"Regenerative in Its aftermath, America has Osama bin Laden, the suspected mastermind of the attacks, and his al-Qaida Network deeper in hiding." (Tom Chambers)

President George W. Bush's Address to a Joint Session of Congress (Thursday - 9/20/2001):

"Mr. Speaker, Mr. President Pro Tempore, members of Congress, and fellow Americans:

In the normal course of events, presidents come to this chamber to report on the state of the Union. Tonight, no such report is needed. It has already been delivered by the American people.

We have seen it in the courage of passengers who rushed terrorists to save others on the ground. Passengers like an exceptional man named Todd Beamer. And would you please help me welcome his wife Lisa Beamer here tonight?

We have seen the state of our Union in the endurance of rescuers working past exhaustion.

We've seen the unfurling of flags, the lighting of candles, the giving of blood, the saying of prayers in English, Hebrew and Arabic.

We have seen the decency of a loving and giving people who have made the grief of strangers their own.

My fellow citizens, for the last nine days, the entire world has seen for itself the state of union, and it is strong.

Tonight, we are a country awakened to danger and called to defend freedom. Our grief has turned to anger and anger to resolution. Whether we bring our enemies to justice or bring justice to our enemies, justice will be done.

I thank the Congress for its leadership at such an important time.

All of America was touched on the evening of the tragedy to see Republicans and Democrats joined together on the steps of this Capitol singing ``God Bless America.''

And you did more than sing. You acted, by delivering $40 billion to rebuild our communities and meet the needs of our military. Speaker Hastert, Minority Leader Gephardt, Majority Leader Daschle and Senator Lott, I thank you for your friendship, for your leadership and for your service to our country.

And on behalf of the American people, I thank the world for its outpouring of support.

America will never forget the sounds of our national anthem playing at Buckingham Palace, on the streets of Paris and at Berlin's Brandenburg Gate.

We will not forget South Korean children gathering to pray outside our embassy in Seoul, or the prayers of sympathy offered at a mosque in Cairo.

We will not forget moments of silence and days of mourning in Australia and Africa and Latin America.

Nor will we forget the citizens of 80 other nations who died with our own. Dozens of Pakistanis, more than 130 Israelis, more than 250 citizens of India, men and women from El Salvador (news - web sites), Iran, Mexico and Japan, and hundreds of British citizens.

America has no truer friend than Great Britain.

Once again, we are joined together in a great cause.

I'm so honored the British prime minister has crossed an ocean to show his unity with America.

Thank you for coming, friend.

On Sept. 11, enemies of freedom committed an act of war against our country. Americans have known wars, but for the past 136 years they have been wars on foreign soil, except for one Sunday in 1941. Americans have known the casualties of war, but not at the center of a great city on a peaceful morning.

Americans have known surprise attacks, but never before on thousands of civilians.

All of this was brought upon us in a single day, and night fell on a different world, a world where freedom itself is under attack.

Americans have many questions tonight. Americans are asking, ``Who attacked our country?''

The evidence we have gathered all points to a collection of loosely affiliated terrorist organizations known as al-Qaida. They are some of the murderers indicted for bombing American embassies in Tanzania and Kenya and responsible for bombing the USS Cole.

Al-Qaida is to terror what the Mafia is to crime. But its goal is not making money. Its goal is remaking the world and imposing its radical beliefs on people everywhere.

The terrorists practice a fringe form of Islamic extremism that has been rejected by Muslim scholars and the vast majority of Muslim clerics; a fringe movement that perverts the peaceful teachings of Islam.

The terrorists' directive commands them to kill Christians and Jews, to kill all Americans and make no distinctions among military and civilians, including women and children.

This group and its leader, a person named Osama bin Laden (news - web sites), are linked to many other organizations in different countries, including the Egyptian Islamic Jihad, the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan.

There are thousands of these terrorists in more than 60 countries.

They are recruited from their own nations and neighborhoods and brought to camps in places like Afghanistan, where they are trained in the tactics of terror. They are sent back to their homes or sent to hide in countries around the world to plot evil and destruction.

