WASHINGTON, Oct 8: A somewhat clearer picture of Sunday’s US-led strikes on Afghanistan and of American plans was beginning to emerge on Monday even as a new wave of attacks was reported to be underway and Washington ominously put the United Nations on notice that it reserved the right to act against other nations and groups.
The White House, pointing out that the people of America had been attacked, sent a letter to the president of the UN Security Council under Article 51 (self-defence) of the UN Charter underlining America’s right to protect itself and indicating that it could act against other states.
White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer said the letter reflected what President George Bush had been saying since the September 11 attacks, that the campaign against terrorism had to be waged on a wide front and through various means.
Besides signalling its intention at some point to go beyond Al-Qaeda and the Taliban, the administration also appeared to be guarding itself against the possibility that the military action in Afghanistan might not result in the capture of Osama bin Laden. While Mr Fleischer said the objective had not been altered since it was first announced by President Bush and while Osama bin Laden and Al-Qaeda remained the prime suspects, the campaign was much bigger than one person or organization.
On Sunday’s first assault, President Bush said it had been “executed as planned”, and Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Joints Chiefs of Staff Chairman General Richard Myers claimed at a Pentagon briefing in the afternoon that 31 sites were hit throughout the country.
The prime objective of the operation surfaced as the incapacitating of the Taliban’s air defences, thus securing freedom of the air over Afghanistan, with military runways, airports, and surface-to-air missile sites the main targets as well as training camps. Some Taliban ground forces were also targeted.
President Bush, who was speaking at a ceremony to swear in the first head of the newly-created, cabinet-level homeland security office, referred to the bombs-and-butter policy of his administration, saying over 37,000 packets of food and medicines were air dropped for the people of Afghanistan.
No casualty figures were immediately available, though the Taliban ambassador in Islamabad was said to have announced that 20 civilians had been killed.
Mr Rumsfeld, who in an interview earlier on Monday had said his impression was that the action had been “very successful”, told his Pentagon briefing that intelligence following the first strikes was being evaluated, but he was “generally pleased”. All targets attacked were of a military nature, and the aim was to create conditions for further action, which would include both overt and covert military operations.
He said the campaign had to be waged like the Cold War, and would not be confined to a period of months, but could stretch over years.
No mention of the use of Pakistan airspace was mentioned in official briefings here, though this was previously agreed to by Islamabad and was indeed confirmed by General Pervez Musharraf in his news conference on Monday morning. It appears that plans for the strike were finalized well in advance and that General Musharraf was provided with notice 48 hours before action began by British Prime Minister Tony Blair during the latter’s visit to Islamabad. Most other world leaders were told of the imminence of the strike an hour before they were launched in separate telephone calls by President George Bush, Vice-President Richard Cheney (operating, for security reasons, from an undisclosed location) and Secretary of State Colin Powell, who is due shortly to visit Pakistan and India.
Some 25 strike aircraft, B-2 stealth bombers flown from the US and long-range bombers from the British base of Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean were used in Sunday’s attacks. Tomahawk cruise miles were launched from US carriers and surface vessels as well as US and British submarines.
Mr Rumsfeld, asked whether one of the US goals was the overthrow of the Taliban regime, did not give a direct reply. He said the Taliban and Mullah Omar were closely linked to Al-Qaeda and were harmful and dangerous for the Afghan people, who would be vastly better off without them.
Both Mr Rumsfeld and the White House spokesman continue to be questioned almost on a daily basis about US contacts with the Northern Alliance, and both continue to rely on earlier official statements that the goal of the Bush administration is to work for a broad-based government that can provide a stable and economically prosperous Afghanistan. Mr Rumsfeld said on Monday the US was reaching out to a range of Afghan groups inside Afghanistan and also to Afghan groups in exile.
BRITISH LETTER: A UN spokesman said that a letter, sent by Britain, was also received by the Security Council and that the council members would be briefed by representatives of the United States and Britain on the military action under way in Afghanistan later in the evening.
Negroponte told the council that the US, in concert with Britain, had launched military strikes on Afghanistan on Sunday under the authority of Article 51 of the UN Charter, which allows nations under attack to defend themselves.
“ On Sept 11, 2001, the United States was the victim of massive and brutal attacks in the states of New York, Pennsylvania and Virginia,” his letter said.
“ These attacks were specifically designed to maximize the loss of life; they resulted in the deaths of more than 5,000 persons, including nationals of 81 countries, as well as the destruction of four civilian aircraft, the World Trade Centre and a section of the Pentagon,” he said.
“In response to these attacks and in accordance with the inherent right of individual and collective self-defence, the United States’ armed forces have initiated actions designed to prevent and deter further attacks on the United States,” he said.
In carrying out its attacks, Washington was “committed to minimizing civilian casualties and damage to civilian property” and providing humanitarian aid to the Afghan people, Negroponte said.