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MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2001

American troops have already been deployed to locations in the Middle East but don't expect a massive military strike soon, Bush administration officials are saying.

The effort against terrorists will be largely diplomatic and financial, they said, conducted by gathering intelligence. The Bush administration is preparing an executive order to cut off terrorist funds in the United States, said national security adviser Condozeela Rice.

Secretary of State Colin Powell and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld also presented messages of a hidden war yesterday in various television appearances. During one, Powell said no decision has been made whether to try and bring down the Taliban, the ruling government of Afghanistan that has let suspected terrorist Osama bin Laden live in the country but now is asking him voluntarily to leave.

The Taliban, meanwhile, says it has lost track of bin Laden. Rice said the White House doesn't believe the report.

As the adminstration decides on the Taliban, The New York Times reports that the U.S. is stepping up ties with the Northern Alliance. The alliance is an anti-Taliban group in northern Afghanistan and is reported to have control of 5 to 10 percent of the country.

U.S. funds are being considered to aid the alliance, as well as weapons, training and supplies, The Washington Post reported. Just two days before the September 11 terrorist attack on America, the Alliance's leader, Ahmed Shah Massoud, was killed by bombers believe linked to bin Laden.

Additionally, the United States is trying to identify dissidents within Taliban ranks, The Post said.

Powell says the U.S. will provide solid evidence linking bin Laden to the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. The list of dead or missing in New York City has risen above 6,000.

Get the Story:
U.S. Response Portrayed as Calm, Methodical (The Washington Post 9/24)
U.S. Debating Whether to Overthrow Taliban (The Washington Post 9/24)
Anti-Taliban Rebels Eager to Join U.S. Retaliation (The Washington Post 9/24)
Taliban Leaders Say Fugitive Bin Laden Has Disappeared (The Washington Post 9/24)
Groups Could Help Find bin Laden and Assist American Attacks (The New York Times 9/24)
U.S. Certain That bin Laden Remains Inside Afghanistan (The New York Times 9/24)
U.S. to Publish Terror Evidence on bin Laden (The New York Times 9/24)
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