WASHINGTON?Secretary of State Colin Powell will solicit support from Turkey and Russia for an expanded U.S. campaign against terrorism during an eight-day trip to Europe.
With U.S. forces routing the Taliban in Afghanistan and postwar planning under way, the focus on efforts to counter terrorism is shifting to Iraq and other nations accused of sanctioning terror.
Powell’s stop in Turkey provides a chance to ponder strategy against Iraq, if it is the next U.S. target, as some Pentagon officials have proposed. Terrorism also is on the agenda for his stop in Moscow. Russia is a strong ally of the United States in the war in Afghanistan.
Mindful of its own problems with some of the separatists in the Chechnya republic, Russia shares President Bush’s view that terrorism is a worldwide issue.
“Our goal is to bring Russia on board,” department spokesman Richard Boucher said.