In a speech to a joint session of Congress on September 20, 2001, President Bush said, regarding the terrorist attacks: ” ‘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 ever seen. It may include dramatic strikes, visible […]
Category: quotes
9/20/2001
Osama bin Laden “has a wide-ranging financial empire of some $300 million at his disposal to fund his al-Qaida network of Islamic militants.” – Mimi Whitefield, “U.S. Targets Big Money-laundering Operations by Terrorists,” The Miami Herald, Sep. 20, 2001 […]
9/20/2001
Historian Mary L. Dudziak wrote: “Congress, stunned by the September 11 attacks, responded by quickly passing the Patriot Act and an Authorization for the Use of Military Force. While these actions were intended to give the president the authority he sought to act effectively at home and abroad, there was just one difficulty. The Bush […]
9/20/2001
“On Sept. 19 and 20 [2001], the Defense Policy Board, a prestigious bipartisan board of national security experts that advises the Pentagon, met for 19 hours to discuss the ramifications of the attacks of Sept. 11. The members of the group agreed on the need to turn to Iraq as soon as the initial phase […]
9/20/2001
“To [U.K. Prime Minister] Tony Blair’s urging, during a dinner at the White House on September 20 [2001], that the focus ought to remain on overthrowing the Taliban, [President] Bush responded, ‘I agree with you, Tony. We must deal with this first. But when we have dealt with Afghanistan, we must come back to Iraq.’ […]
9/20/2001
Secretary of State Colin Powell “argued that to undertake a broad military campaign, especially including Iraq–whose civilian population draws great sympathy in the Middle East for the suffering it has endured since 1991–would undermine the support [President] Mr. Bush needs now.” – Patrick E. Tyler and Elaine Sciolino, “Bush’s Advisers Split on Scope Of Retaliation,” […]
9/20/2001
“A top Air Force commander [Lt. Gen. Charles F. Wald] has flown to Saudi Arabia to oversee air attacks against Afghanistan and other potential targets in the war against terrorism, military officials said today [September 20, 2001].” – Eric Schmitt and Michael R. Gordon, “Top Air Chief Sent,” The New York Times, Sep. 21, 2001 […]
9/20/2001
Following 9/11 and the need for support from Afghanistan’s neighbors, “The sensitive task of wooing Iran was handled by British foreign secretary Jack Straw. The Iranian leader, President Mohammed Khatami, was amenable to a war that would see Iran’s hated enemy, the Taliban, destroyed, and he sent [President] Bush a message to that effect through […]
9/20/2001
Deputy Secretary of Defense “Mr. [Paul] Wolfowitz has been more ‘concerned about bombing Iraq than bombing Afghanistan,’ one senior [Bush] administration official said.” – Patrick E. Tyler and Elaine Sciolino, “Bush’s Advisers Split on Scope Of Retaliation,” The New York Times, Sep. 20, 2001 […]
9/20/2001
“President Bush demanded tonight [September 20, 2001] that Afghanistan’s leaders immediately deliver Osama bin Laden and his network and close down every terrorist camp in the country or face military attack by the United States. ‘These demands are not open to negotiation or discussion,’ the president said in an address to a joint meeting of […]