Only the Announcement of Time Regarding the Expansion of War Is Left

As the sweeping operation on the remaining groups of the terrorist organization al-Qaeda in Afghanistan is almost over, the U.S. was reported to have entered the final stage to decide whether to expand the war to other areas yesterday.

In an interview with Washington Post, the U.S. secretary of defense Donald Rumsfeld responded to a question about the next target after Afghanistan, "President George W. Bush has not made an announcement." strongly hinting that the only thing left with regard to the expansion of war is the `time of the announcement`. To the question whether Iraq could be the next target, Rumsfeld said, "There are undoubtedly people who have different views on the subject. I gave my advice to the president."

"The president has from the outset said that in order to defend our country, we must go after terrorists wherever they are and countries that harbor terrorists." said Rumsfeld.

Somalia, Iraq, Yemen, Sudan, Libya, and North Korea are spotted as the second target, along with international terrorist organizations, including Hezbola and Hammas, by the U.S. State Department.

Meanwhile, Afghan`s Eastern Alliance is still going after 1,000 al-Qaeda soldiers, who have been running away from their Tora Bora stronghold in the Afghan`s eastern mountainous terrain, and the U.S. continued air strikes yesterday.

Eun-Taek Hong euntack@donga.com