The Attack on Pearl Harbor
Heroes
Ships and Aircraft
September 11th
Major Speeches
Video Footage
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President George W. Bush
Speech to Joint Session of Congress
September 20, 2001
Mr. Speaker, Mr. President pro tempore, members of Congress, and fellow Americans:
In the normal course of events, presidents come to this chamber to report on the
state of the Union. Tonight, no such report is needed. It has already been
delivered by the American people.
We have seen it in the courage of passengers, who rushed terrorists to
save others on the ground — passengers like an exceptional man named Todd
Beamer. Please help me to welcome his wife, Lisa Beamer, here tonight.
We have seen the state of our union in the endurance of rescuers, working
past exhaustion. We have seen the unfurling of flags, the lighting of candles,
the giving of blood, the saying of prayers in English, Hebrew and Arabic. We
have seen the decency of a loving and giving people, who have made the grief of
strangers their own.
My fellow citizens, for the last nine days, the entire world has seen for itself
the state of our union and it is strong.
Tonight we are a country awakened to danger and called to defend freedom.
Our grief has turned to anger, and anger to resolution. Whether we bring our
enemies to justice, or bring justice to our enemies, justice will be done.
I thank the Congress for its leadership at
such an important time. All of America was touched on the evening of the tragedy
to see Republicans and Democrats joined together on the steps of this Capitol,
singing “God Bless America.” And you did more than sing, you acted, by
delivering $40 billion to rebuild our communities and meet the needs of our
military.
Speaker Hastert, Minority Leader Gephardt, Majority Leader Daschle and Senator
Lott, I thank you for your friendship, for your leadership and your service to
our country.
And on behalf of the American people, I thank the world for its outpouring of
support. America will never forget the sounds of our national anthem playing at
Buckingham Palace, and on the streets of Paris, and at Berlin’s Brandenburg
Gate. We will not forget South Korean children gathering to pray outside our
embassy in Seoul, or the prayers of sympathy offered at a mosque in Cairo. We
will not forget moments of silence and days of mourning in Australia and Africa
and Latin America.
Nor
will we forget the citizens of 80 other nations who died with our own. Dozens of
Pakistanis. More than 130 Israelis. More than 250 citizens of India. Men and
women from El Salvador, Iran, Mexico and Japan. And hundreds of British
citizens.
America has no truer friend than Great Britain.
Once again, we are joined together in a great cause.
I’m so honored the British prime minister
has crossed an ocean to show his unity with America. Thank you for coming
friend.
On September the eleventh, enemies of
freedom committed an act of war against our country. Americans have known wars,
but for the past 136 years, they have been wars on foreign soil, except for one
Sunday in 1941. Americans have known the casualties of war, but not at the center
of a great city on a peaceful morning. Americans have known surprise attacks, but
never before on thousands of civilians. All of this was brought upon us in a
single day, and night fell on a different world, a world where freedom itself is
under attack.
Americans have many questions tonight. Americans are asking: Who attacked our
country? The evidence we have gathered all points to a collection of loosely affiliated
terrorist organizations known as al-Qaeda. They are the same murderers indicted
for bombing American embassies in Tanzania and Kenya and responsible for bombing
the USS Cole.
Al-Qaeda is to terror what the mafia is to crime. But its goal is not making
money; its goal is remaking the world and imposing its radical beliefs on people
everywhere.
The terrorists practice a fringe form of Islamic extremism that has been
rejected by Muslim scholars and the vast majority of Muslim clerics, a fringe
movement that perverts the peaceful teaching of Islam. The terrorists’
directive commands them to kill Christians and Jews, to kill all Americans, and
make no distinctions among military and civilians, including women and children.
This group and its leader, a person named Osama bin Laden, are linked to many
other organizations in different countries, including the Egyptian Islamic Jihad
and the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan.
There are thousands of these terrorists in more than 60 countries. They are
recruited from their own nations and neighborhoods, and brought to camps in
places like Afghanistan where they are trained in the tactics of terror. They
are sent back to their homes or sent to hide in countries around the world to
plot evil and destruction.
The leadership of al-Qaeda has great
influence in Afghanistan, and supports the Taliban regime in controlling most of
that country. In Afghanistan, we see al-Qaeda’s vision for the world.
Afghanistan’s people have been brutalized, many are starving and many have
fled. Women are not allowed to attend school. You can be jailed for owning a
television. Religion can be practiced only as their leaders dictate. A man can
be jailed in Afghanistan if his beard is not long enough.
The United States respects the people of Afghanistan. After all, we are
currently its largest source of humanitarian aid, but we condemn the Taliban
regime.
It is not only repressing its own people, it is threatening people
everywhere by sponsoring and sheltering and supplying terrorists. By aiding and
abetting murder, the Taliban regime is committing murder.
