Bush braces for fight

By Ron Fournier

Associated Press

WASHINGTON – President Bush branded the attacks in New York and Washington, D.C., “acts of war” on Wednesday and braced a shaken nation for a long fight against the terrorists who orchestrated them. He sought $20 billion to help pay the cost of retaliation as investigators searched from Florida to Canada and along the Internet for suspects.

“This will be a monumental struggle of good vs. evil,” said Bush, as officials revealed that the White House, Air Force One and the president himself were targeted a day earlier. “Good will prevail.”

Bush asked Congress to find $20 billion in a tight federal budget to help rebuild and react to the attacks, vowing to spend “whatever it takes.” Some House Democrats said the measure might give Bush too much leeway.

The president mulled a range of military options to punish the terrorists and any nation harboring them, while investigators said they had identified more than a dozen hijackers of Middle Eastern descent with ties to Osama bin Laden and other terrorist networks.

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld told U.S. troops worldwide they will be called to arms “in the days ahead.” Secretary of State Colin Powell said the president will oversee “a long-term conflict.”

Bush said: “This battle will take time and resolve.”

A U.S. assault was not imminent, said senior government officials, because one of the largest criminal investigations in the nation’s history was still under way.

Attorney General John Ashcroft said teams of three to six terrorists hijacked four planes and, using pilots trained in the United States, put the aircraft on their deadly courses.

Two struck the World Trade Center, one hit the Pentagon and a fourth crashed short of its target in Pennsylvania.

Officials did not detail the “specific and credible evidence” they said they had of the intended targets.

Bush toured the Pentagon in Arlington, Va., saying the devastation made him sad and angry. “The nation mourns,” he said, “but we must go on.” First lady Laura Bush visited victims in a nearby hospital.

Bush talked of war, though he did not seek a declaration from Congress. That would leave the question: Who is the United States at war with?

The attacks “were more than acts of terror,” Bush said. “They were acts of war.”

White House officials said Bush needs to know his targets before deciding what, if any, authorization to seek from Congress.

Bush said he would ask Congress for an undetermined amount of money to rescue victims and “respond to this tragedy.”

In a sign of how suddenly the political winds had shifted, aides suggested the Social Security surplus – politically untouchable just a few days ago – could be tapped to get Bush the money he needs.