WASHINGTON, Oct. 11 (UPI) -- President Bush said Thursday that the United States and her allies have "got to work for a stable Afghanistan" after the Taliban is defeated so her neighbors don't have to fear further terrorism and a he foresaw a role for the United Nations "once the military mission is complete."
The president has in the past been critical of getting the U.S. involved in what he called "nation building" but Thursday evening as military forces continued their attacks on Afghanistan, he acknowledged that there had to be "stabilization of a future government."
In a wide ranging formal news conference on the one month anniversary of the terrorist attacks that destroyed the World Trade Center, part of the Pentagon and killed some 6,000 persons, the president held out one last chance to the Taliban to deliver Osama bin Laden and the al Qaida network and negotiate an end to the attacks.
"My focus is bringing al Qaida to justice and saying to the government, 'You had your chance to deliver'. Actually I will say it again: If you cough him up and his people today, that we'll reconsider what we are doing to your country. You still have a second chance. Just bring him in. And his leaders and lieutenants and other thugs and criminals with him," Bush said.
The president repeatedly as he has done in past weeks, seemed to want to reassure the American people that the authorities are 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.
The president also sent harsh warnings to Iraq and Syria as nations that harbor terrorists and reconfirmed a commitment to a Palestinian state if the parties would come to the peace table and acknowledge Israel's right to exist.
The president took questions from the White House Press Corps in a 40-minute news conference, the first from the ornate East Room since 1994. Bush strolled to the podium at 8 p.m., made a short statement telling the nation that the war on terrorism going well, and took about 12 questions from reporters.
Bush and his national security team have identified Saudi exile Osama bin Laden and his Muslim extremist group as the prime suspects in the attacks. On Sunday the United States and Great Britain, with the support of NATO, the United Nations and about 49 countries, began military strikes against Afghanistan after its Taliban government refused to surrender bin Laden.
Bush said he was uncertain whether bin Laden was dead or alive but was determined that he will be brought to justice.
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. Once the conflict ends, the president said that the United States had to work for a stable Afghanistan with the United Nations participating in so-called "nation-building", replacing the Taliban with a more democratic government.
President Bush said Iraq and its leader Saddam Hussein was being watched carefully. Hussein who found himself at war with the president's father has been accused of producing chemical and biological weapons -- in violation of international law. Bush warned it would be to Hussein's advantage to allow inspectors in to his country to ensure he was adhering to the agreements made at the end of the Persian Gulf War.
On Syria, the president said he welcomed their help in the war against terrorism. Syria is on the State Department's list of nations harboring terrorism.
The president spoke candidly but firmly about 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.
"We cannot let the terrorists achieve the objective of frightening our nation to the point where we don't conduct business, where people don't shop. That's their intention. Their intention is not only to kill and main and destroy; their intention was to frighten to the point where our nation would not act," Bush said.
When asked what average Americans could do about these repeated warnings, he said they should be alert to suspicious activity. "If you see suspicious people lurking around petro-chemical plants, report it to law enforcement," he said. But he quickly stressed that this was not bid to be intolerant.
He told the nation that crop dusters were grounded two weeks ago after the FBI received information that an al Qaida operative was prepared to use a crop duster to spray a biological or chemical weapon on the American people. Bush said authorities took "strong and appropriate" action.
Bush also assured the international community that the United States has remained engaged in the Middle East, welcoming Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to the Oval Office this fall. He said that wants the Israelis and Palestinians to return to the Mitchell process, tamping down violence and embracing a cease-fire so the two parties can re-start a political dialogue.
He said he would meet with Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat when he was convinced that a meeting would be further the process.
"If it turns out to be an empty photo opportunity that creates expectations that will become dashed, I won't meet. I hope progress is being made. I was pleased to see that Mr. Arafat is trying to control the radical elements within the Palestinian Authority, and I think the world ought to applaud him for that," Bush said.
