01/10/2002
EDITORIAL NUMBER=0-09636

FOUR MONTHS AND COUNTING

On September eleventh, terrorists attacked the United States. Suicide missions destroyed New York’s World Trade Center and damaged the Pentagon outside Washington, D-C. More than three-thousand people died.

An American-led coalition was formed to meet the threat. The first battlefield in this war against terrorism is Afghanistan. Much has been accomplished.

In just four months, the oppressive Taleban regime has been replaced by an interim administration representing the Afghan people. It has been made clear to governments around the world that harboring terrorists is unacceptable and carries the ultimate price. As President George W. Bush said, "any nation that continues to. . .support terrorism will be regarded by the United States as a hostile regime."

Afghanistan is no longer a safe place for terrorists. Abdul Salam Zaeef [sah-LAHM zah-EEF], the former Taleban ambassador to Pakistan and a vocal defender of the al-Qaida terrorists, is in American hands. And that’s just the beginning.

Osama bin Laden, the al-Qaida leader who planned the terrorist attacks against the United States, is in hiding. He will be found. As of now, his global network is being crippled. As U-S Assistant Secretary of Defense Victoria Clarke said, "We have killed or captured some of the leaders, both Taleban and al-Qaida. And, we have assisted in delivering a record amount of humanitarian supplies to the people of Afghanistan."

The number of al-Qaida and Taleban detainees transferred to U-S forces in Afghanistan stands at well over three hundred. Many of these detainees will be sent to newly constructed facilities at the U-S Navy base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

The events unfolding in Afghanistan mark the beginning of the global war on terrorism. There are and will be other operations that will not be as visible. But the goal will be the same: the eradication of terrorists and their networks wherever they exist.