By Sarah V. Dailey
It has begun: the first American war of the twenty-first century. Sunday morning, the U.S. military attacked Afghanistan by air, successfully hitting its targets.
“We will not falter and we will not fail,” President George Bush said in an address to the nation from inside the security of the White House. As Americans watched and listened to Bush speak of leading the country in retaliation against the terrorist attacks that transpired almost one month ago on September 11, tomahawk missiles and bombs were hitting targets halfway around the world.
Aiding the U.S., Britain’s Prime Minister Tony Blair stated, “We made clear following the attacks upon the United States on September 11 that we would take action once it was clear who was responsible. There is no doubt in my mind, nor in the mind of anyone who has been through all the available evidence, including intelligence material, that these attacks were carried out by the al-Qaeda network headed by Osama bin Laden.”
More evidence pointed to bin Laden as the culprit behind the recent terrorist attacks when a video tape of him, speaking about the attacks, was discovered. The video tape, which shows bin Laden and his followers speaking in a statement that was prepared before the attacks, states to the U.S. that Americans will never “dream of security before we live it in Palestine, and not before all the infidel armies leave the land of Muhammad.”
At 12:30 p.m. EDT, or 9 p.m. Kabul time, 15 bombers and 25 strike aircraft, sea- and land-based, launched missiles. Pakistan’s airspace was used by both U.S. and British forces to launch the attacks, Pakistan’s defense ministry officials said. The targets were those of early-warning radars, surface-to-air missiles, airfields, military command-and-control installations and terrorist camps. The first wave of attacks was aimed at two specific targets: military headquarters and the Taliban headquarters. The first strike hit the Kandahar airport, hitting and destroying radar facilities and the control tower. The first attack was also aimed at hundreds of housing complexes where bin Laden’s terrorist movement followers were staying.
The second attack was aimed at the Taliban headquarters in downtown Kandahar, where sources said smoke was seen rising out of Mullah Omar’s home, nine miles outside of the city. Abdul Salam Zaeef, a Taliban ambassador, told reporters that both bin Laden and Mullah Omar survived the first wave of attacks. Both attacks were meant to eliminate the Taliban’s air defenses and any military aircraft.
According to Bush, these attacks are not against the people of Afghanistan, but an attack against terrorism. Britain, Canada, Australia, Germany, and France as well as other countries have granted air transit and landing rights. Other nations have joined the battle against terrorism by providing intelligence, said Bush. In accordance with the military strikes against bin Laden and the Taliban, food, medicine and other supplies were airdropped to the people of Afghanistan. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld called for two C-17 cargo planes to drop 37,500 food packets to starving Afghans. The supplies are meant to underscore Bush’s administration message that these strikes are not against Afghanistan, but against those who are affiliated with terrorism.
“To say that these attacks are in any way against Afghanistan of the Afghan people is flat wrong,” Rumsfled said.
“We did not ask for this mission, but we will fulfill it,” Bush said.
Aside from the U.S. attacks this past Sunday, more waves of attacks took place yesterday as the U.S. continued its battle against terrorism. The future of the nation is unknown.
