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U.S. Response II: Bush Warns Terrorists, States Against Developing WMD U.S. President George W. Bush last night told Congress and the country that the United States would not allow countries or terrorists to threaten the United States with weapons of mass destruction and listed North Korea, Iran and Iraq as states that posed such threats (see GSN, Jan. 29). In Bush’s first State of the Union speech, he also said that al-Qaeda had planned additional attacks against the United States, and he urged Americans to be vigilant against future terrorist attacks. Bush clearly stated his intentions to wage war against terrorism and the states that support terrorists. “So long as training camps operate, so long as nations harbor terrorists, freedom is at risk. And America and our allies must not, and will not, allow it,” he said. “We must prevent the terrorists and regimes who seek chemical, biological or nuclear weapons from threatening the United States and the world,” Bush said. “By seeking weapons of mass destruction, these regimes pose a grave and growing danger. They could provide these arms to terrorists, giving them the means to match their hatred. They could attack our allies or attempt to blackmail the United States.” Iraq Bush mentioned Iraq more extensively than any other country, save Afghanistan. “Iraq continues to flaunt its hostility toward America and to support terror. The Iraqi regime has plotted to develop anthrax and nerve gas and nuclear weapons for over a decade,” he said. “This is a regime that has already used poison gas to murder thousands of its own citizens, leaving the bodies of mothers huddled over their dead children. This is a regime that agreed to international inspections, then kicked out the inspectors (see GSN, Jan. 28). This is a regime that has something to hide from the civilized world” (White House transcript, Jan. 29). Bush has earlier made similar remarks about Iraq (see GSN, Nov. 27, 2001), but last night’s speech was the strongest rhetoric yet, according to the New York Times. The comments indicated an ambitious policy of diplomacy and perhaps military action against Iraq and certain other countries that develop weapons of mass destruction (see GSN, Jan. 7), the Times reported (Michael Gordon, New York Times, Jan. 30). Bush referred to Iraq, North Korea, Iran and other states combined with “their terrorist allies” as “an axis of evil, arming to threaten the peace of the world” (White House transcript, Jan. 29). His terms constitute a major change from the Clinton administration, which referred to the three countries as “rogue states” or “states of concern” (Gordon, New York Times, Jan. 30). The administration has not yet decided how to deal with Iraq, but Bush indicated that he would expand the war against terrorism to states that could threaten the United States with weapons of mass destruction and that he had sided with administration and military officials who have advocated a hard-line policy, the Times reported. Senior U.S. officials have been debating how the United States should deal with Iraq since Bush became president (see GSN, Jan. 24). “The hard-liners have been arguing that after Sept. 11 it is intolerable to live in a world in which Iraq, Iran and North Korea have weapons of mass destruction. Bush has now fully embraced this paradigm,” said Ivo Daalder, a foreign policy analyst at the Brookings Institution (Gordon, New York Times, Jan. 30). Iran The president also addressed Iran: “Iran aggressively pursues [weapons of mass destruction] and exports terror, while an unelected few repress the Iranian people’s hope for freedom” (White House transcript, Jan. 29). The criticism of Iran was more surprising than comments against North Korea and Iraq, according to the Washington Post. U.S.-Iranian relations generally had been improving, and senior U.S. officials had expressed appreciation for Iran’s condemnation of the Sept. 11 attacks, Iran’s offer to help U.S. pilots downed over Afghanistan who ended up in Iran and the country’s participation in discussions to create a new Afghan government. Relations had cooled lately, however, particularly over an arms shipment that Israel intercepted on its way to the Palestinian territories that Israel and the United States said came from Iran. The United States also recently included Iran in a list of countries (see GSN, Jan. 16) it accused of having a biological weapons program (Karen DeYoung, Washington Post, Jan. 30). Action Against the “Axis of Evil” Regarding the alleged “Axis of Evil,” Bush said that “in any of these cases, the price of indifference would be catastrophic.” “We will work closely with our coalition to deny terrorists and their state sponsors the materials, technology and expertise to make and deliver weapons of mass destruction,” he said. “We will develop and deploy effective missile defenses to protect America and our allies from sudden attack. And all nations should know: Americans will do what is necessary to ensure our nation’s security. “We’ll be deliberate, yet time is not on our side. I will not wait on events while