By Phillip Kurata
Washington File Staff Writer

Washington -- As American Muslims begin to observe the holy month of Ramadan, together with hundreds of millions of their co-religionists in the world, the opposition forces in Afghanistan are pressing on with their drive to end the repressive Taliban rule.

President Bush offered his Ramadan greetings to Muslims in the United States and around the world on November 15.

Islam "teaches the value and importance of charity, mercy, and peace," Bush said. "Muslims from diverse backgrounds pray together in mosques all across our great land. And American Muslims serve in every walk of life, including our armed forces."

With the success of the military campaign in Afghanistan, areas liberated by the opposition forces have witnessed scenes of public jubilation. In Kabul, music, which the Taliban banned, has been heard in the streets for the first time in years. Barbers have been shaving beards, which men were forced to grow under Taliban edict, and women, who were severely persecuted by the Taliban, have begun to reappear in public, eager to resume their normal activities after years of seclusion and exclusion.

Meanwhile, the U.S. military has shifted its focus to pursuing and destroying the terrorists and the Taliban leadership and helping with humanitarian assistance to the Afghan people. With the Taliban having been driven from power, aid workers say the security situation has improved, allowing increased food deliveries to starving Afghans.

Citing the need to save lives, including Afghan and Muslim lives, and to pursue the campaign against terrorism, U.S. officials have said the coalition campaign in Afghanistan will press on during Ramadan, in a drive to shut down the al Qaeda terrorists and their Taliban protectors.

"My own personal attitude is, is that the enemy won't rest during Ramadan, and neither will we. We're going to pursue this war until we achieve our objective," Bush said November 2.

National Security Advisor Condoleeza Rice said the top military priority was to complete the mission.

"What we are engaged in now is an act of self-defense to try to root out al Qaida, to try to deny them safe harbor. We are working with many, many governments in the world to try to root out cells that are still sitting out there, planning attacks," she said in Washington November 8.

Secretary of State Colin Powell said another factor affecting military operations in Afghanistan is the approach of winter.

"We're of course sensitive to the fact that Ramadan will be beginning in the middle of November, and winter also will start about that same time," Powell said in Washington October 24. "But the important point to remember is we have military objectives to accomplish.[] We can't let that [Ramadan] be the sole determinant of whether or not we continue our military activities."

Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz said, "the U.S. military is sensitive to the fact that Ramadan is the holiest month on the Muslim calendar," but Muslim lives can be saved by pursuing the military objectives of toppling the Taliban regime and capturing terrorists of the al Qaida network, led by Usama bin Laden.

General Richard Meyers, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the United States is "sensitive" to the concerns in the Islamic world about fighting during Ramadan.

In an interview with Al Jazeera television on October 31, Meyers said the U.S. government is consulting with its allies in the Arab and Muslim world about the war on terrorism.

"[W]e are, I think, very culturally sensitive. We go to the leaders at the political level and at the military level, and ask for their advice. So actions we will take I think will be consistent with that advice," Meyers said.

King Abdullah of Jordan and the Emir of Bahrain have also expressed support for the continuation of the coalition military campaign.

"There is a military objective there that has to be seen through, and we've got to remember what the objectives are," King Abdullah said in an interview with the BBC on November 9.

"It is not only to bring down international terrorism -- which will obviously
take a much longer time -- but there is a specific problem with Usama bin Laden and the Taliban," he added.

"I am so happy that America, Britain and the world are going into Afghanistan, liberating it from evil," said Sheikh Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, the Emir of Bahrain, said in an interview with the Independent newspaper of Britain.

With the collapse of the Taliban, Afghan political leaders, aided by members of the international community, have begun consultations on building a broad-based government to represent all Afghan factions.

On November 20 in Washington, the United States and Japan will co-chair an international meeting on planning for the reconstruction of Afghanistan in the post-Taliban period.