Then-President George W. Bush recalled, on September 11, 2001: “I told [Secretary of Defense] Don [Rumsfeld] that I considered the attacks an act of war and approved his decision to raise the military readiness level to DefCon Three for the first time since the Arab-Israeli War of 1973. American military installations around the world heightened security precautions and prepared to respond immediately to further orders. I told Don our first priority was to make it through the immediate crisis. After that, I planned to mount a serious military response. ‘The ball will be in your court and [Joint Chiefs Chairman] Dick Myers’s court to respond,’ I told him.”
– George W. Bush, Decision Points, Page 133