WASHINGTON, Oct. 13 (UPI) -- President Bush on Saturday told the nation the first phase of the U.S-led campaign against terrorism had achieved its goals of disrupting the terrorist network inside Afghanistan, but that the campaign would not be completed with one attack.
"We have weakened the Taliban's military. And we have crippled the Taliban's air defenses. American forces dominate the skies over Afghanistan and we will use that dominance to make sure terrorists can no longer freely use Afghanistan as a base of operations," Bush said in his weekly radio address.
The president also praised the military forces carrying out his orders, in response to the terrorist attacks that destroyed the World Trade Center, part of the Pentagon and killed some 6,000 people.
The United States and Great Britan began its military campaign against Afghanistan Sunday, waging airstrikes over the capital, Kabul, and other critical sites. The strikes are in answer to the Taliban government's refusal to surrender Saudi exile Osama bin Laden and his Muslim extremist group al-Qaida believed responsible for the attacks. In a news conference on Thursday, the president held out one last chance to the Taliban to deliver bin Laden and negotiate an end to the attacks.
The president reassured the American people that the authorities were doing their utmost to protect them against further terrorist attacks and defended recent FBI warnings about dangers in the next few days as a way of showing the government was on the job.
"I understand that many Americans are feeling uneasy. But all Americans should be assured; We are taking strong precautions, we are vigilant, we are determined the country is alert, and the great power of the American nation will be felt," Bush said.
The president addressed reports of unexplained anthrax exposures in Florida and a Federal Bureau of Investigation advisory indicating that a terrorist attack on U.S. soil or American targets abroad were likely. On Friday, he said federal authorities were responding swiftly to the fourth reported case of anthrax exposure discovered at New York's famous Rockefeller Center, saying of the terrorists, "They will not take this country down."
On Monday, former Gov. Tom Ridge was sworn in as head of the administration's Office of Homeland Defense. Ridge will be charged with coordinating anti-terrorism efforts of the intelligence, law enforcement and cabinet agencies. Bush called Ridge an effective executive who "knows what we're up against."
Along with military strikes the U.S. has provided more than $320 million in humanitarian aid in the form of airdrops containing food, medicine and supplies to the Afghan people. He then asked the nation's children to help youngsters in Afghanistan by donating $1 each to the "America's Fund for Afghan Children", contributions they could send directly to the White House to be distributed by the American Red Cross.
"I urge you to show the best of America, by directly helping the children of Afghanistan who are suffering from the oppression and misrule of their own government. Many are malnourished. Many are starving," Bush said Saturday.
He went on: "We will oppose their evil with firm justice, and we will answer their hatred with compassion for the Afghan people.
