President Bush stated that his demands were not open to negotiation or discussion. Obviously the Taliban refused, but offered to review their attitude if concrete evidence of al-Qaida's guilt were given. None was offered. They then offered to try bin Laden in an Islamic court but this did not satisfy the Americans. Later on, as the likelihood of military actions became imminent, the Taliban offered to extradite bin Laden to a neutral nation. This did not satisfy the Americans either. Moderates within the Taliban movement allegedly met with American embassy officials in Pakistan in mid-October. They hoped to work out a way to convince Mullah Muhammed Omar to hand bin Laden to the US, and avoid the impending retaliation. President Bush was not convinced.

It was well known that bin Laden's fundamentalist Muslim organisation, al-Qaida, attracted men who believed in the Jihad, the Holy War against the west, and especially against the USA. Most of the al-Qaida members came from Muslim countries, but some were western Muslim converts from other countries, including the US and Great Britain. The great majority of these fighters were trained in the al-Qaida camps in Afghanistan.

5.1.1 In the USA
-
The US launched an intense worldwide diplomatic campaign aiming to recruit allies, some of them active, others passive. Most countries agree that the terrorist attacks on the US that lead to the death of about three thousand innocent civilians was unacceptable, and that the people who organised them had to be severely punished. This attitude was a kind of self-protection, as it was believed that if nothing was done to stop these terrorists, every country could be their next victim.

The result of the American diplomatic campaign can be summarised as follow:
- Great Britain decided to join the US in the actual fighting against the terrorists -al Qaida's fighters and Taliban. This is the traditional British attitude of joining the Americans in all, or most, of their military ventures. This "me too" policy can also be described as "boot licking" and many countries and people saw it this way.
- Most western states, including the NATO countries, offered their help but did not offer to participate in the military actions.
- Many other countries including Russia, Japan, China, etc. offered their moral support.
- The countries surrounding Afghanistan were the objects of a special type of courting. Pakistan accepted, for money and formal recognition, to let the Americans use their air space, as well as some military bases. Until September 11, 2001, Pakistan was described as a potential enemy of the west, and was politically isolated. Their nuclear test campaigns and the military coup that put the present president, Musharraf, in power, were not appreciated. Now, from one day to the next one, they became our friends, the recipient of millions of dollars in aid and military equipment. And the same is true for the southern republics of the ex-USSR, now independent: they were bought too.
- Other Arab states were also asked to allow the US soldiers to use military bases in their countries. Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Dubai, the Emirates, and others accepted with some conditions, but mainly against payment or supply of military hardware.
- The tribes of North Afghanistan that have been fighting the Taliban since 1996 were a special case. The US, NATO, and the western world in general, considered them to be enemies until September 11. In fact they were able to fight the Taliban until then because they were paid and armed by Russia. From September 11, 2001, the Northern Alliance became the US' allies.

The US, without proof at the time, accused al-Qaida and Osama bin Laden to be responsible for the attacks on US soil. They knew that Afghanistan was not responsible for the terrorist acts of September 11, 2001, but the Taliban sheltered the al-Qaida organisation in their country. Is this a good enough justification to destroy this country? President Bush, the American people, and the British, or better, the British Government under Mr Blair, believed it was. The US did not declare war on Afghanistan, and it did not have the formal approval of the United Nations for the invasion. One must not forget that Afghanistan infrastructures and cities were already mostly destroyed by twenty-three years of wars and civil wars. The US attacks on Afghanistan is comparable to Cassius Clay/Muhammad Ally fighting with a five year old, a boy or a girl, it did not matter. A member of the British Parliament used a similar image but he rightly replaced the nice Cassius Clay by Tyson, a more vicious character!!

The US following President George W. Bush, called the invasion of Afghanistan a war of retaliation for the attack on the Twin Towers in New York City and on the Pentagon in Washington DC. However, the US action cannot be described a war but only, at the best, a police action and, at the worse, state terrorism.

5.1.2 UN Intervention Before the Conflict
The UN Security Council issued a resolution on September 18, 2001 directed towards the Taliban demanding that they hand over the terrorist Osama bin Laden and close all terrorist training camps immediately and unconditionally. The council also referred to a resolution it adopted in December 2000 demanding that the Taliban turn over bin Laden to the United States, or to a third country, to be tried for his responsibility in the deadly bombing in 1998 of the US embassies in Dar es Salam, Tanzania, and Nairobi, Kenia, killing more than two hundred people and wounding about 4,000. It can be argued that, since the Security Council did not explicitly authorize the use of force, the invasion of Afghanistan was a violation of the UN charter. However, considering that the United States was attacked by elements thought to be supported by the Afghan government, the use of force in Afghanistan was considered by some people, and not only Americans, to be in self-defence, and thus, legal. Not everybody agreed however.