U.S. Prepares To Strike Back

The Pakistani government will send a delegation into neighboring Afghanistan today to demand that the Taliban surrender Osama bin Laden to the United States—or risk massive retaliatory action, a top administration official reported.

President George W. Bush publicly identified bin Laden yesterday as the prime suspect in Tuesday’s attacks.

The Taliban will be told the international community is prepared to attack Afghanistan if the radical Muslim militia refuses to turn bin Laden over, the official said.

There was no indication the Taliban would be given a deadline, the Associated Press reported. The New York Times, without citing a source, indicated that the deadline would be “swift.”

The high-level delegation is to travel to the Taliban’s headquarters in the southern city of Kandahar, the official said yesterday on condition of anonymity. Pakistan’s asserted “full support” of the United States and their allies will not include Pakistani military action.

“Pakistan does not expect in anyway to participate in any military operation outside its borders,” Foreign Minister Abdul Satter told a group of reporters Saturday.

As Bush brushed off bin Laden’s reported denial of responsibility, senior administration officials stepped up their call to arms yesterday.

“We will rid the world of evildoers,” Bush said in his weekly radio address.

Vice President Dick Cheney appeared on NBC’s “Meet the Press” with a stern warning for Afghanistan and the Taliban, which has harbored bin Laden since 1996. Bin Laden has already been indicted in the U.S. on charges of masterminding the bombings of two U.S. embassies in Africa in 1998.

“They have to understand, and others like them have to understand,” Cheney said. “If you provided sanctuary to terrorists, you face the full wrath of the United States of America.”

Pakistan’s decision to give “full support” to the United States drew widespread protest yesterday from hard-line Islamists. Demonstrators burned U.S. flags, shouted their support of bin Laden, and warned the government they would take up arms for Afghanistan’s ruling Taliban militia.

Most of Pakistan’s 140 million people are devout but relatively moderate Muslims, but there are several strong militant Islamic groups operating in the country and tens of thousands of religious schools that turn out young boys dedicated to jihad—holy war. Most of these militant groups are well armed and could pose a threat to the rule of President Gen. Pervez Musharraf.

The Taliban have steadfastly refused to hand over bin Laden, despite two rounds of U.N. sanctions that have cut off funds to its national airline and isolated its leaders. They call bin Laden a guest. The Taliban’s reclusive leader, Mullah Mohammed Omar, has said in the past that delivering bin Laden to non-Muslims would be like betraying a tenet of Islam.

Yesterday, the Taliban called an “urgent” meeting where clerics from throughout Afghanistan voiced support of the leadership, condemned the U.S. and demanded proof of bin Laden’s involvement in the airborne attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

Bin Laden himself issued a statement broadcast by Qatar’s Al-Jazeera satellite channel. “I stress that I have not carried out this act, which appears to have been carried out by individuals with their own motivation,” said the statement.

In the statement, read by an Al-Jazeera announcer, bin Laden said he was used to the U.S. accusing him every time “its many enemies strike at it.”

In Pakistan, which shares a 1,560-mile border with Afghanistan and is one of only three countries to recognize Taliban rule, Musharraf met with politicians and Islamic clerics to get their backing for Islamabad’s promise to give “full support” to the United States to retaliate for the attacks. This could include the deployment of international troops in Pakistan. It could also mean the use of Pakistani airspace.

“Every decision of the government is directed toward the objective of unity, integrity and welfare of the nation,” Musharraf said. “Hence, it is imperative that all should join hands to consolidate the integrity and sovereignty of Pakistan.” His remarks were reported by the state-run news agency, Associated Press of Pakistan.

Some Pakistani religious leaders said the country’s army-led rulers already have asked them to try pressuring the Taliban to hand over bin Laden. They have refused.

Stocks in Pakistan have been plunging since last week’s terrorism amid fears that the United States may launch retaliatory attacks on Afghanistan. Yesterday, Pakistan decided to shut down all three of its stock exchanges—in Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad—for three days, starting today.

On The Homefront

As administration officials and the international community sharpened plans for a response, local officials and workers back home took stock of the attack’s effects. In New York, as the New York Stock Exchange and City Hall prepared to reopen today, Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani urged citizens to continue on with their lives.

“Go ahead and go about the everyday activities,” he urged. “Go to church on Sunday. If you go to a park and play with your children, do that. If you like to go out and spend money I would encourage that. It’s always a good thing.”

As Giuliani spoke at a morning press conference, rescue efforts continued unsuccessfully. No one has been pulled alive from what workers are calling “The Pile” since Wednesday, the day after the attacks.

Crews reported finding body parts instead of bodies as they sifted through the twisted rubble. One hundred eighty people have been confirmed dead, and 5,097 are missing as of yesterday.

“We can’t even find concrete. It’s dust. What we’re calling bodies aren’t really bodies,” a high-ranking police official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Elsewhere in the U.S., several apparent backlash attacks and threats have been reported against people of Middle Eastern and South Asian descent. In Mesa, Ariz., an Indian immigrant gas station owner was shot to death and a Lebanese-American clerk was targeted—but not injured—by gunfire at another gas station. In Seattle, an armed man was arrested after allegedly setting fire to a mosque.

Cheney also disclosed that after hijackers slammed planes into the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon on Tuesday morning, Bush ordered the military to shoot down any commercial aircraft that disobeyed orders to turn away from Washington’s restricted air space.

Upon returning to the White House from Camp David, Bush said: “I gave our military the orders necessary to protect Americans. Of course, that was difficult.”

The president worshipped at the Camp David chapel yesterday, joining millions of Americans seeking spiritual comfort after the tragedies.

—Wire reports were used in the compilation of this story.