Macon Telegraph
AP
Sunday, September 16, 2001
Remarks by President Bush, Secretary of State Colin Powell and Attorney General John Ashcroft at Camp David on Saturday, as transcribed by the White House. The president also answered questions from the press.
Bush: I've asked the highest levels of our government to come to discuss the current tragedy that has so deeply affected our nation. Our country mourns for the loss of life and for those whose lives have been so deeply affected by this despicable act of terror.
I am going to describe to our leadership what I saw: the wreckage of New York City, the signs of the first battle of war.
We're going to meet and deliberate and discuss - but there's no question about it, this act will not stand; we will find those who did it; we will smoke them out of their holes; we will get them running and we'll bring them to justice. We will not only deal with those who dare attack America, we will deal with those who harbor them and feed them and house them.
Make no mistake about it: underneath our tears is the strong determination of America to win this war. And we will win it.
I'm going to ask the Secretary of State to say a few things, and then the Attorney General.
Powell: Thank you, Mr. President. I might just say that I'm very pleased with the response we've been getting from the international community. I think every civilized nation in the world recognizes that this was an assault not just against the United States, but against civilization.
We should also take note, it's not just Americans who lost lives in the World Trade Center - dozens of countries lost lives and they realize that this was an attack against them, as well.
We are receiving expressions of support from around the world - and not just rhetorical support, but real support for whatever may lay ahead in this campaign that is ahead of us to win the war that the President has spoken of.
I might especially want to thank the President and the people of Pakistan for the support that they have offered and their willingness to assist us in whatever might be required in that part of the world as we determine who those perpetrators are. It's a coalition that will stay intact, that will be built upon over time. And what we have to do is not just go after these perpetrators, and those who gave them haven, but the whole curse of terrorism that is upon the face of the earth. And this is a campaign that we have begun this week and we will stick with it until we are successful.
Bush: Attorney General.
Ashcroft: Four days ago we began an investigative effort to understand not only those who perpetrate this heinous assault against America and free people everywhere, but to develop an understanding of those who are associated with it and how it was conducted.
The FBI, together with very cooperative local and state officials and law enforcement agencies has processed thousands of leads. We are making the kinds of contacts and developing the information that allow us to describe this as proceeding with reasonable success. We believe that the picture is developing a kind of clarity that's appropriate. We have named 19 individuals that we have high levels of confidence were the hijackers. And we are further refining our understanding of the ways in which this terrible crime was developed.
I might add that we have put in place very serious measures that we believe will provide greater security and provide a basis for our country returning to the kind of freedom and business and conduct that is characteristic of this great nation.
Question: Sir, what do you say to Americans who are worried that the longer it takes to retaliate, the more chance the perpetrators have to escape and hide and just escape justice?
Bush: They will try to hide, they will try to avoid the United States and our allies - but we're not going to let them. They run to the hills; they find holes to get in. And we will do whatever it takes to smoke them out and get them running, and we'll get them.
Listen, this is a great nation; we're a kind people. None of us could have envisioned the barbaric acts of these terrorists. But they have stirred up the might of the American people, and we're going to get them, no matter what it takes.
In my radio address today I explained to the American people that this effort may require patience. But we're going to -
Question: How long -
Bush: As long as it takes. And it's not just one person. We're talking about those who fed them, those who house them, those who harbor terrorists will be held accountable for this action.
Question: Sir, are you satisfied that Osama bin Laden is at least a kingpin of this operation?
Bush: There is no question he is what we would call a prime suspect. And if he thinks he can hide and run from the United States and our allies, he will be sorely mistaken.
Question: Mr. President, do you have a message for the reservists that you called up yesterday? Can you tell us whether you think more may have to be called up?
Bush: The message is for everybody who wears the uniform: get ready. The United States will do what it takes to win this war. And I ask patience of the American people. There is no question in my mind we'll have the resolve - I witnessed it yesterday on the construction site. Behind the sadness and the exhaustion, there is a desire by the American people to not seek only revenge, but to win a war against barbaric behavior, people that hate freedom and hate what we stand for.
And this is an administration that is going to dedicate ourselves to winning that war.
Question: What did Pakistan say it would do to help the United States?
Powell: We put before the Pakistani government a specific list of things that we would like cooperation on, and they've agreed to all those items. I'm not prepared to announce today what those specific items are. But the Pakistani government was very forthcoming and we're appreciative.
Question: Mr. President, what kind of military options are you considering, if you could talk broadly?
Bush: This is an administration that will not talk about how we gather intelligence, how we know what we're going to do, nor what our plans are. When we move, we will communicate with you in an appropriate manner.
We're at war. There has been an act of war declared upon America by terrorists, and we will respond accordingly. And I appreciate very much the American people understanding that. As we plan, as we put our strategy into action, we will let you know when we think it's appropriate - not only to protect the lives of our servicemen and women, but to make sure our coalition has had proper time to be noticed, as well. But we're going to act.
Question: What is the risk of additional attacks on us at this point?
