President Bush's speech today about the 'war on terrorism' will be one of the most important of his presidency, writes Conor O'Clery in New York
In the Bush White House the phrase "war-time presidency" is used quite freely these days. And President Bush reportedly sees himself as a war-time president, who begins each day with a 7.00 a.m. review of what advisers call a "matrix" of threat assessments.
Thus today, a year after the attack on America which made terrorism the defining focus of his presidency, Mr Bush goes before the world to put the case that the war must continue to make sure that September 11th never happens again, and that this makes an attack on Iraq imperative because of its potential for mass destruction.
Defence Secretary Mr Donald Rumsfeld added a grim warning, setting the scene for the rhetoric of the days ahead when "fierceness and resistance" would be needed. "We lost thousands" on September 11th, he said. "In future we face the prospect of losing tens of thousands."
Mr Bush began outlining his case last night to the American people in a televised address from Ellis Island in New York to mark the anniversary of September 11th. His message throughout the day underlined his argument that inaction can lead to terrible disaster. America has been moved to action and must take the initiative so that "the lawless and the merciless do not inherit the earth", he said earlier in a sombre ceremony at the Pentagon.
"What happened to our nation on a September day set in motion the first great struggle of a new century. The enemies who struck us are determined and they are resourceful. They will not be stopped by a sense of decency or a hint of conscience. But they will be stopped.
"We re-dedicate this proud symbol and we renew our commitment to win the war that began here," he said. "This war is waged on many fronts. Yet there's a great deal left to do. And the greatest tasks and greatest dangers will fall to the armed forces of the United States." Clenching his right hand into a fist, the President went on: "Though they died in tragedy, they did not die in vain. Their loss has moved a nation to action in a cause to defend other innocent lives across the world.
"As long as terrorists and dictators plot against our lives and our liberty they will be opposed by the United States Army, Navy, Coast Guard, Air Force and Marines." Mr Bush's US speech today will be one of the most important of his presidency. He is assured of a cool welcome from the world's leaders, many of whom he will meet privately today and tomorrow. There is widespread scepticism among Arab and European countries about the validity of his case for attacking Iraq, severe doubts within Congress, and wavering within his own administration.
The American public is also wary of going it alone under Mr Bush's doctrine of first strike, spelled out in a speech at West Point in June. Some 69 per cent of Americans in a recent poll said they believed the President should seek the approval of Congress for any large-scale military action against Saddam Hussein, and 68 per cent feel he should also get the UN's backing. Just over half those polled - 53 per cent - said that he had not done enough to say why the United States should go to war against Iraq.
Nevertheless Mr Bush's approval rating is still high at 66 per cent, and 75 per cent approve of his conduct of the "war on terrorism" so far.
His message to the UN today will apparently be that if the 190-nation world body does not act, the US will go it alone. He is "going to make clear that the current regime in Iraq is an outlaw regime, that it has defied UN resolutions for 11 years now," said an official.
There was defiant and emotional talk on Capitol Hill too. House Majority Leader Richard K. Armey of Texas barely held back tears as he promised that America would forever pursue the perpetrators.
"Let me just say to those of you who are still out there plotting and scheming: do not underestimate our American heroes," he said. "They are young, they are bright, they are strong, they have courage and they will in fact bring you down." However the question of unfinished business concerns some Republican supporters of the President. They worry that the main goal of getting the perpetrators of September 11th will be obscured by a war on Iraq. A year has passed and the administration cannot yet say if Osama bin Laden is dead or alive, and if al-Qaeda is a potent or defeated force.
Washington is taking no chances that al-Qaeda is beaten. Within a short time of the announcement on Tuesday of a heightened state of alert throughout the United States, the President put the country's military on to a higher state of alert around the world and ordered the temporary closure of several American embassies abroad.
Mr Rumsfeld commanded that Stinger surface-to-air missiles be loaded onto launchers deployed around Washington, and Vice-President Dick Cheney was practically snatched by helicopter from his Massachusetts Avenue residence and flown off to an undisclosed location. The roar of four F-16 fighter jets overhead drowned out part of the ceremony when Mr Bush and first lady Laura Bush visited rural Somerset County where United Flight 93 crashed en route to a Washington target.
The director of the CIA, Mr George Tenet, gave a hint of the recent threat assessments his agency has been providing when he warned yesterday, in a message to staff at CIA headquarters, that terrorists "can, and will, seek to strike more blows".