US President George W. Bush was to give an address to a joint session of Congress last night to urge Americans to be vigilant and patient as the US prepares to strike its first blow in a war on terrorism.
Working to form a global coalition against the threat, Bush was to meet British Prime Minister Tony Blair yesterday as well as the Saudi foreign minister, Prince Saud al-Faisal.
Blair has pledged Britain will stand "shoulder to shoulder" with the US, while Saudi Arabia has offered support and cooperation with its key ally but has not given details.
Bush's speech, to be televised nationally, may well be the most important of his young presidency, coming at a similar period of uncertainty for Americans as Franklin Roosevelt's "Day of Infamy" speech after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor in 1941.
It also comes as the US is deploying dozens of bombers, fighters and support aircraft to the Middle East and Indian Ocean as part of "Operation Infinite Justice" to punish those responsible for the Sept. 11 attacks on New York and Washington that left more than 5,000 people dead or missing.
"A lot of our citizens have got a lot of questions about what has taken place on Sept. 11 and subsequent to that, and I owe it to the country to give an explanation," Bush told reporters Wednesday.
White House National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice told reporters that Bush will outline the threat Americans face as well as "why this kind of hate would exist against the United States.
"I think the president is going to use this as an opportunity to talk about the sustained nature of this campaign," Rice said. "I think he will use it as an opportunity to urge patience and reason, and to demonstrate again that his resolve is going to be over a long period of time, not in a single moment."
Since the attacks, Bush has been speaking out daily. He has visited both the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, as he rallies support for a military campaign against the chief suspect, Islamic militant Osama bin Laden and his followers, many of whom are believed to be in hiding in Afghanistan.
Bush tempered his war talk a bit on Wednesday, instead referring to the US effort as a "worldwide campaign" and emphasizing that it will take time to carry out against a shadowy enemy with tentacles believed to stretch to more than 60 countries.
The dilemma facing Pentagon planners is how to make sure they have the right targets. Bin Laden is said to be constantly on the move in the rugged mountainous terrain of Afghanistan.
"What's the use of sending a US$2 million missile into a US$10 tent to hit a camel in the butt?" Bush said during a private meeting with members of Congress last week, according to aides.
The government is aiming to recruit 1,096 foreign English teachers and teaching assistants this year, the Ministry of Education said yesterday. The foreign teachers would work closely with elementary and junior-high instructors to create and teach courses, ministry official Tsai Yi-ching (蔡宜靜) said. Together, they would create an immersive language environment, helping to motivate students while enhancing the skills of local teachers, she said. The ministry has since 2021 been recruiting foreign teachers through the Taiwan Foreign English Teacher Program, which offers placement, salary, housing and other benefits to eligible foreign teachers. Two centers serving northern and southern Taiwan assist in recruiting and training
RESTAURANT POISONING? Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang at a press conference last night said this was the first time bongkrekic acid was detected in Taiwan An autopsy discovered bongkrekic acid in a specimen collected from a person who died from food poisoning after dining at the Malaysian restaurant chain Polam Kopitiam, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said at a news conference last night. It was the first time bongkrekic acid was detected in Taiwan, Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang (王必勝) said. The testing conducted by forensic specialists at National Taiwan University was facilitated after a hospital voluntarily offered standard samples it had in stock that are required to test for bongkrekic acid, he said. Wang told the news conference that testing would continue despite
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‘CARRIER KILLERS’: The Tuo Chiang-class corvettes’ stealth capability means they have a radar cross-section as small as the size of a fishing boat, an analyst said President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday presided over a ceremony at Yilan County’s Suao Harbor (蘇澳港), where the navy took delivery of two indigenous Tuo Chiang-class corvettes. The corvettes, An Chiang (安江) and Wan Chiang (萬江), along with the introduction of the coast guard’s third and fourth 4,000-tonne cutters earlier this month, are a testament to Taiwan’s shipbuilding capability and signify the nation’s resolve to defend democracy and freedom, Tsai said. The vessels are also the last two of six Tuo Chiang-class corvettes ordered from Lungteh Shipbuilding Co (龍德造船) by the navy, Tsai said. The first Tuo Chiang-class vessel delivered was Ta Chiang (塔江)