Reshaping U.S. policies

Faced with open criticism that it has taken the law into its hands, the U.S. is diversifying its anti-terrorism campaign. Three weeks after it was stunned by the terror attacks, the U.S. is making painstaking efforts to see that almost all countries come aboard its anti-terrorism bandwagon.

To this end, Washington is toning down its long-criticized tilt toward Israel, prodding hard-line Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to seek a negotiated way out of the yearlong tensions with the Palestinians.

Realizing that a military buildup, however overwhelming it may seem, is not enough in "the different kind of war" as President George W. Bush stated the other day, Washington is displaying interest in winning the UN cover to its side.

On Friday, the U.S. rammed through the UN Security Council a draft resolution designed to tighten the noose around terrorists. No less significant in this high-profile diplomatic offensive was another resolution to lift sanctions on Sudan.

As it is gearing up for "a sustained, swift and effective" war against terrorists, the U.S. shows readiness to forge new alliances and reshape its long-disappointing policies.

-- Egyptian Gazette, Cairo