President George W. Bush called the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington ``the first war of the 21st century'' and his administration labeled fugitive Osama bin Laden a prime suspect.
The United States promised Thursday to wage all-out retaliation against those responsible and any regime that protects them. Action could take weeks or months rather than days, a senior administration official indicated.
As part of the effort, the United States urged Pakistan to close its border with neighboring Afghanistan, where bin Laden operates, and to cut off funding for terrorist groups.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the United States also asked Pakistan for peas evacuated in the middle of a Senate vote Thursday evening because of a bomb threat. Members were allowed to return when bomb-sniffing dogs did not find explosives.
Tears welling in his eyes, Bush spoke earlier of a need to win the battle against terrorism.
``I'm a loving guy. And I am also someone, however, who's got a job to do and I intend to do it. And this is a terrible moment,'' Bush said, talking to reporters in the Oval Office.
Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz said the administration's retaliation would be ``sustained and broad and effective'' and that the United States ``will use all our resources.''
``It's not just simply a matter of capturing people and holding them accountable, but removing the sad thousands of leads'' in the investigation of the attacks
Ashcroft said a total of 18 hijackers were on the four planes _ five on two and four on the other was an important U.S. ally during the Cold War, although relations more recently have been strained.
Bush announced he would visit New York to get a firsthand look at the devastation in lower Manhattan, where Washington Hospital Center with the first lady to visit victims of the plane crash at the Pentagon.
About 190 people perished in the terrorist attack on the Pentagon, including 64 aboard the plane.
BUILDUP: US General Dan Caine said Chinese military maneuvers are not routine exercises, but instead are ‘rehearsals for a forced unification’ with Taiwan China poses an increasingly aggressive threat to the US and deterring Beijing is the Pentagon’s top regional priority amid its rapid military buildup and invasion drills near Taiwan, US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said on Tuesday. “Our pacing threat is communist China,” Hegseth told the US House of Representatives Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense during an oversight hearing with US General Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. “Beijing is preparing for war in the Indo-Pacific as part of its broader strategy to dominate that region and then the world,” Hegseth said, adding that if it succeeds, it could derail
CHIP WAR: The new restrictions are expected to cut off China’s access to Taiwan’s technologies, materials and equipment essential to building AI semiconductors Taiwan has blacklisted Huawei Technologies Co (華為) and Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC, 中芯), dealing another major blow to the two companies spearheading China’s efforts to develop cutting-edge artificial intelligence (AI) chip technologies. The Ministry of Economic Affairs’ International Trade Administration has included Huawei, SMIC and several of their subsidiaries in an update of its so-called strategic high-tech commodities entity list, the latest version on its Web site showed on Saturday. It did not publicly announce the change. Other entities on the list include organizations such as the Taliban and al-Qaeda, as well as companies in China, Iran and elsewhere. Local companies need
CROSS-STRAIT: The MAC said it barred the Chinese officials from attending an event, because they failed to provide guarantees that Taiwan would be treated with respect The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Friday night defended its decision to bar Chinese officials and tourism representatives from attending a tourism event in Taipei next month, citing the unsafe conditions for Taiwanese in China. The Taipei International Summer Travel Expo, organized by the Taiwan Tourism Exchange Association, is to run from July 18 to 21. China’s Taiwan Affairs Office spokeswoman Zhu Fenglian (朱鳳蓮) on Friday said that representatives from China’s travel industry were excluded from the expo. The Democratic Progressive Party government is obstructing cross-strait tourism exchange in a vain attempt to ignore the mainstream support for peaceful development
ELITE UNIT: President William Lai yesterday praised the National Police Agency’s Special Operations Group after watching it go through assault training and hostage rescue drills The US Navy regularly conducts global war games to develop deterrence strategies against a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, aimed at making the nation “a very difficult target to take,” US Acting Chief of Naval Operations James Kilby said on Wednesday. Testifying before the US House of Representatives Armed Services Committee, Kilby said the navy has studied the issue extensively, including routine simulations at the Naval War College. The navy is focused on five key areas: long-range strike capabilities; countering China’s command, control, communications, computers, cyber, intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance and targeting; terminal ship defense; contested logistics; and nontraditional maritime denial tactics, Kilby
RSS