Chicago Tribune from Chicago, Illinois • 7

WEDNESDAY SECTION 1 CHICAGO TRIBUNE U.S. UNDER ATTACK MILITARY RESPONSE a4 Coasfi I mm. tn1 i 4- -f. Li- 4 SEPTEMBER 12, 2001 tttt lh i Armed services worldwide put on highest alert ft -rh. I I Jt la ffesa Al ttf 'v.

By Michael Kilian Washington Bureau WASHINGTON In an action unprecedented in the postwar era, the Navy on Tuesday dispatched two aircraft carriers and eight other warships to Atlantic coastal waters to provide air protection for New York and the capital after terrorist attacks against the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. All U.S. armed services were placed on the highest level of alert, Including Air Force combat squadrons. A spokesman for the U.S. Atlantic Fleet at Norfolk, said more ships would be deployed Tuesday night and Wednesday, including one or more amphibious assault ships, which carry up to 2,000 Marines each.

"We have aircraft flying protective missions all over the country," said Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld at a Pentagon briefing Tuesday night. Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Henry Shelton said, "I have no intention of discussing what comes next. But make no mistake about it, your armed forces are ready." The spokesman for the Atlantic Fleet added: "The carriers will be contributing to the air defense of Washington, D.C., and New York and will be available for other contingencies. They are responding to a significant threat." The vessels also were to provide support for on-shore operations, including medical assistance and security, he said.

The carriers, each carrying 80 or more aircraft of all types, are the Norfolk-based USS George Washington and the USS John F. Posture uoiahtened i cnHtv See Command Securrty for Details highest military alert level Tuesday, U.S. soldiers examine vehicles Agence France-Presse photo by Mike Nelson at the entrance to the Pearl Harbor Naval base in Hawaii. also called Columbia Tower, the tallest U.S. building west of the Mississippi River.

Officials at military sites across the country reported that only essential military personnel would be permitted on their bases. All unnecessary military flights were canceled, and the North American Aerospace Defense Command took steps to protect the military's computer ANALYSIS President's address somber, if not stirring ij. TEXT OF PRESIDENT'S SPEECH 'They cannot dent steel of our resolve' which was due to come home from the Persian Gulf, was ordered to remain in the area indefinitely. A second carrier, the USS Carl Vinson, remains in the area as well, the official said. Warships also were reportedly sent to West Coast sites considered vulnerable, including Seattle, home to the landmark 605-foot Space Needle and the 76-story Bank of America Tower, mm i(i AP photo by Doug Mills of transcontinental travel.

foursquare behind him. But that patriotic impulse can be limited, and is likely to be now. Questions about what happened, and how it could happen, abound. They will surface sooner rather than later. Democrats, and even a few Republicans, looking to exploit obvious government failings, will face their own pressures for answers.

The congressional hearings will come, with his top law enforcement and military advisers beckoned front and center. Until Tuesday, his Achilles heel seemed to be the economy. That may have changed amid the hijacking of planes and total destruction of the twin towers. He will have to help provide answers and exhibit more of the quality of mind and determination briefly on display in what will likely seem a very lonely office in the days ahead. After implementation of America's Kennedy, which was sent from Florida.

Also in the group are the guid-ed-missile cruisers USS Leyte Gulf, USS Monterey, USS Hue City, USS Vella Gulf and USS Vicksburg, guided-missile destroyers USS Ramage and USS Ross, and the support ship USS Detroit. The USNS Comfort, a hospital ship docked in Baltimore, was President Bush speaks from the or even syllables. He read the address slowly and conquered the impulse to race over individual words. He seemed self-conscious at the start, particularly with the studied movement of his hands. And at the end, as he heralded the national impulse to defend freedom "and all that is good and just in our world," and then let out a brief smile, one again glimpsed a bit of Bush, the maladroit speechmaker.

Rutgers University political scientist Ross Baker found Bush's "an adequate response. I think it was a real opportunity to mobilize the language and he didn't quite make it. But he did get a message across, his warning to Afghanistan, Yemen and other nations who give aid and comfort to terrorists." Presidents Lyndon Johnson, Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton each summoned strong and moving efforts at similarly crit a ft 1 fit 1 111 i) iit n. systems from hackers, a spokesV; man said. NORAD also was on its high-' est alert.

"We have all of our air sover eignty aircraft fighters, sur-' veillance and other support air-, craft ready to respond," NORAD said in a statement. Tribune news services contribute ed to this report around the world from further attacks. The functions of our government continue without ruption. Federal agencies fat Washington which had to be evacuated today are reopening for essential personnel tonight, and will be open for business tomorrow. Our financial institutions remain strong, and the American economy will be open for busi-' ness as well.

