US President George W Bush said today "there is no question" that Saudi extremist Osama bin Laden is "what we call a prime suspect" in the series of terror strikes on US targets this week.
"We're at war. There has been an act of war declared upon America by terrorists, and we will respond accordingly," President Bush told reporters at a briefing with top officials to plot retaliation against the perpetrators of devastating attacks Tuesday against New York and Washington, as well as the crash of a hijacked passenger jet in Pennsylvania.
"These people have declared war on us, and we will do whatever it takes ... to make sure the American people are safe," President Bush said.
"We will find those who did it, we will smoke them out of their holes, ... we will bring them to justice," he said.
The meeting, which takes on easily the biggest challenge of Mr Bush's young administration, follows what many observers declared was the most successful day yet of his presidency.
Yesterday Mr Bush received a strong bipartisan mandate for his plan to strike back at terrorists, when Congress gave overwhelming approval to the use of military force against the authors of the terrorist strike. "I am gratified that the Congress has united so powerfully by taking this action. It sends a clear message: our people are together and we will prevail," Mr Bush said in a statement last night.
The US legislature also approved a resolution authorizing the release of 40 billion dollars to fund any response, future anti-terrorism efforts and the relief and recovery work ongoing at the crash sites in New York and outside Washington.
Mr Bush mobilized military reserves yesterday for the first time since the 1991 Gulf War as the nation prepared for "the first war of the 21st century" in the wake of the devastating attacks, and authorized the US Defense Department to call up to one million reservists to active duty for up to two years.
And in what observers deemed one of the highlights of the young administration, Mr Bush delivered a poignant address at a memorial service at the National Cathedral in Washington.
"The nation is peaceful, but fierce when stirred to anger," he declared. "This conflict was begun on the timing and terms of others; it will end in a way and at an hour of our choosing."
Hours after the memorial service, Mr Bush flew to New York to view "ground zero," the rubble and glass-strewn site where the lofty towers of the World Trade Center once stood. Nationwide polls showed soaring support for the president, whose mandate was tarnished by his loss of the popular vote in the 2000 election - the most controversial in modern US history.
But in the wake of the horrific attacks by four hijacked commercial aircraft, Americans are rallying around their president. A Washington Post/ABC News survey of 609 adults gave the president an 86 per cent approval rating, up 31 points since a similar study over the weekend, to a level unmatched since his father, former president George Bush, fought the Gulf War.
AFP AFP