World Leaders Stand Behind U.S. Response

The U.S. military strikes on Afghanistan were accompanied by emphatic support Sunday from leaders around the world, who said the time had come to punish terrorism.

Praising the Bush administration for building a diplomatic framework for the offensive, allies pledged military and logistical aid. Britain and France announced that their armed forces were already taking part in an operation that leaders described as morally justified.

“We will play our part in a spirit of solidarity and responsibility,” said French President Jacques Chirac in a nationally televised address Sunday night. “The military operations will take place over a long period of time. Their aim is to punish the guilty and destroy the infrastructure of the terrorist networks in Afghanistan and those who support them.”

The staunch support from France, which in recent years has clashed with the U.S. over foreign policy, indicates that the ruling Taliban of Afghanistan faces a robust international coalition that shows how the world has changed in the last month. European commentators say that the Sept. 11 attacks abruptly reversed a U.S. drift toward isolationism and an accompanying tension between Washington and its allies.

“America will no longer be an isolated island,” said political commentator Alexandre Adler during a late-night talk show here dedicated to the developments in Afghanistan. “Another America has been born. I don’t know if this is a new world order or a new world disorder that we are seeing. But amid the instability, we see an alliance that could be decisive for a long time to come.”

Some Islamic countries protested the attacks. An Iranian Foreign Ministry official called the strikes “unacceptable,” saying they were launched “regardless of the world public opinion, especially the Muslim nations’, and will damage the innocent and oppressed Afghans.”

In Baghdad, Iraqi TV quoted President Saddam Hussein as saying: “We do not think that any of those who are true believers in God can but condemn this action, not only because it is from America or because it is against Muslim people and a Muslim country, but because it is an act of aggression that runs contrary to international law.”

But in the hours after Sunday’s strike, many moderate Islamic countries remained silent.

Expressions of support for the strikes came from Tokyo, Rome, Buenos Aires and other capitals.

Russia, a key and unexpectedly enthusiastic partner in the emerging alliance, on Sunday issued a vigorous endorsement of the strikes on Afghanistan, which the Foreign Ministry called “an international center of terrorism and extremism.”

China, one of the U.N. Security Council’s permanent members and a vocal critic of past U.S. military actions, gave qualified support today to the strikes on Afghanistan.

China is concerned about Islamic fundamentalism on its own western fringes. It also is eager to keep relations with the U.S. on an even footing in anticipation of President Bush’s visit to Shanghai this month.

India threw its weight behind the airstrikes today and said Bush had promised to address its concerns over militant groups operating in strife-torn Kashmir.

A spokesman for Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee said India had always been on board in the fight against terrorism and supported Washington.

The Mexican government, which in the past often remained neutral on major international conflicts, joined in backing the U.S. airstrikes.

“The Mexican government firmly supports these actions,” said President Vicente Fox.

In Canada, military units went on alert as Prime Minister Jean Chretien confirmed his country’s military contribution to the international coalition in a conversation with Bush. Chretien said the United States had relayed specific requests for Canada’s participation Friday.

Similarly, German armed forces are ready to contribute AWACS surveillance aircraft and elite paratroopers. Use of the KSK elite paratroopers can be at the leader’s discretion, but AWACS teams or naval support would require parliamentary approval under Germany’s constitution.

In Israel, Foreign Minister Shimon Peres praised Bush for his “courageous decision” to launch the attack on Afghani targets.

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s office said Israel was “assisting but not participating” in the war effort, an apparent allusion to Israel’s sharing of intelligence with Washington.

There was no immediate comment from the Palestinian Authority of Yasser Arafat. For Arafat, the military campaign is problematic. He is eager to be counted on the side with the United States and its allies, but knows that many of his own people are sympathetic to the radical brand of Islam that Sunday’s strikes were targeting.

And from his home in exile in Rome, Afghanistan’s former king, Mohammed Zahir Shah said the U.S. had a legitimate right to launch the attacks. “Unfortunately, the unpatriotic position of the Taliban and their sponsors has again inflicted pain, sorrow and destruction on the people of Afghanistan.”

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Times staff writers Henry Chu in Beijing, Jim Smith in Mexico City, Maura Reynolds in Moscow, Tracy Wilkinson in Jerusalem, Carol J. Williams in Berlin and David Zucchino in Paris, as well as Times wire services, contributed to this report.