Bush: I would think the American people need to be - go about their business on Monday, but with a heightened sense of awareness that a group of barbarians have declared war on the American people.
Question: Sir, how much of a sacrifice are ordinary Americans going to have to be expected to make in their daily lives, in their daily routines?
Bush: Our hope, of course, is that they make no sacrifice whatsoever. We would like to see life return to normal in America. But these people have declared war on us and we will do whatever it takes to make sure that we're safe internally. So, therefore, people may not be able to board flights as quickly. Our borders are tighter than they've ever been before. We're taken a variety of measures to make sure that the American people are safe, just as the Attorney General spoke about.
But we hope, obviously, that the measures we take will allow the American economy to continue on. I urge people to go to their businesses on Monday. I understand major league baseball is going to start playing again. It is important for America to get on about its life. But our government will be on full alert and we'll be tracing every lead, every potential to make sure that the American people are safe.
Question: How long do you envision -
Bush: The definition is whatever it takes.
WSVN-TV
Posted: September 15, 2001 05:24 PM
MIAMI (AP) -- Boeing 757 manuals, three illustrated martial arts books and an 8-inch stack of East Coast flight maps were found by a motel owner cleaning out the room vacated by a hijacker two days before he flew into the World Trade Center.
Marwan Al-Shehhi and another Arab man spent a week at the Panther Motel in Deerfield Beach, and they had a constant visitor. But owner Richard Surma said Saturday he didn't recognize the other two from four photographs offered by the FBI.
Of the 19 hijackers, at least 15 have Florida ties, and seven of them were believed to be pilots. Al-Shehhi, who trained at two Florida flight schools, was aboard the United Boeing 767 that crashed into the south tower Tuesday.
Surma kept many of the items from Al-Shehhi's room and called over a sheriff's deputy Wednesday when officers began scouring the oceanfront strip of small motels 12 miles north of Fort Lauderdale. The FBI quickly followed and spent day and night interviewing guests and lifting fingerprints from Al-Shehhi's room through Friday.
Black fingerprint dust covers virtually every surface, making it look as "if you had a fire inside and a lot of soot everywhere," Surma said. He planned to clean it until a network TV crew rented the room as is.
Al-Shehhi checked out last Sunday without taking a three-ring binder full of handwritten notes, an English-German dictionary, an airplane fuel tester, a protractor, tote bag, aircraft manuals, maps and books, Surma said.
"Nice maps, but they were too complicated for me," he said. "They were aeronautical maps. I'm sure it was almost half of the eastern United States."
"I wanted to keep them all but my wife didn't want me to," Surma said. He put some of the material in the garbage, which was collected before investigators arrived. The FBI took everything that Surma kept from the hijacker's room.
Fingerprint technicians paid special attention to the frames on tropical-themed velvet paintings of dancing women. Surma found the pictures face down on the floor.
"Such puny guys, but they were pretty smart I guess that they could do so much damage," he said.
Hundreds of FBI agents are rebuilding the history of the hijackers from a paper trail of flight school records; house, apartment and hotel rental records; credit card receipts and interviews with pilots, landlords, neighbors and bartenders.
Investigators were pursuing about 1,000 leads in Florida, said FBI spokeswoman Judy Orihuela in Miami.
Seven men, including three on the United jet that crashed in Pennsylvania, used addresses in Delray Beach, about 20 miles south of West Palm Beach. The fourth hijacker killed in Pennsylvania stayed at a motel in Lauderdale By The Sea.
Four of the American Airlines Flight 11 hijackers stayed in the South Florida community of Hollywood, and the fifth listed a Boynton Beach hotel on his driver's license.
The FBI had searched the Vero Beach rental homes of two Saudi Arabian Airlines pilots who recently moved out: Abdul Rahman al-Omari, whose name is similar to one of the hijacker's, and Amer Khanfar. The FBI had issued a bulletin for Khanfar, while al-Omari had a similar name to another hijacker, Abdulaziz al-Omari.
Reached by telephone, staff at the airline's offices in the Saudi city of Jiddah said Abdul Rahman al-Omari was in the building but refused to talk to the press. A Saudi newspaper editor said he spoke earlier to both men, and they were surprised their names came up in the investigation.
Meanwhile, members of Florida's congressional delegation in Washington wanted to get home but, like other Americans, couldn't book commercial flights as air traffic slowly returned to normal. They flew instead Saturday on a Florida Air National Guard plane making stops in Jacksonville, Orlando and the Miami suburb of Opa-locka.
U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Fla., had her arms around her teen-age daughters at the Opa-locka airport when she said the hijackers' extensive Florida links were "unbelievable."
Thousands of Floridians arranged their weekend activities around memorial and church services in remembrance of nearly 5,000 people feared dead.
In Tallahassee, people planned to link hands in a candlelight vigil Sunday evening around the 12-acre Lake Ella in a show of unity.
The Key West Poker Run, an annual motorcycle gathering that carries riders the length of the Florida Keys, promised to donate all registration fees Sunday to disaster relief efforts. An estimated 16,000 motorcyclists were expected.