Now it's Bush the avenger

President Bush is poised to unleash retaliatory strikes against Osama bin Laden and his backers in Afghanistan, vowing a "monumental struggle of good versus evil" after the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington.

His Administration is aggressively gathering an international coalition to support retaliation. The Prime Minister, Mr Howard, has pledged Australia's support for any military action.

As shock turned to rage a day after the worst terrorist assault in history, Mr Bush branded the attacks on the World Trade Centre in New York and the Pentagon in Washington "acts of war".

The Administration said no decision had been made about the extent of retaliation, but reports suggest that contingency plans are being prepared for missile attacks and ground forces in Afghanistan, believed to be harbouring bin Laden.

The Secretary of Defence, Mr Donald Rumsfeld, prepared troops for action, saying in a taped message to the armed forces: "More, much more, will be asked of you in the weeks and months ahead. This is especially true of those who are in the field."

As well, NATO for the first time invoked a mutual defence clause that would mean backing US retaliation so long as it was proved that the terrorist attack came from abroad.

"An attack on one is an attack on all," the NATO Secretary-General, Lord Robertson, said.

US officials say they have increasing evidence that bin Laden was responsible for Tuesday's devastation when hijacked passenger jets were crashed into the landmark buildings.

Meanwhile, rescuers began the task of extracting thousands of bodies. Although no official death toll has been released for the collapsed twin towers of the World Trade Centre, the Mayor of New York, Mr Rudolph Giuliani, called for 6,000 body bags to be sent to the scene.

The Defence Minister, Mr Peter Reith, has confirmed three Australian deaths so far - one on a plane that flew into the World Trade Centre and another on the plane that crashed into the Pentagon. The third fatality was in the World Trade Centre.

US authorities say they have identified up to 50 people involved in planning and staging the attacks, including many who trained as pilots in the US.

The Attorney-General, Mr John Ashcroft, said investigators now knew the names of all the hijackers and were gathering information on how they were able to enter the country, and on the planning of the attacks.

A number of people believed to be relatives or associates of the hijackers were detained in a series of raids in several States.

Heavily armed FBI agents stormed two hotels in Boston, several houses in Florida and stopped a passenger train in Rhode Island. People were held on immigration and State breaches and questioned over possible connections with the terrorists.

At the same time the Administration moved swiftly to lock in support from Europe, the Middle East and Asia, as well as the United Nations, for a co-ordinated assault on terrorism.

Mr Bush spoke to world leaders throughout the day, including the British Prime Minister, Mr Blair, the French President, Mr Chirac, the Chinese President, Mr Jiang, and the Russian President, Mr Putin.

Pakistan, which borders Afghanistan and has supported bin Laden in the past, assured Mr Bush of its "unstinted cooperation" in the fight against terrorism.

The Secretary of State, Mr Powell, rallied the Middle East, including the Israeli Prime Minister, Mr Sharon, and the Palestinian leader, Mr Arafat, as well as the UN Secretary-General, Mr Kofi Annan.

Mr Powell strengthened the Administration's vow to seek out not just terrorists, but those who help them.

"We have to make sure that we go after terrorism and get it by its branch and root," he said, specifically mentioning the Taliban regime as harbouring bin Laden.

The scale of US retaliation remains unclear, however, and the Administration has not publicly blamed bin Laden.

The Washington Post said options being considered ranged from small-scale moves against the groups linked with bin Laden to bombing and sending troops into Afghanistan.

The paper also reported that the Administration was investigating presidential powers to order the assassination of civilians.

NATO defence sources told The Guardian newspaper in Britain that the alliance was drawing up contingency plans for a massive attack against Afghanistan.

An assault would involve tens of thousands of ground troops, equivalent to the force deployed in Kosovo, it said.

The fundamentalist Taliban regime, which controls most of Afghanistan and has ignored requests to hand bin Laden over to international authorities, appealed to the US not to bomb the country.

But calls for a huge response grew in the US, both from ordinary citizens stunned at the scale of the tragedy and from a determined bipartisan Congress, which unanimously pledged $US20 billion for rescue efforts and anti-terrorism measures.

The House and Senate worked late into the night to authorise the use of force in response to the attacks, similar to the backing given to the former President George Bush in the Gulf War.

The Republican Senator John McCain said there was "controlled fury" among Americans. "We are coming," he warned terrorists. "God may show you mercy. We will not."

Bush's remarks during the debates. On the questions of when to use the military. Your question was deployment. It must be in the national interests, must be in our vital interests whether we ever send troops. The mission must be clear. Soldiers must understand why we're going. The force must be strong enough so that the mission can be accomplished. And the exit strategy needs to be well-defined.

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.