And tonight, the
United States of America makes the following demands on the Taliban:
- Deliver to United States authorities all the leaders of al-Qaeda who hide in your land.
- Release all foreign nationals, including American citizens you have unjustly
imprisoned, and protect foreign journalists, diplomats, and aid workers in your
country.
- Close immediately and permanently every terrorist training camp in Afghanistan
and hand over every terrorist, and every person in their support structure, to
appropriate authorities.
- Give the United States full access to terrorist training camps, so we can make
sure they are no longer operating.
These demands are not open to negotiation or discussion. The Taliban must act
and act immediately. They will hand over the terrorists, or they will share in
their fate.
I also want to speak tonight directly to
Muslims throughout the world: We respect your faith. It's practiced freely by
many millions of Americans, and by millions more in countries that America
counts as friends. Its teachings are good and peaceful, and those who commit
evil in the name of Allah blaspheme the name of Allah. The terrorists are
traitors to their own faith, trying, in effect, to hijack Islam itself. The
enemy of America is not our many Muslim friends; it is not our many Arab
friends. Our enemy is a radical network of terrorists, and every government that
supports them.
Our war on terror begins with al-Qaeda, but it does not end there. It will not
end until every terrorist group of global reach has been found, stopped, and
defeated.
Americans are asking: Why do they hate us?
They hate what we see right here in this chamber, a democratically elected
government. Their leaders are self-appointed. They hate our freedoms, our
freedom of religion, our freedom of speech, our freedom to vote and assemble and
disagree with each other.
They want to overthrow existing governments in many Muslim countries, such as
Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Jordan. They want to drive Israel out of the Middle
East. They want to drive Christians and Jews out of vast regions of Asia and
Africa.
These terrorists kill not merely to end lives, but to disrupt and end a way of
life. With every atrocity, they hope that America grows fearful, retreating from
the world and forsaking our friends. They stand against us, because we stand in
their way.
We are not deceived by their pretenses to piety.
We have seen their kind before.
They are the heirs of all the murderous ideologies of the twentieth century. By
sacrificing human life to serve their radical visions, by abandoning every value
except the will to power, they follow in the path of fascism, and Nazism, and
totalitarianism. And they will follow that path all the way, to where it ends:
in history’s unmarked grave of discarded lies.
Americans are asking: How will we fight and win this war?
We will direct every resource at our command every means of diplomacy, every
tool of intelligence, every instrument of law enforcement, every financial
influence, and every necessary weapon of war to the disruption and defeat of the
global terror network.
This war will not be like the war against Iraq a decade ago, with its decisive
liberation of territory and its swift conclusion. It will not look like the air
war above Kosovo two years ago, where no ground troops were used and not a
single American was lost in combat.
Our response involves far more than instant retaliation and isolated strikes.
Americans should not expect one battle, but a lengthy campaign, unlike any other
we have seen. It may include dramatic strikes, visible on television, and covert
operations, secret even in success. We will starve terrorists of funding, turn
them one against another, drive them from place to place, until there is no
refuge or rest. And we will pursue nations that provide aid or safe haven to
terrorism. Every nation, in every region, now has a decision to make.
Either you
are with us, or you are with the terrorists. From this day forward, any nation
that continues to harbor or support terrorism will be regarded by the United
States as a hostile regime.
Our nation has been put on notice: We are not immune from attack. We will take
defensive measures against terrorism to protect Americans.
Today, dozens of federal departments
and agencies, as well as state and local governments, have responsibilities
affecting homeland security. These efforts must be coordinated at the highest
level. So tonight I announce the creation of a cabinet-level position reporting
directly to me: the Office of Homeland Security.
And tonight, I also announce a distinguished American to lead this effort, to
strengthen American security: a military veteran, an effective governor, a true
patriot, a trusted friend, Pennsylvania’s Tom Ridge. He will lead, oversee and
coordinate a comprehensive national strategy to safeguard our country against
terrorism and respond to any attacks that may come.
These measures are essential. But the only way to defeat terrorism as a threat
to our way of life is to stop it, eliminate it, and destroy it where it grows.
Many will be involved in this effort, from FBI agents to intelligence operatives
to the reservists we have called to active duty. All deserve our thanks, and all
have our prayers. And tonight, a few miles from the damaged Pentagon, I have a
message for our military: Be ready. I have called the armed forces to alert, and
there is a reason.
The hour is coming when America will act, and you will make
us proud.
This is not, however, just America’s fight. And what is at stake is not just
America’s freedom. This is the world’s fight. This is civilization’s
fight. This is the fight of all who believe in progress and pluralism, tolerance
and freedom.
