Editorial: Strike on al-Qaida was fully justified

Thursday, Nov. 7, 2002 | 8:56 a.m.

No one, not even Swedish Foreign Minister Anna Lundh, can say they weren't informed about the intentions of the United States regarding its declared war on terrorism. In October 2001, as the United States launched its initial air strikes against terrorist targets, President Bush said in a speech televised worldwide: "Today we focus on Afghanistan, but the battle is broader." The message of the U.S. has been clear from the start, that we are at war with al-Qaida and will kill or capture its members and other known terrorists wherever we encounter them.

Fortunately, Lundh is a lone voice so far in criticizing the United States' strike against a carload of al-Qaida terrorists Sunday in Yemen. One of the six killed by a missile fired from an unmanned Predator aircraft was Osama bin Laden's operations chief and a suspected planner of the suicide bombing of the USS Cole that killed 17 sailors. Lundh is calling Sunday's strike a "summary execution" and a violation of the terrorists' human rights. Lundh overlooks that we have -- with affirmation from the civilized world -- rightly declared war against this enemy that celebrates the killing of Americans. We properly identified those in the car and waited for a clear shot that would not endanger innocent people. Against an enemy that hides among general populations in distant countries where we often cannot operate from the ground, we must never hesitate to launc h a surgical strike if the opportunity presents itself.