A Resolute And Focused Call to Arms

By Dan Balz
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, September 21, 2001; Page A01

Over the past nine days, since terrorists in hijacked airliners attacked New York and Washington, Americans have nervously looked for answers to a series of questions: Who did it and why, and what will the United States do to respond? Last night, in a determined and resolute speech to a joint session of Congress, President Bush answered those questions.

If there was any doubt where the war against terrorism is likely to begin, Bush eliminated it early in his speech. He put the terrorist network known as al Qaeda and its leader, Saudi fugitive Osama bin Laden, along with the Taliban regime in Afghanistan on notice, accusing bin Laden's group of carrying out last week's attacks and the Taliban of harboring and supporting the organization. Bush's warning hinted that this part of the campaign will come sooner rather than later.

But that will be only the beginning of a war that administration officials say could go on for years. Bush set as his goal the eradication of any terrorist group with global reach. That is a definition that suggests the United States and its allies will not try to wipe out every kind of terrorism on the planet as some earlier administration statements suggested.

Bush also said that the breadth of the war on terrorism depends in part on how other nations that may harbor or sponsor terrorists react. He said that "every nation in every region" must now decide whether it stands with the United States or with terrorists. "From this day forward, any nation that continues to harbor or support terrorism will be regarded by the United States as a hostile regime," he said.

Those definitions limit the potential scope of the campaign, in ways that may reassure some nations fearful of where the administration may be heading, while leaving Bush considerable flexibility in deciding where to expand the campaign beyond the immediate focus on bin Laden and Afghanistan.

But for those groups that fall under the umbrella he described, he said no resources will be spared to wipe them out. This will be a war that uses "every resource at our command," from diplomatic pressure to the sharing of intelligence to law enforcement to eliminating the financial networks that sustain the terrorists, in addition to all the the weapons of warfare, many of which are already being put in motion.

Bush's address to Congress marked a turning point in the running conversation he has carried on with the public since the terrorists hit New York and Washington on Sept. 11. Over the past nine days, he has expressed grief, sadness and outrage. He has been at times measured and eloquent, at other times plain-spoken and angry. Last night he was specific and focused.

The war, he said, will resemble neither the Persian Gulf War his father launched a decade ago to drive Iraq from Kuwait nor the war against Kosovo during the Clinton administration that was fought from the air and in which there were no combat deaths. He did not dwell on the potential costs, but to those in the military he said, "Be ready. . . . The hour is coming when America will act, and you will make us proud."

Bush had no historical guideposts when he went before Congress last night. Not Roosevelt after Pearl Harbor. Not Truman in the formative days of the Cold War. Not Johnson calming the country after Kennedy's assassination.

His assignment may be more difficult than any of those presidents faced, one that nobody could have envisioned a few weeks ago. It is a delicate combination of encouraging Americans to return to some kind of normality in their daily lives, if that is possible right now, while preparing a country anxious for what could be a long, unconventional and costly campaign against terrorism, a war unlike any America has ever fought.

The horrific terrorist attacks that leveled the twin towers of the World Trade Center, collapsed one side of the Pentagon and left more than 6,500 dead have produced a unity within the country not seen since perhaps World War II. It was Bush's challenge to begin to channel that unity into action, and judging from the immediate reaction to the speech, he accomplished what he set out to do.

Everything about last night's address spoke to the uniqueness of the moment, from the combat jets and military helicopters flying over the Capitol to the presence of British Prime Minister Tony Blair in the audience to the absence of partisanship among the Republicans and Democrats in the chamber.

"Tonight we are a country awakened to danger and called to defend freedom," Bush said. "Our grief has turned to anger, and anger to resolution."

On a day when television networks flashed scenes of military personnel in camouflage fatigues loading gear and bidding farewell to families, on a day when another steep decline in the stock markets highlighted the nation's anxiety, the challenge could not have been more clear -- or enormous.

While the heart of his speech focused on the coming campaign against the terrorists, Bush also sought to reassure the public that the government will do whatever it can to protect citizens from the kinds of attacks that hit a week ago. He pledged to improve airline security and to deal with an economy reeling from the attacks, and he assured his audience that life will return "almost to normal."

Samuel R. "Sandy" Berger, former president Bill Clinton's national security adviser, said Bush's speech would need a combination of "firmness, reassurance and obliqueness" at the same time. "You don't want to give too much away," he said before the president spoke. "You can't be terribly descriptive here." After the speech, Berger praised Bush for providing clarity under difficult circumstances.

Still there were things left unsaid last night. Some of that was deliberate, a desire not to compromise military operations and to keep terrorists and those who harbor them guessing at how the United States and its allies will respond.

As the administration continues to refine the scope of the military campaign, targets beyond bin Laden and Afghanistan remain secret. Bush's speech left unanswered a question that has been debated within the administration, for example, which is whether the campaign against terrorism will eventually focus on Iraq and its president, Saddam Hussein.

Eleven years ago this month, Bush's father appeared before a joint session of Congress to make his case for a possible war against Hussein and the Iraqis. He faced a divided country and months of divisive debate before he won the right to use force to expel the Iraqis from Kuwait.

Bush faces an entirely different situation, a country united in its sense of outrage over the terrorist attacks, fearful about future terrorism and therefore ready to follow the president to eradicate the threat. There is little doubt that he has a free hand as he begins the campaign against the terrorists.

But his leadership challenge could grow more severe in the months ahead. His advisers have talked of a five-year effort, others have suggested the campaign envisioned by the administration could take even longer. Bush will need the continued unity, resolve and focus of the American people to win the battle.

What Bush has launched is his generation's version of the long struggle of the Cold War, and last night he urged the American people to see the threat of terrorism in the same way the country once saw the threat of Soviet expansionism. "I know there are struggles ahead and dangers to face," he said. "But this country will define our times, not be defined by them."

Last night the president did what he could to begin to show what that means.