U.S. Readies War Options

WASHINGTON —  As President Bush warned Americans on Thursday of a long, hard war against terrorism, the Defense Department took the first concrete steps toward such an action, recommending the mobilization of thousands of reservists and ordering an aircraft carrier battle group to remain near the Arabian Sea.

“Now is an opportunity to do generations a favor by coming together and whipping terrorism--hunting it down, finding it and holding them accountable,” Bush told reporters at the White House. “This nation must understand: This is now the focus of my administration. . . . Now that war has been declared on us, we will lead the world to victory.”

Other officials said, more explicitly than before, that they are planning a sustained campaign--including large-scale military options--to destroy terrorist organizations such as those responsible for Tuesday’s attack on the Pentagon and World Trade Center.

“It’s not just simply a matter of capturing people and holding them accountable, but removing the sanctuaries, removing the support systems, ending states who sponsor terrorism,” said Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz. “One thing that is clear is you don’t do it with just a single military strike, no matter how dramatic.”

On a jittery day that saw both houses of Congress briefly evacuate the Capitol after a late afternoon bomb scare, there were also these developments in Washington:

* Vice President Dick Cheney was moved to Camp David, the presidential retreat in Maryland, as a security measure. A federal law enforcement official said the decision was based in part on new information gathered during their investigation. In addition, the Secret Service blocked vehicle traffic for several blocks around the White House. Bush remained inside the building, but White House officials refused to say where he was or why the clampdown was imposed.

* Secretary of State Colin L. Powell won a pledge of support from Pakistan, which could be an important base for operations against neighboring Afghanistan, the base of terrorist leader Osama bin Laden. Powell also said the United States is exploring ways of talking with Afghanistan’s Islamic regime to demand the Saudi-born militant’s surrender.

* Congressional leaders and White House officials agreed late Thursday on details of a $40-billion package in emergency funding for rescue operations, new security measures and potential military action. The amount was twice the figure the White House had requested.

* Bush declared today a national day of prayer and remembrance, and said he would travel to New York to offer the wounded city his support.

Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office late Thursday morning, Bush blinked back tears when he was asked to describe his emotions in the wake of Tuesday’s assault.

“I don’t think about myself right now. I think about the families, the children,” he said after a long pause. “I’m a loving guy. And I am also someone, however, who’s got a job to do, and I intend to do it.”

The president spoke firmly--and more assertively than in his initial response to the attacks on Tuesday--on the issue of his willingness to act against terrorism.

“Make no mistake about it: My resolve is steady and strong about winning this war that has been declared on America,” he said. “It’s a new kind of war. And I understand it’s a new kind of war, and this government will adjust. And this government will call others to join us, to make sure this act, these acts, the people who conducted these acts and those who harbor them, are held accountable for their actions. Make no mistake.”

“This nation’s intention,” he said, is “to rout out and to whip terrorism.”

‘Sustained and Broad’ Campaign

A senior official said the Pentagon is recommending that Bush call several thousand reservists to active duty in the next few days in what could mark the start of a much larger military mobilization.

“It is in the planning stages,” the official added. “It’s the president’s decision.”

If Bush approves, the initial call-up would focus on reservists skilled in various aspects of aviation: pilots, aviation maintenance crews and air traffic controllers, the official said. The first wave of reservists would be used to support combat air patrols over major metropolitan areas instituted this week.

The military has standing authorization to call about 40,000 reservists, the official said, but only with presidential approval.

At the Pentagon, defense officials promised a “sustained and broad and effective” campaign against both the terrorists responsible for the attacks and any countries that harbor them.

But the officials refused to suggest when, where and how they would strike--noting that the administration has not yet officially determined whom to hold responsible.

“We will rally the world. We will be patient, steadfast and forceful in our determination. . . . It will be a campaign, not just a single action,” Wolfowitz, the Defense Department’s second-in-command, told reporters. “These people try to hide, but they won’t be able to hide forever.”

Other defense officials said the options include the use of land, sea and air forces over a lengthy period. “Everything is on the table,” one official said.

