Chirac Visits White House to Pledge Support for U.S.

French President Jacques Chirac, starting a parade of foreign leaders to Washington this week, pledged the support of his government to a U.S. war on terrorism, assuring President Bush on Tuesday that he can count on the nation’s oldest ally in a time of peril.

Chirac is the first foreign head of state to visit the White House since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in New York and Washington.

Later this week, British Prime Minister Tony Blair, German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer and Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri will be in Washington, while Bush and Secretary of State Colin L. Powell continue to contact other foreign leaders by telephone.

Bush and Chirac met with reporters in the Oval Office before private consultations over dinner. In his public comments, Chirac said, “We bring you the total solidarity of France and the French people. It is solidarity of the heart. We are completely determined to fight by your side this new type of evil.”

Chirac shied away from calling the conflict a war, a phrase Bush used repeatedly in their joint appearance.

“I don’t know whether we should use the word ‘war,’ but what I can say is that now we are faced with a conflict of a completely new nature,” Chirac said.

He added that the attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon amounted to “something which is beyond crime.”

For his part, Bush continued his effort to prepare the American people--and U.S. allies--for a sustained campaign against terrorism that, given the nature of the enemy, will be different from past conflicts.

“This war will require determination and patience,” Bush said. “It’s important for the world to understand that there are no beaches to storm, there are no islands to conquer, there are no battle lines to be drawn. It’s a war that is going to take an international effort.”

At the State Department, officials have recorded messages of sympathy and condolence from 194 countries, a tally that spokesman Richard Boucher said was higher “than the number of countries I thought existed in the world.”

Of course, expressions of sympathy are one thing and active support for U.S. military action against the terrorist network of Osama bin Laden is something far different. But Bush and Powell are talking to as many foreign leaders as they can reach to appeal for their unconditional backing.

On Tuesday, Bush telephoned U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan, Brazilian President Fernando Henrique Cardoso and Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien.

At the Pentagon, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld left little doubt that foreign governments are being asked to endorse a potentially long and bitter conflict, albeit one that might not start for some time.

“This is a new type of conflict,” he said. “We’re moving in a very measured manner as we gather information.”

Once that information is collected, he said, “We’re talking about a very broadly based campaign to go after the terrorist problem where it exists, and it exists in countries across the globe.” A war in Afghanistan “will not be quick and it will not be easy,” he added.

Rumsfeld’s suggestion that an attack might not be imminent was echoed by senior officials in the Pentagon and some lawmakers as well.

The circumstances call for “patience and persistence,” said one senior official, rather than a quick “lashing out.”

Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.), a member of the Armed Services Committee, pointed to a number of reasons for the United States to move deliberately.

Information on the location of terrorists is tough to find, he said, and the United States cannot afford an ineffective strike that might encourage the adversary.

White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer underlined the point: “I know the president believes his first need is to put together a war plan that will work, over whatever period of time it requires.

“He’s aware that the American people are very focused on this right now. But it doesn’t matter the degree of focus. The president will do what he believes is the right action, and he will not rush it. He will not delay it. He will act, as he has said, at a time and a moment and in a way of America’s choosing.”

Nevertheless, the concentration on Bin Laden and his base in Afghanistan brought the chief of the U.N. refugee agency to Washington to plead for restraint, or at least a careful effort to avoid casualties among noncombatants.

“It is important to be aware of the already desperate plight of millions of Afghan civilians and the humanitarian consequences to ordinary people while formulating policy options,” Ruud Lubbers said following meetings at the State Department.

“Thousands of people in Afghanistan are already on the move, joining millions of others who were displaced inside and outside the country even before the latest crisis. We must do everything we can to avoid further displacement of innocent civilians,” he said.

The administration made no promises. But the State Department announced a $2-million grant to Lubbers’ agency to help feed Afghan refugees. Boucher said most of the food will be distributed to refugee camps in Pakistan because all nongovernmental Western aid workers have left Afghanistan, except for two Americans and their German and Australian colleagues who are on trial for preaching Christianity, a crime in rigidly Muslim Afghanistan.

Before his dinner-table talk with Chirac, Bush presided over a National Security Council meeting to “continue the planning” for an assault on terrorism, Fleischer said.

Then the president held a meeting of his economic advisors “to discuss other types of action that may or may not be required to help the economy,” Fleischer added.

At the State Department, Boucher said the administration has not made any deals to enlist foreign governments.

“Remember, people are doing this unconditionally,” he said. “They’re joining the fight against terrorism because it’s in their interests, because they recognize, too, that this kind of barbarism is an attack on civilization, and on all the great civilizations of the world.”

Every government, Boucher said, is being asked, “Can you help us disrupt the financial flows [to terrorists]? Can you close your borders? Can you investigate aspects of groups or attacks that might be necessary to investigate? Can you close down offices or operations?”

Times staff writers Paul Richter and Edwin Chen contributed to this report.