The leadership of al-Qaida has great influence in Afghanistan and supports the Taliban regime in controlling most of that country. In Afghanistan we see al-Qaida's vision for the world. Afghanistan's people have been brutalized, many are starving and many have fled.

Women are not allowed to attend school. You can be jailed for owning a television. Religion can be practiced only as their leaders dictate. A man can be jailed in Afghanistan if his beard is not long enough.

The United States respects the people of Afghanistan - after all, we are currently its largest source of humanitarian aid - but we condemn the Taliban regime.

It is not only repressing its own people, it is threatening people everywhere by sponsoring and sheltering and supplying terrorists.

By aiding and abetting murder, the Taliban regime is committing murder. And tonight the United States of America makes the following demands on the Taliban.

Deliver to United States authorities all of the leaders of al-Qaida who hide in your land.

Release all foreign nationals, including American citizens you have unjustly imprisoned. Protect foreign journalists, diplomats and aid workers in your country. Close immediately and permanently every terrorist training camp in Afghanistan. And hand over every terrorist and every person and their support structure to appropriate authorities.

Give the United States full access to terrorist training camps, so we can make sure they are no longer operating.

These demands are not open to negotiation or discussion.

The Taliban must act and act immediately.

They will hand over the terrorists, or they will share in their fate.

I also want to speak tonight directly to Muslims throughout the world. We respect your faith. It's practiced freely by many millions of Americans and by millions more in countries that America counts as friends. Its teachings are good and peaceful, and those who commit evil in the name of Allah blaspheme the name of Allah.

The terrorists are traitors to their own faith, trying, in effect, to hijack Islam itself.

The enemy of America is not our many Muslim friends. It is not our many Arab friends. Our enemy is a radical network of terrorists and every government that supports them.

Our war on terror begins with al-Qaida, but it does not end there.

It will not end until every terrorist group of global reach has been found, stopped and defeated.

Americans are asking, ``Why do they hate us?''

They hate what they see right here in this chamber: a democratically elected government. Their leaders are self-appointed. They hate our freedoms: our freedom of religion, our freedom of speech, our freedom to vote and assemble and disagree with each other.

They want to overthrow existing governments in many Muslim countries such as Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Jordan. They want to drive Israel out of the Middle East. They want to drive Christians and Jews out of vast regions of Asia and Africa.

These terrorists kill not merely to end lives, but to disrupt and end a way of life. With every atrocity, they hope that America grows fearful, retreating from the world and forsaking our friends. They stand against us because we stand in their way.

We're not deceived by their pretenses to piety.

We have seen their kind before. They're the heirs of all the murderous ideologies of the 20th century. By sacrificing human life to serve their radical visions, by abandoning every value except the will to power, they follow in the path of fascism, Nazism and totalitarianism. And they will follow that path all the way to where it ends in history's unmarked grave of discarded lies.

Americans are asking, ``How will we fight and win this war?''

We will direct every resource at our command - every means of diplomacy, every tool of intelligence, every instrument of law enforcement, every financial influence and every necessary weapon of war - to the destruction and to the defeat of the global terror network.

Now this war will not be like the war against Iraq a decade ago, with a decisive liberation of territory and a swift conclusion. It will not look like the air war above Kosovo two years ago, where no ground troops were used and not a single American was lost in combat.

Our response involves far more than instant retaliation and isolated strikes. Americans should not expect one battle, but a lengthy campaign unlike any other we have ever seen. It may include dramatic strikes visible on TV and covert operations secret even in success.

We will starve terrorists of funding, turn them one against another, drive them from place to place until there is no refuge or no rest.

And we will pursue nations that provide aid or safe haven to terrorism. Every nation in every region now has a decision to make: Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists.

From this day forward, any nation that continues to harbor or support terrorism will be regarded by the United States as a hostile regime. Our nation has been put on notice, we're not immune from attack. We will take defensive measures against terrorism to protect Americans.

Today, dozens of federal departments and agencies, as well as state and local governments, have responsibilities affecting homeland security.

