International
Bush warns `rogue nations'
By Sridhar Krishnaswami
New York
FEB. 1.
Continuing the tough words on terrorism in his State of the Union Address on Tuesday, the U.S. President, George W. Bush, once again threatened countries that if they were deemed as backing terrorism, they would have to face justice. "If you're one of these nations that developed weapons of mass destruction and you're likely to team up with a terrorist group or you're sponsoring terror and you don't hold the values that we hold dear true to your heart then you too are on our watch list'', Mr. Bush said, addressing an audience in Atlanta, Georgia.
Although Mr. Bush did not mention names he was alluding to the nations he identified on Tuesday as the "axis of evil'' _ Iraq, Iran and North Korea. "People say, `Well, what does that mean'...It means they better not try to terrorise America and our friends and allies or the justice of this nation will be served on them as well'', the President remarked.
Mr. Bush's reference to the "axis of evil'' brought forth scorn from those capitals and concern in some quarters of an expanding campaign against terrorism. Separately, in making his pitch for the expanded Pentagon Budget, the Defence Secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, has warned Americans that the country must be prepared for more attacks or "vastly more deadly'' than the ones witnessed on Sept. 11. "Our job is to close off as many of those avenues of potential attack as possible'', Mr. Rumsfeld said at the National Defence Institute. Making a case for the administration's proposed $ 48-billion increase _ including a $ 10-billion for contingencies _ Mr. Rumsfeld argued that America was vulnerable to different types of threats including cyber and missile attacks on American cities."These attacks could grow vastly more deadly than those we suffered'', he said.
In Mr. Rumsfeld's view, if a terrorist group had access to nuclear, biological or chemical weapons it would have the power to put at risk not just thousands of lives "but hundreds of thousands of lives''. Mr. Rumsfeld did not spell out where exactly the money would be spent or what additional projects were being considered. But it was clear that the administration was looking at the full range including missile defences.
Meanwhile, both the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Central Intelligence Agency have been warning of a range of possible attacks. The FBI has said that the Al-Qaeda may have been studying dams and water supply systems in preparation for new attacks. And the CIA has told Congress that materials seized from Al-Qaeda safe-houses in Kabul have shown rudimentary diagrams of nuclear weapons and sketches of American nuclear power plants. But the top intelligence agency is not sure if an attack was planned.
PTI reports:
The U.S. is aiding Pakistan and some other countries to help them change their system of education that stands in the way of peace and stability into one for acquiring practical skills for a better standard of living. ``Terrorism, the kind of hopelessness that gets foisted on people around the world, cannot stand in a world in which people have hope. And that is why education in practical skills, rather than education in hatred, is so important to peace and stability in the long run,'' said the National Security Adviser, Condoleezza Rice.
Send this article to Friends by
E-Mail
International
|
