The terrorist network must understand that an attack on the U.S. with a WMD, whether chemical biological, or nuclear, will be responded to in kind.
Yes - add States also. The important thing is that the United States, from its present position of military superiority, with its history of not having used these uniquely horrible weapons in nearly 60 years, does not open Pandora's Box on its own. However, if someone else does, then all bets are off, and all terrorist havens become legitimate targets.
I am sure a number of governments have been privately but explicitly warned that if this conflict is escalated to that level, then the consequences shall be severe indeed for those responsible.
Also, I am of the opinion the longer we now wait to attack and occupy Iraq, the more dangerous this conflict becomes. In some ways, in light of WTC and the subsequent anthrax attacks and scares the world over, Pandora's younger cousin has already reared her Medusian head to us all. The question is: shall we cower and/or live in denial at a dark new reality, or shall we take forceful, direct action to change it, securing the life, liberty and pursuit of happiness of future generations? I hope the answer we have been given now is not ignored by those in power. From what the President has declared publicly, I have faith he understands this very well, and has the will to take whatever action is required. I have great confidence in President Bush in this regard. I believe he is right now securing a new geopolitical reality in China as we speak - the United States, NATO, Russia and the former Soviet Republics and China - not to mention our Central and South American friends, India, Japan, Australia, South Africa... Well, I think terrorist states have a slight problem coming. Mr. bin Laden et al miscalculated. The free flow of oil from the Gulf is even more critical to Chinese prosperity than ours...
And here is the first hint of what is to come:
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China Lifts Ban On Deals By Blacklisted CSFB - FT
TOKYO (Dow Jones)--China appears ready to stop blacklisting Credit Suisse First Boston Corp. (Z.CSF), provided it doesn't repeat actions that Beijing believes promoted Taiwan, the Financial Times reported in its Friday overseas edition.
Jin Liqun, China's vice-minister of finance, told the Financial Times on Thursday that CSFB was not barred from future deals in China. "We also hope that CSFB will continue to contribute to the peaceful unification of the motherland," he said, according to the FT.
The move comes days after John Mack, CSFB's chief executive, traveled to Beijing in an attempt to persuade officials to lift the ban on the investment bank that has been in place in China since it organized meetings between Taiwan's finance ministry and investors in Europe earlier this year.
CSFB was dropped from secondary underwriting roles in an expected $1.8 billion share issue by China Unicom Ltd. (CHU), the country's second largest cellular phone operator, and a $1 billion offering by China Aluminum.
It was not clear on Thursday if Beijing's new attitude toward CSFB would help reinstate the bank to those deals, the FT reported.
Liqun, who met Mack in Beijing, said China had made "stern representations" to CSFB. It had told the bank that its role in organizing a Taiwan government-backed roadshow in Europe and a conference in Hong Kong to which Taipei ministers were invited were "not conducive to the reunification" of China and Taiwan, the FT reported.
China is extremely sensitive to any initiative that appears to raise the international profile of Taiwan, or to accord it the status of an independent country. Beijing regards Taiwan as a renegade province that split from the mainland at the end of the 1949 civil war in China.
"We don't have anything against companies who engage in unofficial co-operation with Taiwan," Liqun added as quoted by the FT.
Until its outburst at CSFB in late August and September, Beijing had rarely moved to punish foreign companies for their involvement in Taiwan.
But the CSFB wrangle, coupled with the rich prizes on offer for foreign underwriters in the mainland, have prompted many investment banks to inject greater sensitivity into their dealings with Taiwan and the mainland.
Chinese companies raised almost $40 billion in domestic and international share offerings last year, and much of that was underwritten by foreign investment banks.
Although Beijing appears to have been successful in warning other investment banks through its treatment of CSFB, it may also have set back its efforts to be regarded as an increasingly modern economy on the brink of joining the World Trade Organization, the FT reported. |
