According to President Bush and Great Britain's Prime Minister Blair, the hijackers' trail led straight to al-Qaeda and its leader, bin Laden. Bush soon named bin Laden as the chief suspect behind the attacks on the United States. When a reporter asked Bush if he wanted bin Laden dead, Bush answered, "When I was a kid I remember that they used to put out there in the Old West, a wanted poster. It said: 'Wanted, Dead or Alive.' All I want and America wants [is] him brought to justice. That's what we want."

A few days later, Bush spoke to both houses of Congress on live television. He officially named bin Laden and his alQaeda network as those responsible for the attacks on September 11. He told Americans that al-Qaeda intended to impose its radical religious beliefs on the world and it...