We ask every nation to join us. We will ask, and we will need, the help of
police forces, intelligence services, and banking systems around the world. The
United States is grateful that many nations and many international organizations
have already responded with sympathy and with support. Nations from Latin
America, to Asia, to Africa, to Europe, to the Islamic world. Perhaps the NATO
Charter reflects best the attitude of the world: an attack on one is an attack
on all.
The civilized world is rallying to America’s side. They understand that if
this terror goes unpunished, their own cities, their own citizens may be next.
Terror, unanswered, can not only bring down buildings, it can threaten the
stability of legitimate governments. And we will not allow it.
Americans are asking: What is expected of us?
I ask you to live your lives and hug your children. I know many citizens have
fears tonight, and I ask you to be calm and resolute, even in the face of a
continuing threat.
I ask you to uphold the values of America, and remember why so many have come
here. We are in a fight for our principles, and our first responsibility is to
live by them. No one should be singled out for unfair treatment or unkind words
because of their ethnic background or religious faith.
I ask you to continue to support the victims of this tragedy with your
contributions. Those who want to give can go to a central source of information,
www.libertyunites.org, to find the
names of groups providing direct help in New York, Pennsylvania, and Virginia.
The thousands of FBI agents who are now at work in this investigation may need
your cooperation, and I ask you to give it.
I ask for your patience, with the delays and inconveniences that may accompany
tighter security and for your patience in what will be a long struggle.
I ask your continued participation and confidence in the American economy.
Terrorists attacked a symbol of American prosperity. They did not touch its
source. America is successful because of the hard work, and creativity, and
enterprise of our people. These were the true strengths of our economy before
September eleventh, and they are our strengths today.
Finally, please continue praying for the victims of terror and their families,
for those in uniform, and for our great country. Prayer has comforted us in
sorrow, and will help strengthen us for the journey ahead.
Tonight I thank my fellow Americans for what you have already done and for what
you will do. And ladies and gentlemen of the Congress, I thank you, their
representatives, for what you have already done, and for what we will do
together.
Tonight, we face new and sudden national
challenges. We will come together to improve air safety, to dramatically expand
the number of air marshals on domestic flights, and take new measures to prevent
hijacking. We will come together to promote stability and keep our airlines
flying with direct assistance during this emergency.
We will come together to give law enforcement the additional tools it needs to
track down terror here at home. We will come together to strengthen our
intelligence capabilities to know the plans of terrorists before they act, and
find them before they strike. We will come together to take active steps that strengthen America’s economy,
and put our people back to work.
Tonight we welcome here two leaders who embody the extraordinary spirit of all
New Yorkers: Governor George Pataki, and Mayor Rudy Giuliani. As a symbol of
America’s resolve, my Administration will work with the Congress, and these
two leaders, to show the world that we will rebuild New York City.
After all that has just passed, all the lives taken, and all the possibilities
and hopes that died with them, it is natural to wonder if America’s future is
one of fear. Some speak of an age of terror. I know there are struggles ahead,
and dangers to face. But this country will define our times, not be defined by
them. As long as the United States of America is determined and strong, this
will not be an age of terror; this will be an age of liberty, here and across
the world.
Great harm has been done to us. We have suffered great loss. And in our grief
and anger we have found our mission and our moment. Freedom and fear are at war.
The advance of human freedom, the great achievement of our time, and the great
hope of every time, now depends on us. Our nation, this generation, will lift a
dark threat of violence from our people and our future. We will rally the world
to this cause, by our efforts and by our courage.
We will not tire, we will not
falter, and we will not fail.
It is my hope that in the months and years ahead, life will return almost to
normal. We’ll go back to our lives and routines, and that is good. Even grief
recedes with time and grace. But our resolve must not pass. Each of us will
remember what happened that day, and to whom it happened. We will remember the
moment the news came, where we were and what we were doing. Some will remember
an image of fire, or a story of rescue. Some will carry memories of a face and a
voice gone forever.
And I will carry this. It is the police
shield of a man named George Howard, who died at the World Trade Center trying
to save others. It was given to me by his mom, Arlene, as a proud memorial to
her son. This is my reminder of lives that ended, and a task that does not end.
I will not forget this wound to our country, or those who inflicted it. I will
not yield. I will not rest. I will not relent in waging this struggle for the
freedom and security of the American people.
The course of this conflict is not known, yet its outcome is certain. Freedom
and fear, justice and cruelty, have always been at war, and we know that God is
not neutral between them.
Fellow citizens, we will meet violence with patient justice assured of the
rightness of our cause, and confident of the victories to come. In all that lies
before us, may God grant us wisdom, and may He watch over the United States of
America.
Thank you.
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Ever wonder what might have happened if the Japanese launched a 3rd wave?
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