The Navy has two aircraft carrier battle groups, each with 75 warplanes aboard, in the vicinity of the Arabian Sea, said Adm. Vernon Clark, the chief of naval operations. That is twice the usual number for that part of the world. The Enterprise, due to return home after being relieved earlier this month by another aircraft carrier, the Carl Vinson, has been ordered to remain in the area indefinitely.

Those battle groups normally include cruisers and submarines, which could be used to launch long-range cruise missile strikes, perhaps as a prelude to attacks by manned aircraft such as B-2 stealth bombers or B-1 Lancers.

“This is not going to be a short program,” said Navy Secretary Gordon England.

Outside the briefing room where the officials spoke, stretchers were lined up on the ground, waiting to take the dead to a makeshift mortuary set up in a Pentagon parking lot.

But even as the search effort continued, the Pentagon swung back to business in earnest. Its long corridors, briefly dark and abandoned, were again open and brightly lighted, its vast cafeterias were crowded, and even its internal mall of shops and snack bars reopened.

Wolfowitz said the campaign the Pentagon is planning will be enormously costly and will absorb a large part of the emergency funds the president sought from Congress. Spending also will go to strengthening U.S. military readiness in the face of terrorism.

Funding will increase to cover the mounting costs of combat air patrols that have been flying over Washington and New York since the attacks.

Leaders hoped to push the $40-billion spending measure through the House as early as today, with the Senate possibly taking it up Saturday.

Meeting past midnight Thursday at the Capitol, White House and congressional negotiators agreed that half the package would be available virtually immediately, and half after subsequent legislation.

In a rare act of bipartisanship, House and Senate leaders met together Thursday morning--their first such meeting in this Congress--to iron out differences over the supplemental funding.

Some Democrats complained that Bush was seeking too much authority in how to use the funds, but House Minority Leader Richard A. Gephardt (D-Mo.) stilled them.

“There is no air, no light between the president and Congress,” Gephardt said.

Resolution to Authorize Action

The congressional leaders also were working on a resolution authorizing Bush to retaliate. Members said the measure requested by the White House was legally unnecessary but politically wise, and predicted that Congress would pass it as soon as appropriate language could be hammered out.

Some, including Rep. Bob Barr (R-Ga.), pushed for a formal declaration of war, a step Congress has not taken since the start of World War II. But that effort was met with a cool reception from most members.

“There’s a certain logic” to wanting to declare war in the wake of the attacks, said Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.). “But I’m not sure how you define a declaration of war when you haven’t defined who the enemy is.”

Sen. John Warner (R-Va.), a top-ranking member on the Senate Armed Services Committee who is involved in drafting the resolution, said he “strongly opposes” a declaration of war, saying, “It would be beneath our dignity to have a declaration of war against Bin Laden.”

Instead, Congress is likely to pass a resolution that doesn’t specify an enemy but allows for an aggressive response.

The resolution is also expected to call for ongoing congressional consultation, with many members still mindful of the fateful Gulf of Tonkin Resolution that gave President Johnson great latitude to escalate the Vietnam War.

In requesting a resolution, Bush took a step his father once sought to avoid in the days before the 1991 Persian Gulf War. But that conflict had far less congressional support. The Senate ultimately passed a Persian Gulf War resolution, 53 to 47.

The House on Thursday also passed a bill to give tax breaks to families of the victims of Tuesday’s terrorist attacks.

The bill, approved unanimously, would exempt the families from all 2001 income taxes and halve any estate tax. It also would exempt from taxes any federal disaster benefits and any payments airlines make to the relatives of passengers killed in the four plane crashes.

House GOP leaders also announced that they were planning an economic stimulus package that might include a cut in capital gains taxes and various tax breaks for business.

Backers of the effort, principally Rep. Bill Thomas (R-Bakersfield), chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, said such tax breaks have taken on new urgency amid concerns that the economy might be pushed into recession.

But others saw the proposal as an effort to take advantage of the tragedy to advance a controversial piece of the Republican agenda.

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Times staff writers James Gerstenzang, Janet Hook and Greg Miller contributed to this story.