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US will act if govts fail to curb terror: Bush

Characterising Jaish-e-Mohammad, responsible for terrorist attacks in India, including on Parliament, as one of the most dangerous terrorist outfits in the world, United States President George Bush on Wednesday warned governments, which are timid in the face of terror, that America will 'act' should they fail.

"Our military," he said, "has put the terror training camps of Afghanistan out of business. Yet, camps still exist in at least a dozen countries," Bush said in his first state of the union address to a joint session of congress.

"A terrorist underworld, including groups like Hamas, Hezbollah, Islamic Jihad and Jaish-e-Mohammad, operates in remote jungles and deserts, and hides in the centres of large cities."

"My hope is that all nations will heed our call and eliminate the terrorist parasites who threaten their countries and our own", he said.

Bush praised Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf, who has been the target of intense pressure since the September 11 attacks on the United States, for cracking down on terror groups.

The US president said America is working with India, Russia and China 'in ways we never have before to achieve peace and prosperity'.

Bush warned that thousands of 'dangerous killers', schooled in the methods of murder, are spread throughout the world like 'time bombs - set to go off without warning' despite successes in the US-led war against terror.

"These enemies view the entire world as a battlefield, and we must pursue them wherever they are."

"Together with friends and allies from Europe to Asia, from Africa to Latin America, we will demonstrate that the forces of terror cannot stop the momentum of freedom."

Bush said the US will continue to be steadfast, and patient, and persistent in the pursuit of shutting down terrorist camps, disrupting terrorist plans, and bringing terrorists to justice.

Singling out Iran, Iraq and North Korea as 'an axis of evil', he said, "We must prevent the terrorists and regimes who seek chemical, biological, or nuclear weapons from threatening the US and the world."

Bush said the US will not permit the world's most dangerous regimes to 'threaten us with the most destructive weapons'.

"Our war on terror is well begun, but it is only begun. This campaign may not be finished on our watch... yet it must be and will be waged on our watch," he added.

In a grim introduction to his speech, Bush said, "Our nation is at war, our economy is in recession and the civilised world faces unprecedented dangers."

"Yet the state of our union has never been stronger."

Vowing to defeat the economic recession with the same fervour he showed in his battle against global terrorism, the US President said, "We will prevail in the war and we will defeat this recession."

Bush, who received a standing ovation and was repeatedly cheered said, the war against terrorism will have to go on for years even after it is completed in Afghanistan.

Senior US officials say there are 1,00,000 or more terrorists in 60 odd countries and pointed out that the initial emphasis on fighting terrorists with a 'global reach' has been expanded to include terrorists in the Philippines and terrorist organisations like the Jaish-e-Mohammad and Lashkar-e-Tayiba, which are engaged in cross-border terrorism.

On Musharraf, Bush said, "Pakistan is now cracking down on terror, and I admire the strong leadership of President Musharraf."

Though the word 'strong' was not in Bush's prepared text, he added it while reading out the same.

US officials also pointed to Musharraf as a model for the Islamic world and paid tributes to the Pakistani president saying he was cracking down on extremism and terrorism and leading the country on the path to modernization.

"Our discoveries in Afghanistan confirmed our worst fears, and show us the true scope of the task ahead," Bush said.

"We have seen the depth of our enemies' hatred in videos where they laugh about the loss of innocent life (in the twin towers and the Pentagon) and the depth of their hatred is equalled by the madness of the destruction they design."

"We have found diagrams of American nuclear power plants and public water facilities, detailed instructions for making chemical weapons, surveillance maps of American cities, and thorough descriptions of landmarks in America and throughout the world."

Meanwhile, senior US officials pointed out that the administration has already taken some initiatives in Pakistan and Afghanistan on education and added they were 'very much impressed' by the importance Musharraf had given to schools - 'all of them teaching not hatred or violence but teaching people tolerance and practical skills'.

"That obviously is a positive trend. We are not going to impose anything on anybody but we are helping. A lot is happening in the Islamic world - in Pakistan, in Bahrain, in Qatar, in Oman. It is not a case of the US imposing its will," they said.

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