September 4, 2002 9:00 a.m. It’s a War, Stupid Understanding and misunderstanding the detainees. From the September 16, 2002, issue of National Review. ven as the terrorist attacks were taking place last September 11, President Bush made use of the extraordinary authority he has to protect Americans from enemy action. Had the heroes of United Flight 93 not prevented their hijacked plane from reaching Washington, F-16s — deployed by President Bush — would have shot down the plane full of American citizens. There is no question that this first defensive action taken by the president in the war on terrorism...