International
Victory will come to the U.S., says Bush
NORFOLK NAVAL STATION (VIRGINIA), DEC. 8. The U.S. President, Mr. George W. Bush celebrated victory over Afghanistan's defeated Taliban on Friday, saying ``Today they control not much more than a few caves,'' as he drew a parallel between September 11 and the Pearl Harbor attack exactly 60 years ago.
Visiting the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise on the anniversary of the December 7, 1941, attack at Pearl Harbour, Mr. Bush added September 11, 2001, as a date that will also live in infamy. In a flag-waving speech honouring the U.S. military's performance in the Afghan war, Mr. Bush mocked Osama bin Laden and his Al-Qaeda followers for sending youthful loyalists to carry out suicide attacks like those on September 11. ``They celebrate death, making a mission of murder and a sacrament of suicide. Yet, for some reason only young followers are ushered down this deadly path to paradise while terrorist leaders run into caves to save their own hides,'' Mr. Bush said to hoots of approval from the Enterprise sailors.
The U.S.-led war in Afghanistan, using air power and limited ground forces in support of Afghan troops of the Northern Alliance, has driven the Taliban from power in two months. Meanwhile, Bin laden is believed hiding out in a cave.
``Not long ago that regime controlled most of Afghanistan,'' Mr. Bush said, standing on the Enterprise deck. ``Today, they control not much more than a few caves.'' He said it was not long ago that Al-Qaeda's leaders dismissed America as a paper tiger.
``That was before the tiger roared,'' he said. ``We are a long way from finished in Afghanistan,'' said Mr. Bush. ``Much difficult and dangerous work is yet to come. Many terrorists are still hiding in heavily fortified bunkers in very rugged territory.
``They're said to be prepared for a long stay underground. But they're in for a sudden change in plans, because one by one we're going to find them and piece by piece we'll tear their terrorist network apart.'' He vowed the Al-Qaeda would not be appeased.
``They must be defeated. This struggle will not end in a truce or a treaty, it will end in victory for the United States, our friends and the cause of freedom,'' Mr. Bush said. The USS enterprise, a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier launched in 1960, recently returned from duty in the war against Afghanistan.
Mr. Bush was joined by 25 Pearl Harbour survivors, 100 other World War II veterans and almost 10,000 servicemen and women and support personnel at Norfolk, the largest naval station in the world. ``Now, another date will forever stand alongside December 7 - September 11, 2001,'' Mr. Bush said in a written proclamation. ``On that day, our people and our way of life again were brutally and suddenly attacked, though not by a complex military manoeuvre but by the surreptitious wiles of evil terrorists.'' He said the Pearl Harbour attack stood as a symbol of American military valour and national resolve and ``as a reminder of the presence of evil in the world and the need to remain ever vigilant against it.''
- Reuters
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