Thursday September 20 9:47 PM ET

Bush Vows 'Justice Will Be Done'

By DAVID ESPO, AP Special Correspondent

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Bush summoned America and all nations to wage war on terrorism Thursday night and vowed ``justice will be done'' against those who killed thousands in last week's attacks. With warplanes and ships on the move, he urged an anxious nation to be calm, ``even in the face of a continuing threat.''

Bush issued a series of demands - not open to negotiation or discussion - to the ruling Taliban in Afghanistan: turn over Osama bin Laden, the suspected mastermind of the attacks, or share in his fate.

``Tonight we are a country awakened to danger and called to defend freedom,'' he said nine days after the suicide attacks that leveled the once-soaring World Trade Center and wounded the mighty Pentagon. ``Our grief has turned to anger, and anger to resolution.''

Bush spoke before a joint session of Congress and a nationwide television audience counted in the millions. Security concerns were high enough to keep Vice President Dick Cheney away from the Capitol.

A few hours before the commander-in-chief spoke, New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani sharply revised the number of missing and presumed dead upward - to 6,333 - at the World Trade Center twin towers, destroyed by the impact of hijacked jetliners. An additional 189 are believed dead from a similar attack on the Pentagon, and 44 more perished when a fourth hijacked plane crashed in Pennsylvania.

Compounding the nation's woes were concerns about the economy. Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said ``much economic activity ground to a halt'' after the attacks, and the country's main stock index suffered its third triple-digit loss of the week, down more than 300 points for the day. The cost of the nation's response to the terrorism could reach $100 billion, which would create the first federal deficits since 1997.

With planes flying far below capacity and public confidence shaken, lawmakers and the administration labored through the day on economic relief for the airline industry, coupled with measures to limit their liability from lawsuits. House Speaker Dennis Hastert said he hoped for legislation by Friday, and Bush said he and lawmakers would find a way to stabilize a sudden vulnerable industry.

The extraordinary developments unfolded as a delegation of senators traveled by train to New York to view the rubble that once was the World Trade Center. ``The magnitude of it, the horror of it,'' said Senate GOP Leader Trent Lott.

More than 200 miles west, Attorney General John Ashcroft visited the Pennsylvania crash site of another hijacked plane. A gash in the ground marked where the plane hit short of its presumed Washington target - after what Ashcroft said was a heroic struggle waged by passengers against the terrorists on board. The widow of one of those passengers was Bush's guest Thursday night.

Bush's speech marked an occasion unlike any other in recent history. Security, normally high for a presidential address, was tightened considerably, as bomb-sniffing dogs patrolled the Capitol and barricades were erected on the streets outside.

``Our grief has turned to anger, and anger to resolution,'' he said. ``Whether we bring our enemies to justice, or bring justice to our enemies, justice will be done.''

Bush sought to reassure Americans at the same time he announced measures to improve its defenses against further terrorist attacks. He announced the creation of a Cabinet-level homeland defense office, charged with coordinating efforts to prevent terrorism, and named Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge to run it.

Congressional Democrats passed up their opportunity to offer a televised response to Bush's speech, determined to make sure ``the whole world and all of our citizens know that America speaks tonight with one voice,'' said House Democratic Leader Dick Gephardt.

Bush spoke as American military personnel began moving out from bases around the country, fully aware they could soon be in harm's way. ``I don't know if it will be dangerous, but if it is, that's what I signed on for,'' said Carl Townley, 38, a Navy reservist in Shreveport, La.

``We will rally the world to this cause, by our efforts and by our courage,'' Bush said. ``We will not tire, we will not falter and we will not fail.''

He called on Americans to recognize that this would be a war against terrorist extremists, not the Muslim faith. Separately, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld suggested that the code name that officials used on Thursday to describe the military response, ``Operation Infinite Justice'' would likely be jettisoned out of concern for Muslim sensibilities at home and abroad.

Bush, who has met with nearly a dozen foreign leaders in the past nine days to build an international coalition, said he was asking for the help of ``police forces, intelligence services and banking systems around the world.''

``Freedom and fear are at war,'' he declared.

To government leaders around the world, Bush stated: ``Either you are with us or you are with the terrorists.''

The administration pressed its demand for the extradition of Osama bin Laden in the run-up to the commander in chief's speech to a joint session of Congress.

``We want action, not just statements. He should not be given haven,'' said Secretary of State Colin Powell after Afghanistan issued a statement politely encouraging the suspected terrorist mastermind to leave the country.

Army Secretary Thomas E. White delivered the latest update on the nation's military response, speaking to reporters in a Pentagon conference room 50 yards or so away from where terrorists inflicted their damage. He said the Army is ready to conduct ``sustained land combat operations,'' and ``ready to deliver it across the whole array of force structure, heavy, light, airmobile, airborne, special operations.''

Referring to special operations forces such as the Rangers and Green Berets, he said, ``I am sure that this campaign will involve them, and they are ready to go.''

The Pentagon also has ordered dozens of sophisticated aircraft to the Persian Gulf region, and the USS Theodore Roosevelt left Norfolk, Va., on a previously scheduled mission that has taken on new urgency.

-- Anonymous, September 20, 2001