- WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President
Bush extended a state of emergency on Friday authorizing the Defense Department
and Coast Guard to call part-time reservists into active duty to fortify
the nation's defenses.
-
- Bush first invoked the national emergency on Sept. 14,
2001, three days after the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon
killed more than 3,000 people.
-
- In a statement, Bush said a "continuing and immediate
threat of further attacks on the United States" justified extending
the national emergency for another year.
-
- "How could you not extend it, given where we are
in the ongoing war against terrorism? It's not over," White House
spokesman Ari Fleischer said.
-
- Bush's action extends the authority for the Department
of Defense and the Department of Transportation, which oversees the U.S.
Coast Guard, to order members of the reserves to active duty.
-
- On the eve of the first anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks,
the Bush administration warned that there was a "high risk of terrorist
attacks" and, as a precaution, moved Vice President Dick Cheney to
a secret location. Cheney is next in line for the presidency after Bush.
-
- Bush signed the order after delivering a blunt speech
to the U.N. General Assembly on Thursday in which he urged the world body
to force Iraqi President Saddam Hussein to disarm.
-
- But Bush and his advisers stressed the United States
was prepared to act on its own if the United Nations failed to do so.
-
-
-
- Copyright © 2002 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
Republication or redistribution of Reuters content is expressly prohibited
without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable
for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance
thereon.
|