It has been 100 days since President Bush declared war on terrorism following the attacks of September 11. Mr. Bushhas now issued a progress report on the war at home and abroad.
President Bush said he is optimistic about the future of the struggle against terror, that the international coalition has accomplished a lot so far but has a lot more to do. "This is the 100th day of our campaign against global terrorism and in those 100 days we have accomplished much," he said. "We have built a broad international coalition against terror, and I want to thank the Secretary of State for his hard work. We broke the Taleban's grip on Afghanistan. We took the war to the Al-Qaida terrorists. We are securing our airways. We are defending our homeland."
With the help of Britain and other alliance partners, President Bush said the military campaign in Afghanistan has destroyed 11 terrorist training camps and 39 Taleban command posts. Having driven the Taleban from power, the report said the United States helped Afghans put aside ethnic and political differences to form a new interim government.
As of December 17, the report says 460 suspects were detained by the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service. One has been charged with criminal conspiracy. President Bush said the immigration service is being reorganized to better prevent suspected terrorists from entering the country.
By boosting cooperation among law enforcement officials, Mr. Bush said the coalition has captured terrorists responsible for other attacks as well, showing there is no stopping the drive for justice. "We arrested one of the murderers of the September 5 1986 hijacking of Pan Am flight 73, showing would-be terrorists and current terrorists that we have a long memory, that we are patient, that if you think you can hide, we'll come and find you and bring you to justice," he said.
Mr. Bush says the United States has frozen some $33 million in assets belonging to 153 terrorist organizations and financial networks. Another $33 million dollars has been frozen overseas in 142 countries cooperating in blocking terrorist finances.
The report lists U.S. humanitarian contributions to Afghanistan including the airdrop of nearly 2.5 million food rations at an operating cost of $51 million. It says more than $1 billion dollars has been raised to help those who lost loved ones in the September 11 attacks.
Mr. Bush says the international coalition has done much in the last hundred days. With the help of what he called "freedom-loving countries around the world" he said the coalition will do much more to rid the world of evil and terrorism.