US President George W. Bush said on Tuesday US troops might be used to carry out strikes outside Afghanistan as part of the administration's expanding war against terrorism.
"Strikes will be incredibly important, and there may be a need to use military troops elsewhere," Bush said in an interview for the ABC News program 20/20 that was to air yesterday. "And I just want the American people to know that we're keeping all options on the table."
Iraq has been singled out as a potential target in an expanded anti-terror campaign, but Bush made clear the US and its allies were focused for now on the effort in Afghanistan to eliminate Taliban leaders and destroy Islamic militant Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network.
"What people need to know is ... we're going to do our job in Afghanistan first," Bush said. "Then we can find other areas ... of opportunity to rout out terrorism." The president made the comments after freezing the assets of three groups that Washington says are linked to Hamas, the organization that took responsibility for weekend suicide bombings in Israel.
"This war on terror is so unconventional that there will be strikes ... that people may not see until we tell them that there's been a strike," Bush said.
Bush has suggested in recent weeks that the US could carry out pre-emptive military strikes against al-Qaeda and other groups outside Afghanistan's borders. Washington accuses bin Laden and al-Qaeda of masterminding the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.
Bush has already promised to help President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo of the Philippines to combat Abu Sayyaf, a Muslim rebel group which operates in the country's south. Washington believes Abu Sayyaf has links to al-Qaeda.
In his interview with ABC, Bush renewed his call on Iraq to allow international arms inspections to resume, but he would not say whether Baghdad's refusal to admit inspectors could prompt a US military response.
RSS