But the US administration clearly fears some form of Muslim backlash. There has already been a strong reaction from countries hostile to the United States, such as Libya and Iraq. Head of Taleban movement says attack was against entire Afghan people More worrying for the Americans is the indignant response from allies such as Pakistan and the angry reaction of the Taleban movement in Afghanistan, now more determined than ever not to hand over Osama bin Laden - the dissident Saudi the Americans say was behind the bombing of their embassies in East Africa two weeks ago. Elsewhere, Muslims who share bin Laden's deep hostility to America are likely to agree with the Sudanese authorities in denouncing the Clinton administration for aggression. Sudanese foreign minister calls for UN investigation Many will demand evidence of the Americans' claim that the factory they attacked in Sudan was producing ingredients to make the deadly nerve agent, VX - thereby helping bin Laden add chemical weapons to his arsenal.
Sudanese officials say the factory was making children's medicines.
Clinton confessed he is a liar Without proof to the contrary, many will be unwilling to take President Clinton's accusations on trust - and may fall back on the cynical view that he is simply trying to distract attention from the Monica Lewinsky affair. In justifying the missile attacks, the President went much further than US officials have done in the past in linking Bin Laden to specific terrorist attacks - including, not just the two attacks against US embassies this month, but also earlier attempts to assassinate the Egyptian president and the Pope. The response the US administration clearly fears most is retaliation by Bin Laden or by a group sympathetic to him. Its problem is that it cannot easily predict where, or in what form, such a response might come. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.