Bush vows to win war on terrorism
"We rededicate this proud symbol and we renew our commitment to win the war that began here," a sombre president said, as he led America's anniversary observances of the attacks that killed 184 at the Pentagon and nearly 3,000 in New York and Pennsylvania.
"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," he said. Gesturing with his right hand clenched into a fist, the commander in chief added:
"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!"
The roar of four F-16 fighter jets overhead punctuated the ceremony, the first visit in Bush's day-long pilgrimage to the places scarred by four hijacked airliners. The memorial observances unfolded in a nation on higher alert against the possibility of more attacks.
Vice President Cheney was at an undisclosed location, armed anti-aircraft missiles were deployed around the nation's capital and military aircraft patrolled the skies.
Church bells tolled throughout the capital city at 8:46am EDT, the moment when the first hijacked airliner struck the World Trade Center in New York. Members of Congress decided to gather on the Capitol steps to sing "God Bless America" as they had done one year ago in a spontaneous demonstration of the nation's resolve.
Via closed-circuit television at CIA headquarters, Director George J Tenet addressed the agency workforce that lost seven of their own in the attacks and is working still to crack terrorist cells.
"Though they can, and will, seek to strike more blows," Tenet said, "what they cannot do and will not do is prevail."
Bush, members of his cabinet, congressional leaders, beribboned military officers and a crowd of several thousand gathered outside the Pentagon for a ceremony that was part memorial to the dead, part celebration of the rapidly rebuilt military headquarters, and part rallying cry to a military already battling al-Qaida terrorists and preparing for possible action against Iraq's Saddam Hussein.
"The terrorists wanted September 11 to be a day when innocents died," Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said in remarks shortly before the president spoke.
"Instead, it was a day when heroes were born."
From the Pentagon, Bush flew to Pennsylvania, where a plane possibly headed for the Capitol crashed into the countryside one year ago. Then to New York, where the World Trade Center's twin towers collapsed after taking separate hits from two hijacker-piloted jetliners. He also spoke to the nation in a prime-time address delivered from Ellis Island in New York Harbour.
Americans watched the nation's observances on television screens, which often were split with images from Washington and New York, where the names of the victims were solemnly read at Ground Zero hours before the president arrived.
Grim-faced and gripping first lady Laura Bush's hand, Bush began his day with prayer at the yellow-steepled St John's Church where presidential aides fled just minutes after the White House was evacuated last year September 11.
"September 11 is a day we are never going to forget are we?" the Rev Luis Leon asked the congregation. "But it did not break us. They have bloodied us but they did not break us."
Bush leaned forward and slowly nodded his head in agreement.
On the south lawn of the White House, he squinted into the sun in silence at 8:46am the moment that the first plane hit the World Trade Center one year ago.
At the Pentagon, flags draped the building, and in one office window was a taped sign that declared: Marian, we miss you!"
At Ground Zero, the massive pit where the twin towers once stood, Bush was meeting with the victims' families before making a televised address to the nation with the Statue of Liberty as backdrop.
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