth for causing a disturbance and found to be traveling without legal identification and with items police described as suspicious.
