WASHINGTON/JABAL-US-SARAJ, Afghanistan (REUTERS) — The U.S. government moved Wednesday to calm a nervous nation and safeguard a postal system that has become the front line in a chilling biological warfare attack as U.S. planes staged their fiercest strikes so far on the Taliban front line.

The ruling Taliban, who are sheltering Saudi-born militant Osama bin Laden, prime suspect in last month’s suicide attacks that killed more than 5,000 people in the United States, said they were arming villagers to resist future retaliatory U.S. ground attacks and vowed to fight to the last man.

The FBI said there was still a real chance of new attacks on the United States, more than six weeks after hijackers slammed airliners into the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon near Washington. Another plane crashed in Pennsylvania after its hijackers were apparently overpowered.

Hurrying to contain the anthrax scare gripping America, the government reached a deal Wednesday to stockpile the antibiotic used to treat anthrax, but the head of the U.S. Postal Service said there were no guarantees the mail was safe amid a spate of letters laced with the germ-warfare agent. He told Americans to wash their hands after touching mail but said there was no question of shutting the service down.

In London, British Prime Minister Tony Blair, the staunchest U.S. ally, indicated there was no guarantee of a quick end to the conflict, vowing to bring bin Laden to justice for the Sept. 11 attacks, however long it takes.

In a sign of the impact of U.S. front-line strikes, the opposition Northern Alliance took time off from its alert against Taliban bombing to indulge in the traditional sport of buzkashi, with scrums of 14 horses and their riders snatching the torn carcass of a calf across a dusty field.

Although the United States holds all the military cards, the Taliban were showing their mettle as hard adversaries.

“They are proving to be tough warriors,” U.S. Rear Adm. John Stufflebeem said. “But we are prepared to take however long is required to bring the Taliban down.”

With the world economy still reeling from the devastating attacks, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a stimulus package Wednesday to inject $100 billion into the U.S. economy over the next year. President Bush urged lawmakers to pass it to help kick-start businesses hit by the attacks.
ENVELOPES AS LETHAL WEAPONS

But it was the fear of anthrax, a potent germ-warfare weapon contained in contaminated letters, that preoccupied Americans more than news from distant Afghanistan. Three people have died and nine others have been infected.

Although no hard evidence has emerged linking the anthrax outbreak to bin Laden, U.S. officials were operating on the suspicion it was tied to the September attacks.

U.S. Postmaster General John Potter warned there was no guarantee U.S. mail was safe after traces of anthrax were found in an off-site White House mail-screening center.