Bush Warns of Casualties of War
President Says Bin Laden Is Wanted 'Dead or Alive'

By Dan Balz
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, September 18, 2001; Page A01

President Bush warned the nation yesterday to prepare for U.S. military casualties in the coming war against terrorism and, in his bluntest language since last week's attacks on New York and Washington, said he wants Osama Bin Laden brought to justice "dead or alive."

"We will win the war and there will be costs," Bush said after a meeting with Pentagon officials that was described as a review of his earlier decision to call up 35,000 military reservists to help in air patrols around major cities, intelligence gathering and engineering projects. He said the military "is ready to defend freedom at any cost."

On a day when Americans went back to work, the stock markets reopened and Major League Baseball resumed play for the first time since the terrorist attacks, Bush described the perpetrators as "evildoers" and "barbaric people." Those harboring bin Laden and his network, Bush said, should be "on notice" that they will not escape the wrath of the United States and the international coalition his administration is working to build.

Secretary of State Colin L. Powell said "the first round" of the war against terrorism will be aimed specifically at those who launched last week's attacks. He emphasized that it is "becoming clear with each passing hour" that the al Qaeda terrorist network is the prime suspect and that "all roads lead to" bin Laden, the organization's leader, "and his location in Afghanistan."

But Powell said the nation should be prepared for a "long-term campaign" against worldwide terrorism that will include legal, political, diplomatic, law enforcement and intelligence-gathering components -- as well as military action.

"What we have to do is not only deal with this present instance but the whole concept of terrorism, deal with it as a scourge upon civilization and go after it," he said.

U.S. officials continued their intensive diplomatic campaign to build international support for military actions and other moves as they awaited word on a Pakistani delegation's trip to Afghanistan to urge that the Taliban leaders turn over bin Laden.

Powell plans to meet tomorrow or Thursday with Prince Saud Faisal, Saudi Arabia's foreign minister, as investigators reported that 14 of the 19 suspected hijackers have links to that country. Calling the Saudis friends of the United States, Powell said of the foreign minister, "I expect he will be forthcoming and I expect he will be coming with a message of support and commitment."

As another sign of the growing intensity of preparations, White House officials said Bush will discuss the crisis at a working dinner tonight with French President Jacques Chirac. The president will meet on Wednesday with Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri, who leads the world's largest Muslim nation, and on Thursday with British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

The visits by Chirac and Megawati were scheduled before the current crisis but the visit by Blair, who has been one of the staunchest and most outspoken allies of the administration in the wake of last week's attacks, was a late addition to the president's calendar.

As investigators continued to probe the four hijackings that resulted in the attacks on New York's World Trade Center and on the Pentagon, New York officials revised their estimate of the number of people missing there to 5,422, along with 201 confirmed dead. Combined with the deaths at the Pentagon and on the hijacked airplanes, the possible death toll from Sept. 11 is nearly 6,000.

Attorney General John D. Ashcroft called on Congress to enact new legislation granting law enforcement officials greater powers to combat terrorism. Ashcroft said law enforcement officials urgently need expanded wiretapping powers to track terrorists. He also urged the statute of limitations on prosecuting crimes of terrorism be eliminated and said the legal fight against terrorism must be a greater priority.

"If terrorism has not had a priority in the criminal justice system previously, it's time for us to understand that it needs to be a priority in the criminal justice system now," he said.

Ashcroft pledged that the Justice Department would have a comprehensive package of bills ready for consideration within a few days.

The attorney general said the administration would ask for expanded powers "mindful of our responsibility to protect the rights and privacy of Americans." But he said the legal system must reflect the seriousness of crimes of terrorism.

Ashcroft also announced that law enforcement personnel from across the government would be assigned to the Transportation Department for use as armed sky marshals on some commercial airline flights. He did not say how extensive the program will be.

He said he had ordered the U.S. Marshals Service, whose responsibility is to protect U.S. courthouses around the country, to assign more than 300 deputy marshals to assist FBI field offices in the investigation of the terrorists.

Concerned about reports of violence and intimidation aimed at Muslims and Arab Americans, Bush visited the Islamic Center in Washington yesterday afternoon and called on Americans to show tolerance in these tense times.

FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III said his agency has launched 40 investigations into hate crimes aimed at Arab Americans, including a number targeting Muslim houses of worship and community centers. "I'll make it very clear," he said. "Vigilante attacks and threats against Arab Americans will not be tolerated."

Security concerns continued to ripple throughout the country. The United Nations postponed the opening of the General Assembly scheduled for next week, and the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank canceled their annual meeting scheduled for late September in Washington. One reason cited was that District officials had planned on assistance from law enforcement officials in New York, who are now busy with rescue and recovery efforts there.

Bush spent a busy day monitoring and managing the crisis, including a morning meeting with his National Security Council and an afternoon meeting with his economic advisers about the time the Dow Jones industrial average was posting its largest one-day point drop in history. Early yesterday, he visited the cafeteria in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building next to the White House. Staff members were evacuated last week when officials feared the White House was a target of terrorists, and they spent a tense week amid heightened security alerts.

Seeking to boost morale among those White House workers, who include many veterans of his presidential campaign, Bush told them, "The best way to fight terrorism is to not let terrorism intimidate America."

At the Pentagon, Bush met with Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and others to review the status of preparations. Then the president used a brief appearance before the cameras to escalate his rhetoric and sharpen his focus on the alleged mastermind of the terrorist network that is at the heart of the investigation.

"Do you want bin Laden dead?" Bush was asked.

"I want justice," the president replied. "There's an old poster out West, as I recall, that said, 'Wanted: Dead or Alive.' "

Later, White House press secretary Ari Fleischer was asked whether Bush's comments indicated that the quarter-century ban on government-sponsored assassination had been lifted.

Fleischer said, "That directive is in effect. And I also want to add that it does not limit the United States's ability to act in its self-defense."

Asked repeatedly if the administration would consider the sponsoring of bin Laden's assassination to be an act of self-defense, Fleischer said, "I'm just going to repeat my words, and others will figure out the exact implications of them."

Vice President Cheney said on Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press" that he did not believe any U.S. or international law would prevent American agents from killing bin Laden. "Not in my estimation," Cheney said. "But I'd have to check with the lawyers on that, obviously."

Powell later said, "It is not enough to get one individual, although we'll start with that one individual." He said success will come only when "we have neutralized and destroyed" the whole network.

Bush's language at the Pentagon was his harshest yet as he continue to shift toward putting the country on a war footing.

"I know that this is a different type of enemy than we're used to," he said. "It's an enemy that likes to hide and burrow in, and their network is extensive. There are no rules. It's barbaric behavior. They slit throats of women on airplanes in order to achieve an objective that is beyond comprehension."

Calling the campaign ahead "a fight for freedom," Bush said the world "will not allow ourselves to be terrorized by somebody who thinks they can hit and hide in a cave somewhere." He said he was confident that "once we get them running, we have got a good chance of getting them."

The president reiterated his promise to attack both the terrorists and those who harbor them, singling out the Taliban government in Afghanistan.

"The people who think they can provide them safe havens will be held accountable," he said. "The people who feed them will be held accountable. And the Taliban must take my statement seriously."

Bush plans to hold a Rose Garden ceremony with technology executives today to announce an industry-sponsored Web site designed as a clearinghouse for charitable drives and efforts to locate missing people.