Global Support for U.S. Builds

Sept. 25 -- The United States' war on terrorism gained more international support today while the administration tried to reassure concerned lawmakers it would not sacrifice essential civil liberties at home for the mission.

Attorney General John Ashcroft appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee and argued that the administration must have greater power to investigate the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on that left at an estimated 6,804 total people missing or dead.

At the White House, Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi met with President Bush and said Japanese warships would be sent to the Indian Ocean. The vessels would provide support for U.S. ships in the newly named "Operation Enduring Freedom."

The operation is intended to feret out Osama bin Laden, the prime suspect in the attacks who is believed to be hiding in Afghanistan.

Afhanistan's global isolation continues as Saudi Arabia announced it had cut ties with the ruling Taliban regime. The decision leaves Pakistan as the only nation maintaining diplomatic relations with the anti-U.S. government.

Bush said the goal of the operation is not to overturn governments, but to bring terrorists to justice.

"They [terrorists] have no justification for their actions," he said. "There is no religious justification. There is no political justification. The only motivation is evil."

Special Powers for a Special War

During a visit to FBI headquarters in Washington, Bush said the war on terrorism would not trample the Constitution. But the president stressed that law enforcement needed the power to do its job effectively, especially under current circumstances.

"Ours is a land that values the constitutional rights of every citizen, and we will honor those rights, of course," Bush said. "But we're at war, a war we're going to win. And in order to win the war, we must make sure that the law enforcement men and women have got the tools necessary within the Constitution to defeat the enemy."

Ashcroft took the argument to Capitol Hill. Before the Senate Judiciary Committee, he said that the government should be able to detain or deport immigrants it believes may engage in terrorist activity, without a court hearing. Ashcroft also pushed for the right of investigators to wire tap multiple telephone numbers of an individual, rather than being restricted to a single telephone number.