The search is under way for those who are behind these evil acts. I've directed the full re sources for our intelligence and law-enforcement communities' to find those responsible and' bring them to justice. We will make no distinction between the terrorists who committed these acts and those who harbor them. I appreciate so very much the? members of Congress who have joined me in strongly condemning these attacks. And, on behalf of the American people, I thank the many world leaders who have called to offer their condd lences and assistance.

America and our friends and allies join with all those who' want peace and security in the; world, and we stand together to win the war against Tonight I ask for your prayers for all those who grieve, for the children whose worlds have been shattered, for all whose sense of safety and security has been threatened. And I pray they will be com'-: forted by a power greater than any of us, spoken through the ages in Psalm 23: "Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil for you are with me." This is a day when all Amer icans from every walk of life unite in our resolve for justice1 and peace. America has stood down enemies before, and we will do so this time. None of us will ever forget this day, yet we go forward to defend freedom and all that is good and just in our world. Thank you.

Good night and God bless America. available if needed, he said. Nuclear-powered and carrying more than 6,000 crew members each, the carriers normally are used to project American power and protect American lives, property and interests in global waters far from the United States. A senior defense official told the Associated Press that the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise, i Oval Office late Tuesday after a day ical moments Johnson perhaps the best, speaking to Congress right after the assassination. They moved many and served the needed role of "the nation's chief grief therapist," as Baker puts it.

In the light of those three performances, Bush's seemed surprisingly short. It was good as far as it went. There seemed to be a bit more to be said, such as about the machinery at work to track down the terrorists, how the U.S. government, might now proceed and, of course, how it had seemingly come up short. He spoke with the weight of history upon him, a past that makes clear that Americans will rally 'round the flag, and their president, at least initially If there was any doubt, it was dispelled earlier when the leaders of Congress stood together and put aside their sniping over the budget, education spending and imssile defense to stand Ay: rm' 1.

i Short speech delivers basics: Sorrow, threat By James Warren Washington bureau When he looked into a camera in the Oval Office late Tuesday, President Bush stared at the greatest challenge of his political career, knowing the nation needed him even if it was willing to suspend judgment. Throughout the 2000 presidential campaign, even his supporters conceded certain Bush vulnerabilities, especially as he faced off against Republican primary opponent Sen. John McCain of Arizona. Perhaps paramount was a comparative lack of gravitas when compared with the Vietnam War hero. Would Bush be able to summon the credibility, the air of authority and the sense of calm if elected and faced with a tragedy on the scale of the assassination of John F.

Kennedy, the explosion of the Challenger space shuttle or the devastation at the Oklahoma City federal building? Sitting behind his desk, dressed in a dark blue suit, crisp white shirt and blue necktie, Bush performed capably if not stirringly, with not even his harshest critic able to dismiss his description of this day as one in which "our very freedom came under attack." For sure, he would be criticized for having taken so long in getting back to this very room, having first trekked from Florida to Louisiana to Nebraska, for security reasons. Historian Robert Dallek, who had flown over the World Trade Center inferno on a Washing-ton-to-Boston flight, found the Bush detour "troubling in that it can undermine confidence in the ability of the government to see to its own security." As Dallek later watched Bush, he found the address well delivered, with its content, especially a warning to those countries harboring terrorists, outweighing its lack of rhetorical inspiration. Bush's frequent oratorical failings, including the odd smirk that can seem out of sync with the substance of a particular line, were on scant display. His tone was more measured than it often is, without the odd accentuations of certain words The text of President Bush's televised address to the nation Tuesday evening from the White House Oval Office: Good evening. Today, our fellow citizens, our way of life, our very freedom came under attack in a series of deliberate and deadly terrorist acts.

The victims were in airplanes or in their offices: secretaries, businessmen and women, military and federal moms and dads, friends and neighbors. Thousands of lives were suddenly ended by evil, despicable acts oC terror. The pictures of airplanes flying into buildings, fires burning, huge structures collapsing have filled us with disbelief, terrible sadness and a quiet, unyielding anger. These acts of mass murder were intended to frighten our nation into chaos and retreat. But they have failed.

Our country is strong. A great people has been moved to defend a great nation. Terrorist attacks can shake the foundations of our biggest buildings, but they cannot touch the foundation of America. These acts shatter steel, but they cannot dent the steel of American resolve. America was targeted for attack because we're the brightest beacon for freedom and opportunity in the world.

And no one will keep that light from shining. Today, our nation saw evil, the very worst of human nature, and we responded with the best of America, with the daring of our rescue workers, with the caring for strangers and neighbors who came to give blood and help in any way they could. Immediately following the first attack, I implemented our government's emergency response plans. Our military is powerful, and it's prepared. Our emergency teams are working in New York City and Washington, D.C., to help with local rescue efforts.

Our first priority is to get help to those who have been injured and to take every precaution to protect our citizens at home and.