Bush in China Seeking Coalition Support

Oct. 18, 2001 -- President Bush was expected to urge key Asian leaders at an economic summit in China to support his hard-line anti-terrorism stance, while the U.S. military continued to pound targets in Afghanistan.

As Bush and Secretary of State Colin Powell prepared for the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, the U.S. military used new jets and spy drones to keep pounding Afghan cities and Taliban troop positions.

Powell, also in China for the APEC meeting in Shanghai, worked with representatives of the 21 other nations to prepare a draft statement on terrorism before the summit. The group came up with a strongly worded document.

Echoing some of Bush's language, the statement refered to the struggle against terrorism as "a fight between justice and evil, civilization and savagery."

But there was no mention of the airstrikes to topple the Taliban regime in Afghanistan and pave the way for the capture of bin Laden and the destruction of his al Qaeda network, which the Bush administration blames for the Sept. 11 attacks that left more than 5,000 dead or missing.

The bombing raids, launched Oct. 7, have been criticized by some of the nations participating in the summit, particularly the predominantly Islamic states Indonesia and Malaysia.

Terrorist organizations with links to bin Laden operate in several APEC nations including Indonesia, the Philippines and Malaysia.

In addition to the business of the summit, which is expected to focus mainly on economic issues, the president planned one-to-one meetings with leaders of several nations to build support for the U.S.-led coalition. Those were expected to be the leaders of China, Russia, Malaysia, Japan, Brunei, Singapore and Peru.

The United States got a boost before Bush's arrival when the Japanese legislature approved the deployment of ships and troops to serve as support for the forces actively engaged in the U.S.-led military campaign. The deployment had been stalled for more than a week since Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi proposed the measure.

Civilian Casualties a Concern

Reports from the Taliban of mounting civilian casualties worried the United States. American bombs hit residential areas in the capital, Kabul, today for at least the ninth time since the bombing began. The strike killed at least 14 people, including five members of a single family.

Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders) and other humanitarian groups have appealed to the United States to halt the bombing to allow food and medical supplies to be brought into the country before the onset of winter.

Offices and warehouses of aid operations of the United Nations, the World Food Program, Medecins Sans Frontieres and other groups have been repeatedly pillaged by Taliban and al Qaeda soldiers, according to Human Rights Watch and other organizations.

U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said today it is possible a senior al Qaeda official might have been killed recently in the U.S. airstrikes. At a Pentagon briefing, Rumsfeld said he would not confirm the death of an al Qaeda member from Egypt, but said, "It would be a good thing for the world."

New Tactics

There have been indications the Pentagon believes the bombing campaign has made gains, but there is a debate within the military about how quickly to begin using helicopters and special forces, considered the next step in the effort to target Taliban forces on the move.

U.S. fighter planes and bombers have established apparent control of the skies over Afghanistan and have scored significant hits on Taliban air defenses. And American special forces, including troops and helicopters, are in place on the aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk in the Indian Ocean, ready to be sent into the country.

According to a report from Iranian state radio, the next step has already been taken, with U.S. troops had landed from helicopters near the Taliban stronghold of Kandahar.

"Informed sources report that U.S. helicopters from the Pakistan-Afghan border have entered Afghan territory and deployed troops around Kandahar," India's The Hindu newspaper quoted a radio correspondent as saying.

The United States is expected to use its small, elite special forces ground units in its attempts to locate bin Laden. The mountainous Afghan terrain and the oncoming winter make large numbers of ground forces impractical.

Northern Alliance Faces Taliban Resistance

Of equal concern to the United States is the status of the rebel Northern Alliance troops as they slowly wage ground battles with the Taliban.

On Wednesday, Bush described the rebel forces as "friendly troops," a new formulation making it more clear than ever that the United States is waging its air campaign to damage the Taliban and make it vulnerable to attack from the Northern Alliance.

On Thursday, the standoff continued in Mazar-e-Sharif, the biggest city in the region, with most of the fighting taking place around the airport.

The Northern Alliance is reporting widespread troop defections from the Taliban, but the claims are nearly imposible to confirm. So far no senior Taliban officials are known to have switched sides in the war.

Cheney Visits New York

In other developments:

Vice President Dick Cheney visited New York today to tour the rubble of the World Trade Center. Cheney has been keeping a low profile since the Sept. 11 attacks.

Prince Nayef, the interior minister of Saudi Arabia, has admitted that there are supporters of bin Laden within the country and said those people don't understand the broader effect of the suspected terrorist on the Muslim world. "We will not forget that those who now are in their caves and burrows, they are the ones who do harm to the kingdom, and unfortunately Muslims are being held accountable for them although Islam is innocent," Nayef said.

New York City officials estimate the number of missing and presumed dead at the World Trade Center at 4,569. The number of confirmed dead is 458, and 408 of those have been identified. At the Pentagon, 189 were believed killed and another 44 were killed when the fourth hijacked jet, United Airlines Flight 93, crashed in Pennsylvania.