U.S. rallies allies against terror

President Bush yesterday said terrorists will “never shake the will of the United States,” and the prime minister of the Netherlands said his country stands “shoulder to shoulder” with the United States to fight global terrorism.

In the wake of Spain’s planned withdrawal of troops in Iraq after a suspected al Qaeda attack in Madrid last week, Mr. Bush used the Dutch leader’s visit as an opportunity to rally the rest of his global allies in the war on terrorism.

“Terrorists will kill innocent life in order to try to get the world to cower,” Mr. Bush said. “That’s what they want to do. And they’ll never shake the will of the United States. We understand the stakes, and we will work with our friends to bring justice to the terrorists.”

Mr. Bush pointed out that al Qaeda not only has attacked Spain in the past year, but also Turkey and Saudi Arabia.

“They kill wherever they can, and it’s essential that the free world remain strong and resolute and determined,” Mr. Bush said.

Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende, speaking at a joint press conference with the president, said his country remains a staunch U.S. ally and urged other countries to continue to fight against terrorism.

“It’s important that the world society, the international community, stands shoulder to shoulder and shows its solidarity to fight against these terrible attacks,” Mr. Balkenende said. “We share that same view, and we will work together.”

The prime minister said he and Mr. Bush did not discuss what to do in Iraq after the coalition hands over sovereignty to a new Iraqi government on June 30, when Spain said it will pull its forces. Any decision about Dutch participation after that date, he said, would be made then.

“That is the responsibility of the Dutch government and Dutch parliament, and we’ll talk about it,” Mr. Balkenende said.

Almost all of the other governments helping to rebuild Iraq said they would stay the course.

Polish Prime Minister Leszek Miller said abandoning Iraq now “would amount to an admission that the terrorists are right and that they are stronger than the civilized world.”

Leaders of Australia, Japan, Britain, Ukraine and Bulgaria also said they would not pull their troops out of Iraq.

However, the defense secretary of Honduras said his country will withdraw the 370 troops that it had committed to aid the Spanish contingent in Iraq. Officials in El Salvador and Nicaragua, which also sent forces to supplement Spain’s force of 1,300, said they’d remain in Iraq.

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