Posted on 10/11/2001 8:16:22 PM PDT by mrustow
ASHINGTON, Oct. 11 -- President Bush said today that United States forces would attack Afghanistan for "as long as it takes" to destroy the Qaeda terrorist network of Osama bin Laden, but he offered to reconsider the military assault on Afghanistan if the country's ruling Taliban would surrender Mr. bin Laden.
At a news conference in the White House, Mr. Bush also embraced for the first time the idea that the United Nations could play a central role in the rebuilding of Afghanistan after an eventual ousting of the radical Islamic Taliban government.
Mr. Bush tonight gave the Taliban another chance to halt America's military action by handing over Mr. bin Laden.
"If you cough him up and his people today, then we'll reconsider what we are doing to your country," he said. "You still have a second chance."
"Just bring him in," he added. "And bring his leaders and lieutenants and other thugs and criminals with him."
Mr. Bush made a confident entrance to the formal setting of the East Room down a long red carpet, mounted his podium and delivered his opening statement in the somber tones of a leader in the midst of war. During 45 minutes of questioning, he had hardly a verbal slip of any significance, resorted to humor at times, and otherwise conveyed the seriousness of the moment through a new gravitas -- seeming grayer, graver and more comfortable in the role.
He said Americans would have to get used to living with the kind of F.B.I. warning that was issued today about the threat of possible terrorist attacks in the United States in the next few days.
"This is not the first time the Justice Department have acted like this," the president said. "I hope it is the last. But given the attitude of the evil doers, it may not be."
It was one of many occasions on which he used the word "evil" to describe the terrorists responsible for the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States. The effect was to cast the battle against terrorism on which the country has embarked in almost biblical terms.
On the fifth day of United States bombing raids against targets in Afghanistan, Mr. Bush described what he said would be a robust American commitment -- even asking American children to send a dollar to the White House -- to rebuild Afghanistan, a nation destroyed by two decades of civil war and invasion.
"It would be a useful function for the United Nations to take over the 'nation building,' " he said. "I would call it the stabilization of a future government after our military mission is complete."
That amounted to a substantial policy shift. It was the first time that the president had made an explicit commitment to involvement in Afghanistan beyond an ousting of the Taliban.
He has previously been dismissive of "nation building" in devastated or failed states.
Mr. Bush's news conference was the first he had held in the formal setting of the East Room, and the first in prime time. His advisers said a president who until now rarely veered from a script had grown far more comfortable since Sept. 11 with the give-and-take from reporters. His answers were forthright and forthcoming, a far cry from the guarded tone of the first months of his presidency.
When asked if the F.B.I.'s general warning today accomplished little more than scaring people from resuming their daily lives, the president said the public should expect such alerts from the government when it receives threats, vague or specific.
"On our TV screens the other day, we saw the evil one threatening, calling for more destruction and death in America," said Mr. Bush, referring to Mr. bin Laden. "I think the American people should be -- take comfort in the fact that their government is doing everything we possibly can do to run down every possible lead and take threats -- and we take threats seriously."
At the same time, the president sought to reassure the country, saying many Americans were returning to regular routines, as much as they could after the Sept. 11 attacks. He said, for instance, that air travel and hotel bookings were picking up. "We are getting back to normal," he said. "We're doing so with a new sense of awareness."
In general, the president sought to tread a fine line between reassuring Americans and telling them to be on their guard against possible future attack. He urged them to go on with their lives because to do otherwise would be to give a victory to terrorism; at the same time he called for vigilance.
Behind his appeal lurked at least this pressing consideration. The American economy is faltering, and if Americans do not return to something close to business as usual, the impact is likely to be severe.
The president said there were logical steps Americans could take to forestall another attack.
"If you find a person that you've never seen before getting in a crop duster that doesn't belong to you, report it," the president said.
Vice President Dick Cheney has been kept sequestered in an unspecified "secure location" for much of the past two weeks. The president said that Mr. Cheney was in the Oval Office this afternoon, but that they had an obligation to insure that one of them would be available to lead if the other was killed.
"We take very seriously the notion of the continuity of government," he said.
"It's a responsibility we share, to make sure that under situations such as this, when there are possible threats facing our government, that we separate ourselves for the sake of continuity of our government."
He added that Mr. Cheney was healthy and engaged. "He's looking swell," Mr. Bush said.
