Author: PTI
Publication: The Times of India
Date: May 18, 2003
US President George W. Bush
on Saturday said the recent suicide bombings in the Saudi capi-tal
of Riyadh that killed 34 people, including eight Americans, provide a "stark
reminder" that war on terror continues even as he vowed to hunt down Al
Qaida "killers" from Pakistan to the Philippines until they are all brought
to justice.
The battles in Afghanistan and Iraq
were important victories in the larger war on terror, "yet the terrorist
at-tacks this week in Saudi Arabia, which killed innocent civilians from
more than half-a-dozen countries, including our own, provide a stark reminder
that the war on terror continues," he said in his weekly radio address.
The enemies of freedom "are not
idle, and neither are we. Our government is taking unprecedented measures
to defend the homeland. And from Pakistan to the Philippines, to the horn
of Africa, we are hunting down Al Qai-da killers.
"So far, nearly one-half of Al-Qaida's
senior operatives have been captured or killed. And we will remain on the
hunt until they are all brought to justice," Mr Bush said in the address
which coincides with the US Armed Forces Day
He took the opportunity to say that
the world has seen the "tremendous capabilities" of the US military With
fine allies at their side, American soldiers and sailors, air-men and marines,
used ad-vanced technology to gain historic victories in Iraq and Afghanistan,
he said.
"Unmanned predator air-craft carried
out bombing missions deep behind enemy lines, keeping more of our pi-lots
out of harms way Satellites high above the earth, at any time of day or
night, provided detailed images of
indi-vidual targets and whole battlefields."
Mr Bush said
"At least two-thirds of the bombs
used by the coalition forces in Iraq were precision-guided by lasers or
global-positioning satellites, compared with just 13 per cent of the bombs
the we used in the 1991 Gulf War."
The nation accepts the responsibilities
of keeping the peace and the best way to keep the peace is to make sure
that the US military remains second to none, Bush. PTI.
