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| Afghanistan |
| US, Brits will go it alone |
| 2001-09-21 |
The US and Britain are to take military action by themselves against Osama bin Laden, prime suspect behind last week's terrorist atrocities, and his protectors in Afghanistan. According to senior British officials, President George W. Bush and Tony Blair, the UK prime minister, agreed that a tight command structure was needed and that the military operation should be undertaken largely, perhaps wholly, by their own forces. The White House declined to comment. However, one lesson US military planners took from Nato's bombing campaign in Kosovo in 1999 was that a large alliance complicated and delayed the choice of objectives. The agreement between the two leaders came in meetings at the White House on Thursday, before Mr Bush delivered his address to Congress. In the speech, widely praised by political supporters and opponents, Mr Bush delivered an ultimatum to Afghanistan's Taliban rulers to hand over those connected to Mr bin Laden's network and to close down terrorist bases. The Taliban, he said, "will hand over the terrorists or they will share in their fate". |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |