U.S. Strikes Terrorist Targets in Afghanistan

Highlights of web articles on the U.S. strikes against islamic extremist terrorism in Afghanistan:

• BBC - US hits Afghan targets "The United States has launched the first strikes in a military campaign against Afghanistan's Taleban regime and their guest, Osama Bin Laden."

• Guardian Unlimited - US and Britain begin attacks on Taliban "The US and Britain tonight dropped bombs and fired sea-launched missiles at targets in Afghanistan as the long-expected assault on the Taliban and Osama bin Laden finally began. The attack was announced by President George Bush from the White House and moments later by Tony Blair at Downing Street.
  
  The first planes roared over Kabul at around 16.20 GMT, soon after a nightly curfew took effect. The night sky was lit up by bombs and missiles launched at targets in the city and near the airport. At 21.45 GMT a fresh wave of attacks was reported to be hitting the eastern city of Jalalabad."

• News Telegraph - Allied onslaught targets Taliban "AMERICA and Britain unleashed sustained military strikes across Afghanistan last night as the Taliban regime harbouring Osama bin Laden became the first target in the war against global terrorism.
  
  Tomahawk cruise missiles, carrier-based jets and long-range bombers flying from America and the British base of Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean were used in the five-hour onslaught. Two Royal Navy submarines, Triumph and Trafalgar, also fired Tomahawks from the Arabian Sea."

• Daily Telegraph - In this war of civilisations, the West will prevail [link inactive] "Striking quickly, as well as hard, may be a quality of this war deliberately chosen, and with good reason. A harsh, instantaneous attack may be the response most likely to impress the Islamic mind.
  
  Surprise has traditionally been a favoured Islamic military method. The use of overwhelming force is, however, alien to the Islamic military tradition. The combination of the two is certainly designed to unsettle America's current enemy and probably will.
  
  Samuel Huntington, the Harvard political scientist, outlined in a famous article written in the aftermath of the Cold War his vision of the next stage hostilities would take.
  
  Rejecting the vision of a New World Order, proposed by President Bush senior, he insisted that mankind had not rid itself of the incubus of violence, but argued that it would take the form of conflict between cultures, in particularly between the liberal, secular culture of the West and the religious culture of Islam.
  
  Huntington's "clash of civilisations" was widely discussed, though it was not taken seriously by some. Since September 11 it has been taken very seriously indeed.

• CNN - U.S. promises sustained campaign against Afghanistan "Pentagon officials said Sunday the strikes against Afghanistan could continue for several days as the United States and Britain seek to soften Taliban air defenses and damage key military infrastructure.
  
  The first strikes began about 8:45 p.m. Sunday (12:15 p.m. EDT) and targeted the Taliban's air defense installations, defense ministry, airport-based command centers, airfields, electrical grids and other energy production facilities.
  
  U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said about 15 land-based bombers, 25 strike aircraft and U.S. and British ships and submarines fired about 50 Tomahawk missiles against terrorist targets."

... By all freeloving and decent humans on planet earth, at this time, in this life we all know and share and care about with our every breath and heartbeat, our very lives, our innate and abiding desires to live free of ancient hate / deceit / delusion ...

Text of video purportedly recorded on Sunday afternoon, prior to the U.S. attack on terrorist targets in Afghanistan, released to an Arab news network:

- - - complete video script of bin Laden - - -

Thanks to God, he who God guides will never lose. And I believe that there's only one God. And I declare I believe there's no prophet but Mohammed.

This is America, God has sent one of the attacks by God and has attacked one of its best buildings. And this is America filled with fear from the north to south and east to west, thank God.

And what America is facing today is something very little of what we have tasted for decades. Our nation, since nearly 80 years is tasting this humility. Sons are killed, and nobody answers the call.

And when God has guided a bunch of Muslims to be at the forefront and destroyed America, a big destruction, I wish God would lift their position.

And when those people have defended and retaliated to what their brothers and sisters have suffered in Palestine and Lebanon, the whole world has been shouting.

And there are civilians, innocent children being killed every day in Iraq without any guilt, and we never hear anybody. We never hear any fatwah from the clergymen of the government.

And every day we see the Israeli tanks going to Jenin, Ramallah, Beit Jalla and other lands of Islam. And, no, we never hear anybody objecting to that.

So when the swords came after eight years to America, then the whole world has been crying for those criminals who attacked. This is the least which could be said about them. They are people. They supported the murder against the victim, so God has given them back what they deserve.

I say the matter is very clear, so every Muslim after this, and after the officials in America, starting with the head of the infidels, Bush. And they came out with their men and equipment and they even encouraged even countries claiming to be Muslims against us.

So, we run with our religion. They came out to fight Islam with the name of fighting terrorism.

People -- event of the world -- in Japan, hundreds of thousands of people got killed. This is not a war crime. Or in Iraq, what our -- who sare being killed in Iraq. This is not a crime. And those, when they were attacked in my Nairobi, and Dar es Salaam, Afghanistan, and Sudan were attacked.

I say these events have split the whole world into two camps: the camp of belief and disbelief.

- - - - - - - - - -

{aside}

One comment: Two camps? Belief and disbelief?

Forthrightly and with pride in all that is good and decent and honorable and worthy in this one and only *sure* chance at life we all know and share, I proclaim myself in the camp of *disbelief*, as far away from bin laden and his evil ilk that is humanly possible!

{end aside}

- - - - - - - - - -

So every Muslim shall take -- shall support his religion.

And now with the winds of change has blown up now, has come to the Arabian Peninsula.

And to America, I say to it and to its people this: I swear by God the Great, America will never dream nor those who live in America will never taste security and safety unless we feel security and safety in our land and in Palestine.

- - - end video excerpt - - -

Source:

• CNN