• George W. Bush on Tuesday briefed leaders of Congress on the extent of the U.S. military deployment within striking distance of Afghanistan, the country whose Taliban regime is sheltering Osama bin Laden, the prime suspect in masterminding the Sept. 11 attack on America.

• The president also reportedly told the senators and representatives not to expect conventional warfare, as occurred in the 1990-91 Gulf conflict.

• In a major crackdown on security, defense officials have put a tight lid on information about the deployment of forces, including exactly how many aircraft and elite Special Operations troops are being moved to within striking distance of Afghanistan, reports the Associated Press.

• Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi arrived in Washington on Tuesday for talks with Bush, saying that Tokyo strongly supported U.S. anti-terrorism efforts and would lend all-out moral, economic and logistic backing to any related U.S. military operations.

• Moving to repair any damage to Muslim sensibilities, the U.S. on Tuesday also changed the code name of its military buildup in response to the Sept. 11 attacks to "Operation Enduring Freedom." The change was made after the initial name -- "Operation Infinite Justice" -- ran into objections last week from some Islamic scholars on grounds that only God, or Allah, could mete out infinite justice in their view.

• The influential nation of Saudi Arabia announced on Tuesday that it is cutting all ties with Afghanistan's Taliban government, saying that Afghani leaders were defaming Islam by harboring and supporting terrorists. The United Arab Emirates cut ties with the Taliban over the weekend.

• White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said that the commander in chief welcomed the Saudi decision. "The president praises and is grateful to the Saudi government for taking that wise step," he said.

• The move leaves Pakistan as the only nation in the world to maintain ties with the Taliban, and leaves Afghanistan's hard-line Islamic regime all the more isolated in its showdown with America over Osama bin Laden, the prime suspect in the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States.

• Bin Laden -- whose whereabouts are unknown, according to the Taliban -- has called upon his followers to engage in a "jihad," or a "holy war," against the United States.