These efforts must be coordinated at the highest level. So tonight, I announce the creation of a Cabinet-level position reporting directly to me, the Office of Homeland Security.

And tonight, I also announce a distinguished American to lead this effort, to strengthen American security: a military veteran, an effective governor, a true patriot, a trusted friend, Pennsylvania's Tom Ridge.

He will lead, oversee and coordinate a comprehensive national strategy to safeguard our country against terrorism and respond to any attacks that may come.

These measures are essential. The only way to defeat terrorism as a threat to our way of life is to stop it, eliminate it and destroy it where it grows.

Many will be involved in this effort, from FBI agents, to intelligence operatives, to the reservists we have called to active duty. All deserve our thanks, and all have our prayers.

And tonight a few miles from the damaged Pentagon, I have a message for our military: Be ready. I have called the armed forces to alert, and there is a reason.

The hour is coming when America will act, and you will make us proud.

This is not, however, just America's fight. And what is at stake is not just America's freedom.

This is the world's fight. This is civilization's fight. This is the fight of all who believe in progress and pluralism, tolerance and freedom.

We ask every nation to join us.

We will ask and we will need the help of police forces, intelligence services and banking systems around the world. The United States is grateful that many nations and many international organizations have already responded with sympathy and with support - nations from Latin America, to Asia, to Africa, to Europe, to the Islamic world.

Perhaps the NATO (news - web sites) charter reflects best the attitude of the world: An attack on one is an attack on all. The civilized world is rallying to America's side.

They understand that if this terror goes unpunished, their own cities, their own citizens may be next. Terror unanswered cannot only bring down buildings, it can threaten the stability of legitimate governments.

And you know what? We're not going to allow it.

Americans are asking, ``What is expected of us?''

I ask you to live your lives and hug your children.

I know many citizens have fears tonight, and I ask you to be calm and resolute, even in the face of a continuing threat.

I ask you to uphold the values of America and remember why so many have come here.

We're in a fight for our principles, and our first responsibility is to live by them. No one should be singled out for unfair treatment or unkind words because of their ethnic background or religious faith.

I ask you to continue to support the victims of this tragedy with your contributions. Those who want to give can go to a central source of information, libertyunites.org, to find the names of groups providing direct help in New York, Pennsylvania and Virginia.

The thousands of FBI agents who are now at work in this investigation may need your cooperation, and I ask you to give it. I ask for your patience with the delays and inconveniences that may accompany tighter security and for your patience in what will be a long struggle.

I ask your continued participation and confidence in the American economy. Terrorists attacked a symbol of American prosperity; they did not touch its source.

America is successful because of the hard work and creativity and enterprise of our people. These were the true strengths of our economy before Sept. 11, and they are our strengths today.

And finally, please continue praying for the victims of terror and their families, for those in uniform and for our great country. Prayer has comforted us in sorrow and will help strengthen us for the journey ahead.

Tonight I thank my fellow Americans for what you have already done and for what you will do.

And ladies and gentlemen of the Congress, I thank you, their representatives, for what you have already done and for what we will do together.

Tonight we face new and sudden national challenges.

We will come together to improve air safety, to dramatically expand the number of air marshals on domestic flights and take new measures to prevent hijacking.

We will come together to promote stability and keep our airlines flying with direct assistance during this emergency.

We will come together to give law enforcement the additional tools it needs to track down terror here at home.

We will come together to strengthen our intelligence capabilities to know the plans of terrorists before they act and to find them before they strike.

We will come together to take active steps that strengthen America's economy and put our people back to work.

Tonight, we welcome two leaders who embody the extraordinary spirit of all New Yorkers, Gov. George Pataki and Mayor Rudolf Giuliani.

As a symbol of America's resolve, my administration will work with Congress and these two leaders to show the world that we will rebuild New York City.

After all that has just passed, all the lives taken and all the possibilities and hopes that died with them, it is natural to wonder if America's future is one of fear.

Some speak of an age of terror. I know there are struggles ahead and dangers to face. But this country will define our times, not be defined by them.