dangers gather. I will not stand by, as peril draws closer and closer. The United States of America will not permit the world’s most dangerous regimes to threaten us with the world’s most destructive weapons,” Bush said (White House transcript, Jan. 29). Although Bush did not mention any specific military actions, a senior White House official said people should not “read anything into any [country] name in terms of the next phase” of the war on terrorism. “We’ve always said there are a number of elements of national power” in the U.S. arsenal, and “this is not a call to use a specific element,” the official said (DeYoung, Washington Post, Jan. 30). Thanks, Pakistan Bush expressed gratitude to Pakistan. “My hope is that all nations will heed our call and eliminate the terrorist parasites who threaten their countries and our own,” he said. “Many nations are acting forcefully. Pakistan is now cracking down on terror, and I admire the strong leadership of President [Pervez] Musharraf” (see GSN, Jan. 9). Al-Qaeda Plans Mass Destruction; Threats Remain Bush said the United States has evidence that al-Qaeda planned to attack the United States to cause mass destruction. “We have found diagrams of American nuclear power plants and public water facilities, detailed instructions for making chemical weapons, surveillance maps of American cities and thorough descriptions of landmarks in America and throughout the world,” he said (see GSN, Jan. 25). “What we have found in Afghanistan confirms that, far from ending there, our war against terror is only beginning … Thousands of dangerous killers, schooled in the methods of murder, often supported by outlaw regimes, are now spread throughout the world like ticking time bombs, set to go off without warning,” Bush said (White House transcript, Jan. 29). Bush was referring to previously classified evidence that had alarmed top officials, said a senior Bush administration official. “We had circumstantial evidence in the past of this, that they were directly targeting America: monuments and things like that. But now we know that it was all true,” the official said. “We know from fragmentary intelligence that they were interested in this kind of thing. But the fact that the president has mentioned it in a State of the Union indicates the quality of the evidence.” Bush is attempting to prepare the U.S. public for possible future attacks and the need for continued vigilance by making the information public (see GSN, Jan. 4), the official said (Meyer/Zitner, Los Angeles Times, Jan. 30). Current and Future U.S. Action Against Terrorism Bush outlined U.S. actions and plans to counter threats of terrorism. “While the most visible military action is in Afghanistan, America is acting elsewhere,” he said. “We now have troops in the Philippines, helping to train that country’s armed forces to go after terrorist cells that have executed an American and still hold hostages (see GSN, Nov. 26, 2001). Our soldiers, working with the Bosnian government, seized terrorists who were plotting to bomb our embassy. Our navy is patrolling the coast of Africa to block the shipment of weapons (see GSN, Jan. 18) and the establishment of terrorist camps in Somalia (see GSN, Jan. 19),” Bush said. The president said his budget proposal for fiscal 2003 would provide more money to conduct the war on terrorism abroad and defend the homeland, including “the largest increase in defense spending in two decades” (see GSN, Jan. 22). The war in Afghanistan costs more than $30 million a day, “and we must be prepared for future operations,” Bush said. “Afghanistan proved that expensive precision weapons defeat the enemy and spare innocent lives, and we need more of them. We need to replace again aircraft and make our military more agile, to put our troops anywhere in the world quickly and safely … Whatever it costs to defend our country, we will pay,” Bush said. The United States also needs to act to protect its homeland against future attack, the president said. “My budget nearly doubles funding for a sustained strategy of homeland security, focused on four key areas: bioterrorism, emergency response, airport and border security and improved intelligence,” he said. “We will develop vaccines to fight anthrax and other deadly diseases (see GSN, Jan. 24). We’ll increase funding to help states and communities train and equip our heroic police and firefighters (see GSN, Jan. 24). We will improve intelligence collection and sharing, expand patrols at our borders, strengthen the security of air travel and use technology to track the arrivals and departures of visitors to the United States. “Homeland security will make America not only stronger, but, in many ways, better. Knowledge gained from bioterrorism research will improve public health. Stronger police and fire departments will mean safer neighborhoods. Stricter border enforcement will help combat illegal drugs. And as government works to better secure our homeland, America will continue to depend on the eyes and ears of alert citizens,” Bush said (White House transcript, Jan. 29).
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