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| Bush Vows to Continue War Against Terrorism |
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FRI, OCT 12, 2001
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U.S. President George W. Bush vowed in Washington Thursday to continue the ongoing war against terrorism as the country is stepping up its military strikes on Afghanistan.
"This battle front will last as long as it takes to bring al Qaeda to justice," he said at the first prime-time news conference of his presidency, held exactly one month after the September 11 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington.
"It may end tomorrow or in a month. It may take a year or two. I am determined to stay the course," he said.
Bush told reporters that both the diplomatic and military battles against terrorism are going well.
He said all of the military missions are being executed " according to plan," and "all is strong and united on the diplomatic front."
"We've accomplished a great deal in month," he said.
Bush admitted that he did not know whether Osama bin Laden is dead or alive, but he vowed to drive the al Qaeda terrorists "out of their caves and bring them to justice."
The United States blames Saudi-born militant Osama bin Laden, his al Qaeda organization and their hosts, Afghanistan's Islamic Taliban movement, for the attacks.
Reiterating that the different kind of war will be fought on many fronts, Bush said that several hundreds of terrorist suspects have been arrested so far and 24 million dollars of financial assets of the Taliban and al Qaeda have been frozen.
He warned that the threat from terrorism is "ongoing" and said his government is taking "every possible step" to protect the country from further attacks.
"Americans tonight can know that while the threat is ongoing we are taking every possible step to protect our country from danger, " he said, adding that the FBI warning on Thursday of possible further terrorist attacks may not be the last one.
FBI warned in a statement Thursday of possible further terrorist attacks both inside and outside the United States in the next few days, citing information it has just received.
Bush held the prime-time press conference as the country is holding memorial services in different cities to mourn about 5,500 victims of the terrorist attacks.
At a memorial service at the Pentagon earlier Thursday, Bush vowed to use "every resource, every weapon, every means necessary" to win a worldwide war against terrorism.
"One by one, we are eliminating power centers of a regime that harbors al Qaeda terrorists," Bush said.
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