As long as the United States of America is determined and strong, this will not be an age of terror. This will be an age of liberty here and across the world.

Great harm has been done to us. We have suffered great loss. And in our grief and anger, we have found our mission and our moment.

Freedom and fear are at war. The advance of human freedom, the great achievement of our time and the great hope of every time, now depends on us.

Our nation, this generation, will lift the dark threat of violence from our people and our future. We will rally the world to this cause by our efforts, by our courage. We will not tire, we will not falter, and we will not fail.

It is my hope that in the months and years ahead life will return almost to normal. We'll go back to our lives and routines, and that is good.

Even grief recedes with time and grace.

But our resolve must not pass. Each of us will remember what happened that day and to whom it happened. We will remember the moment the news came, where we were and what we were doing.

Some will remember an image of a fire or story or rescue. Some will carry memories of a face and a voice gone forever.

And I will carry this. It is the police shield of a man named George Howard, who died at the World Trade Center trying to save others.

It was given to me by his mom, Arlene, as a proud memorial to her son. It is my reminder of lives that ended and a task that does not end.

I will not forget the wound to our country and those who inflicted it. I will not yield, I will not rest, I will not relent in waging this struggle for freedom and security for the American people.

The course of this conflict is not known, yet its outcome is certain. Freedom and fear, justice and cruelty, have always been at war, and we know that God is not neutral between them.

Fellow citizens, we'll meet violence with patient justice, assured of the rightness of our cause and confident of the victories to come.

In all that lies before us, may God grant us wisdom, and may he watch over the United States of America.

Thank you."

White House: http://www.whitehouse.gov/

Red Cross: http://www.redcross.org/

The Salvation Army: http://www.christianity.com/salvationarmyusa/

United Way of America: http://national.unitedway.org/index.cfm

IAFF: http://daily.iaff.org/fund.htm

FEMA: http://www.fema.gov/

World Vision: http://www.worldvision.org/worldvision/master.nsf/

NYCEI: http://home.nyc.gov/portal/index.jsp?pageID=nyc_home

USNEWS: http://www.usnews.com/usnews/misc/airline.htm

American Liberty Partnership: http://www.libertyunites.org/

USFF: http://usff.com/

The National Guard Bureau: http://www.ngb.dtic.mil/

OneWorld US: http://www.oneworld.net/us/

Disaster Relief: http://www.disasterrelief.org/

Mercy Corps: http://www.mercycorps.org/

USIP: http://www.usip.org/

AmeriCares: http://www.americares.org/Home.asp

Response to this Tribute:

"It is beautiful. Even as an Australian I was moved by your work. A picture is often worth so much more than the mandatory 1000 words. I have posted a message on the Darwin Forums 'Bombing' section (one set up specifically to talk about the bombings) linking to your work. I believe it epitomises the strength of the American Nation against adversity. May God bless you."
(Paul Alexandroff/webmaster@artcache.com)

"The tragedy in the USA! My soul is full of pain. I will pray for all the wonderful people. Our poor world and how much beauty and kindness exist ... I do not understand why evil is more strong. Nevertheless, I have hope."
(Catherine Yakovina/Catherine_Yakovina@tcart.com)

"Your Tribute, to the Americans who gave their lives touched home. On 11 Sept. our Hamilton County, OH supplied New York with 924 pints of blood, including my own. Our Americans contributions of the gift of life and their patience to donate touched all of our hearts. Every one whom attended the Community Blood Center that day had a story to share and I made it a point to take the time to listen to each story that was shared with me. One Vet asked me, so little lady, what do you think about what happened today? Today I can really relate with my Uncle Harold Francis Smith who was on the USS Arizona the day of the surprise attack on Pearl Harbour. Uncle Harold was written up in LIFE magazine in 1942 on the Honor Roll for valor under fire and whom received the Navy Cross. My nursing training in later years gained me privy to the nightmarish things this dear man relived in his mind year after year until his death. Growing up, his words ring through my mind today, 'I hope to God your generation never see's the horror of war.' Unfortunately today, my eyes got a glimpse of some peoples total disregard for human life. However as I glance around this room today, seeing Americans pull together to help one another with a new resurgence and respect for our American flag ... God, flag and Country .... Illuminates as a wave of Hope."
(Maggie/IQClassAct@aol.com )

