Addressing the Washington diplomatic corps March 11, with the flags of 179 nations displayed on the White House lawn behind him, the president vowed to continue the fight against terror and to support those nations that need assistance to track down and defeat terrorists within their own borders.

Announcing the start of the "second stage of the war on terror," the president said: "America encourages and expects governments everywhere to help remove the terrorist parasites that threaten their own countries and the peace of the world."

He added: "If governments need training or resources to meet this commitment, America will help."

In the presence of more than 1,000 diplomats, legislators, military officers and relatives of victims of terrorism, President Bush warned that "the terror that targeted New York and Washington could next strike any center of civilization. Against such an enemy, there is no immunity, and there can be no neutrality."

Several members of the Washington diplomatic corps spoke as well. Ambassador Jibril Aminu of Nigeria said: "Our sympathies and solidarity [are] with you in the struggle against international terrorism."

Ambassador Sung-Chul Yang of South Korea called terrorism "the scourge of mankind," adding that "it has nothing to do with religion or culture, and everything to do with death and destruction."

Ambassador Faruk Logoglu of Turkey condemned the terrorist attacks and promised that "justice will be done, no matter what it takes." The ambassador endorsed Turkey��s participation in coalition operations in Afghanistan, adding that modern Turkey is "living testimony to the proposition that Islam, democracy and modernity are compatible. Our secular society is one where civilizations do not clash but where, indeed, they embrace."