The global war on terrorism has many fronts including Istanbul, Turkey. On November 15th, more than two dozen people, Jews and Muslims alike, were murdered and over three-hundred wounded by suicide bombers who struck two synagogues. On November 20th, two more bomb attacks in Istanbul, one against a British-based bank, and another at the British consulate, killed at least twenty-seven people and wounded about four-hundred-fifty.
On September 11th, 2001, terrorists attacked the United States, killing more than three-thousand people. “These terrorists target the innocent,” says President George W. Bush, “and they kill by the thousands”:
“The attacks that followed –- on Bali, Jakarta, Casablanca, Bombay, Mombasa, Najaf, Jerusalem, Riyadh, Baghdad, and Istanbul –- were not dreams. They’re part of the global campaign by terrorist networks to intimidate and demoralize all who oppose them.”
President Bush says that the attacks in Istanbul show again “the nature of the terrorist enemy”:
“We see their [the terrorists’] contempt, their utter contempt, for innocent life. They hate freedom. They hate free nations. Once again, we saw their ambitions of murder. The cruelty is part of their strategy. The terrorists hope to intimidate. They hope to demoralize. They particularly want to intimidate and demoralize free nations. They’re not going to succeed.”
The U.S. is committed to working with the Turkish government, and with other friends and allies, to share information and bring these killers to justice so that they don’t kill again. “These are al-Qaida killers killing Muslims. And they need to be stopped,” says President Bush, “And we will stop them.”