"By a peculiar twist of fate in the early nineteen nineties, coinciding with a boom-period of photography exhibitions, conferences, seminars and other such poo that I found myself involved with in New Delhi, I somehow also was invited by the 'Times of India' (India's top English newspaper) to write a series of reviews and critiques for the paper on those various events of the time. It was a boom-period indeed, for several other newspapers also appointed funny folks like me to do pretty much the same thing for their pages, and since we all pretty much knew each other and were all about equally involved in the whole party, while also always somehow coming at each other from diametrically opposite ends of the pseudo-photo-philosophical compass at all times and on all issues, quite an extended and public head-banging session on the whole business of 'images' ensued. When I visited your tribute, some of that stuff we'd 'discovered' about ourselves and what we were up to came back to me vaguely, as follows: Till very-very recently in time, it was the privilege of just kings, queens, saints, gods, princes and princesses amongst humankind, to alone have their likenesses reproduced publicly ... and it all added up to various forms of 'iconogarphy' in varying degree. Photography changed that forever, and quite quickly too, bringing that almost timeless regal privilege within striking distance of even the humblest of men ... but then mass-media carried the 'iconography' part of it all just one big little step further. The likeness of someone or something reproduced was alone no longer enough to raise such an image, or the subject of such image, to the status of an icon ... what now counted mainly was the quantity (and/by dissemination) of such reproduction (e.g. did it make BBC, CNN and the papers?). So, I shall never contribute to reproducing any 'public' likenesses of mine enemy, in any form at all, lest it should ... like a sort of flag indeed ... become or add to an iconic rallying point for the friends and followers of mine enemy. There is in fact an old tale in Meditteranean history of a young man who burn down the biggest temple of his times to carve his name indelibly in history. It subsequently became a crime punishable by death in his land to even speak the fellows name! Maybe that's why I forget it myself right now. In the midst of the whole blather of those days, on how photographers 'communicated' all sorts of folderol via their images, it was fascinating to find that most photographs were actually given their entire meaning from just their captions! For example ... to make a crude case on this, your enemy could copy your web-page, retain the image and applet, and use it on his own website with a 'Coming to get you and tear your flag to shreds!' text."
(Shankar Barua/shankarbaba@vsnl.net)

"I accessed the Tribute, and liked it very much. What a good visual language. The message is clear and very incisive: even though there was fragmentation by the Terrorist attack, the USA is rebuilding, and the fragments in the image coming together over and over indicate unity again."
(Jorge Luiz Antonio/jlantonio@uol.com.br)

"A classic piece of artwork. Scary but spot on."
(Kate Moir/kate@xara.com)

"It is lovely. Everyone here is still in a state of shock. I went through the stages of shock, sadness and then anger. Now we just sit and wait to see what happens. The really scary part is that we are dealing with people that have threatened all this chemical and biological warfare, and I think that's what scares people the most. My daughter is so upset and afraid. So many people want us to go bomb something. I don't know what the best of a bad situation is. On the one hand, I don't think this is something that can be ignored, but I don't like the idea of war of bombing and killing. So mostly, I'm just really very sad."
(Liz Aston/laston@texas.net)

"The work is very, very interesting with good, powerful text! I think you do not understand what you do. It can only be understood by those who live in totalitarian countries, as I do here in the USSR. We have gone through more tragedies, than you in the USA, and maybe it is more clear to me, than to you. I hope that we will triumph over evil in the world! I had a very hard life. It is very bad, but I make pictures which come true: I make portraits of my mother and father. My mother's portrait has turned out very sad, and my father will soon be dead. And in July, I began working on a picture, 'Little Terror' - a man with a knife! This is not the first case in my work. Now, I'm thinking hard about what to draw. My friend in NYC (She is a woman, J. ) cries every day. But, I hope that all will be good in the future!"
(Afanassy Pud/info@iacgr.com)