HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK ---------------------------
" America's devastating bombing campaign in
Afghanistan
had already persuaded many nations that have supported
terrorism to change their ways."
U.S. Deputy Secretary
of Defense Paul Wolfowitz
had already persuaded many nations that have supported
terrorism to change their ways."
U.S. Deputy Secretary
of Defense Paul Wolfowitz
.....Except the U.S itself, of course.
mart
----- Original Message -----
HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UKFrom: Steve Wagner <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Tuesday, January 08, 2002 8:13
AM
Subject: U.S. considers post-Afghan targets
---------------------------
from
http://www.japantoday.com/
__________
U.S. considers post-Afghan targets
Tuesday, January 8, 2002 at 17:30 JST
WASHINGTON - In the next phase of Washington's war on terrorism, the
United States could focus on keeping terrorists out of places like
Somalia, Yemen, Indonesia and the Philippines, U.S. Deputy Secretary
of Defense Paul Wolfowitz said in an interview published on Tuesday.
Wolfowitz told the New York Times the Pentagon is now working with
friendly countries like the Philippines that would welcome U.S. help.
But he said the Pentagon is also looking hard at possible terror
bases in Somalia and Yemen, which are not equipped to root out
terrorists on their own.
Wolfowitz told the newspaper that the Pentagon had not ruled out
military action against any country, including Iraq.
He said that America's devastating bombing campaign in Afghanistan
had already persuaded many nations that have supported terrorism to
change their ways.
"I'd say almost everywhere one has seen progress," he said. "A lot of
that progress is motivated by the sense of American seriousness and
the fear of getting on the wrong side of us."
Iraq, however, has shown no signs of opposing terrorism, Wolfowitz
told the newspaper, saying that while President Saddam Hussein "is
keeping his head down these days, that should not leave the
impression that he doesn't continue to do a bunch of things that
concern us."
Wolfowitz also told the Times that Somalia, perhaps more than any
other place, fitted the bill of a lawless state that draws terrorists
like a magnet.
"Obviously Somalia comes up as a possible candidate for Al Qaeda
people to flee to precisely because the government is weak or
nonexistent," Wolfowitz said. But the newspaper said he acknowledged
that U.S. options were limited in Somalia, where, he said, "by
definition you don't have a government you can work with."
On the subject of Yemen, Wolfowitz said that country also has pockets
or regions of lawlessness, outside the control of the central
government. "There are very significant back regions of Yemen," he
said. "That's a case of an ungoverned piece of a country." The U.S
has already put pressure on Yemen to crack down on suspected al Qaeda
cells in the country.
But Wolfowitz said in the interview that the Pentagon's main focus
remains on Afghanistan, which he said was "at least as treacherous
and dangerous now as it was a month or two ago."
"One of the most difficult things in the next few months is going to
be establishing which of our allies of convenience in the early
stages of this war can become real allies over the longer term, and
which ones are going to be major troublemakers, and which ones are
going to just switch sides," Wolfowitz said in the interview.
He told the paper that Hamid Karzai, Afghanistan's interim leader, so
far has proven to be an impressive man. "Whether he's up to the
formidable job he has is a different question, Wolfowitz said.
(Reuters News)
==^================================================================ This email was sent to: archive@jab.org EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9WB2D Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^================================================================