Petrelis Files

Number of Times Bush Cited 9/11 at News Conference?

During his hastily-arranged press conference yesterday, President Bush cited September 11th ten times. Someone on his staff should do him a favor and explain that his 9/11 blank-check has been bouncing for quite some time. He long ago spent his political capital banked on that tragedy.

> After our country was attacked on September the 11th and nearly 3,000 lives were lost, I vowed to do everything within my power to bring justice to those who were responsible.

> And as the 9/11 Commission pointed out, to prevent this from happening again, we need to connect the dots before the enemy attacks, not after.

> And after September the 11th, the United States Congress also granted me additional authority to use military force against al Qaeda.

> After September the 11th, one question my administration had to answer was how, using the authorities I have, how do we effectively detect enemies hiding in our midst and prevent them from striking us again?

> Another vital tool in the war on terror is the Patriot Act. After September the 11th, Congress acted quickly and responsibly by passing this law, which provides our law enforcement and intelligence community key tools to prevent attacks in our country.

> These senators need to explain why they thought the Patriot Act was a vital tool after the September the 11th attacks, but now think it's no longer necessary.

> The terrorists want to strike America again, and they hope to inflict even greater damage than they did on September the 11th.

> First of all, I -- right after September the 11th, I knew we were fighting a different kind of war.

> You know, there's an interesting debate in Washington, and you're part of it, that says, well, they didn't connect the dots prior to September the 11th -- "they" being not only my administration, but previous administrations

> I mentioned in my radio address -- my live TV radio address -- that there was two killers in San Diego making phone calls prior to the September the 11th attacks.