The president closed his news conference with an appeal to the nation's children to contribute to a new fund for the children of Afghanistan. He urged each American child to send a dollar to the White House for a fund to be run by the American Red Cross, to provide relief aid for Afghanistan's children.
"One in three Afghan children is an orphan," Mr. Bush said. "Almost half suffer chronic malnutrition.
And we can and must help them."
Mr. Bush said that if federal officials receive "specific intelligence," a credible threat against a specific building or city, "I can assure you our government will do everything" it can to protect citizens there.
That, he said, is what his administration did after receiving information that an operative from Al Qaeda might spread toxic chemicals from a crop duster plane.
He said he was determined to destroy the terrorists' ability to repeat the devastation they caused last month. "We must defeat the evil doers where they hide," Mr. Bush said. "We must round them up and bring them to justice."
The primary lesson he had learned from Vietnam, he said, was that it is impossible to fight a guerrilla war with only conventional forces. In this light, he continued, the United States and its allies were not only using military force but also cutting off the money that allows the terrorists to operate and rounding up suspected members of terrorist groups at home and abroad.
"Slowly but surely we're smoking Al Qaeda out of their caves so we can bring them to justice," he said. "This particular battlefront will last as long as it takes to bring Al Qaeda to justice."
"I am determined to stay the course," the president added. "We must rid the world of terrorists so our children and grandchildren can grow up in freedom."
Can you rid the world of terrorism if you cannot find Osama bin Laden to kill him, Mr. Bush was asked. He answered: "I don't know if he's dead or alive. I want him brought to justice, however."
He said the United States was following every possible lead to make sure that every member of Al Qaeda who might be in the United States is brought to justice. "We're chasing down the leads," he said.
The armed forces, the F.B.I. and other federal agencies were redefining their missions to focus on terrorism, he said.
"We have a new enemy," Mr. Bush declared. With respect to the terrorists, he said, "We've got them on the run."
Referring to Afghanistan, he said Mr. bin Laden had "forced a country to accept his radical thoughts, and it became a safe haven" for him and the Qaeda organization. But, he added, "it's not longer a safe haven."
He said that while the administration's focus was on Afghanistan, it was also monitoring President Saddam Hussein of Iraq closely. "There's no question that the leader of Iraq is an evil man," he said. "We're watching him very carefully." .
When asked if he would meet Yasir Arafat, the Palestinian leader, Mr. Bush said he supported the aborted peace effort in the Middle East, but would leave that task to Secretary of State Colin L. Powell, unless promising developments emerged.
"My calendar's a little crowded right now," he said.
"But if I'm convinced that a meeting with a particular party will further the process, I will do so."
The president warned Americans against singling out people by race or religion. "Don't use this as an opportunity to pick on someone who doesn't look like you or who doesn't share your religion," he said.
"If you see something suspicious or abnormal, report it to local law enforcement."
Would he ask the American people to make sacrifices? The president said people already were sacrificing in ways both practical, like longer lines at airports, and spiritual.
"There's a certain sacrifice when you lose a piece of your soul," Mr. Bush said.
He went on to say that positive things have come from the attacks by bringing Americans together and putting on display the nation's tolerance for Islam and all religions.
"I believe many people are reassessing what's important in life," Mr. Bush said. "Moms and dads are not only reassessing their marriage and the importance of marriage, but the necessity of loving their children like never before."
The level of compassion in the United States is "overflowing," he said.
Not gonna happen, so the whole point is moot. Talibunnies are bin laden's pansies
Kill them and wrap the bodies in pigskin on Afghan television.
Deterrence should not be equivocal.
Did the NYT get their information from the same speech I heard??
I did not hear President Bush say this tonight.
Selective listening and writing??
Of Course if Osama's Scalp is on the belt of some Special Forces hombre this puts the Taliban between a rock and a Hard place! They would either have to admit he was dead (A definite win for America) or continue getting the crap pounded out of them!
almost BUT just not quite there NYT....
President Bush postulated that IF the Taliban offered up/expelled Bin Laden AND his evil lieutenants AND his followers/henchmen AND the terrorists cells then his would be amiable to talks with the Taliban.
Tell it ALL NYT...tell it all.
The war on terrorists will continue.
He's comparing bin laden to either a hairball or lung-butter.
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