63 "unequal to the moment": Gerson, Heroic Conservatism, 69.

64 "We will make no distinction": George W. Bush, address, September 11, 2001.

65 refused to land: Parmet, George Bush, 271.

66 "There is no way I'm sleeping": George W. Bush, Decision Points, 13839.

67 "Mr. President! Mr. President!": George W. Bush interview, National Geographic, September 11, 2011, http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/national-geographic-channel/all-videos/ngc-the-president-looks-back/.

68 "Don't worry, Mr. President": Ibid.

CHAPTER 8: "WHATEVER IT TAKES".

1 piles of strollers on the lawn: Laura Bush, Spoken from the Heart, 206.

2 Dallek interpreted the call: Robert Dallek, author interview.

3 "Don't ever let this happen": Ashcroft, Never Again, 130.

4 "Whatever it takes": Woodward, Bush at War, 4041.

5 "Give me a brief": Ashcroft, Never Again, 13233.

6 "Wait a second": Ibid. Hugh Shelton remembered Ashcroft's outburst being more profane: "Get the damn stuff out on the table, Bob. We've got to catch these guys immediately and make damn sure this doesn't happen tomorrow, so whatever you've got, share it. Right now." See Shelton, Without Hesitation, 43841.

7 "We simply can't let this": Ashcroft, Never Again, 133.

8 "This is the beginning of war": Fleischer, Taking Heat, 15657.

9 "War is a very powerful word": Ibid. Fleischer, who was taking notes, attributes the comment only to a congressional leader without naming Daschle, but Daschle himself describes the same remarks in Like No Other Time, 12122. So does Karen Hughes in Ten Minutes from Normal, 23870.

10 "Mr. President, the most important": Dick Gephardt, author interview.

11 would "not be cowed": George W. Bush, remarks, Pentagon, September 12, 2001, http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2001/09/20010912-12.html.

12 "He went down that line": Joe Hagin, author interview.

13 "He looked like he wanted": Clarke, Against All Enemies, 32.

14 "might have spoken": 9/11 Commission Report, 334.

15 "that the President is authorized": Daschle, Like No Other Time, 12324.

16 Daschle saw it as a blank check: Ibid.

17 "If we think our response": Gerson, Heroic Conservatism, 70.

18 "Mr. President, by the time": Cofer Black, interview on "Hank Crumpton: Life as a Spy," 60 Minutes, CBS, May 13, 2012, http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-18560_162-57433105/hank-crumpton-life-as-a-spy/. See also Woodward, Bush at War, 5153.

19 "something of a cross between": Mazzetti, Way of the Knife, 11.

20 "Maybe we should go tomorrow": Hughes, Ten Minutes from Normal, 23870.

21 "You've extended me a kind": George W. Bush, remarks with New York leaders, September 13, 2001, http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2001/09/20010913-4.html.

22 "Could you give us a sense": Ibid.

23 "I thought it was an important moment": Michael Gerson, author interview.

24 "Sorry about that": Hughes, Ten Minutes from Normal, 23870.

25 tapping his wedding ring: John McConnell, author interview.

26 "How come you didn't": Brad Blakeman, author interview.

27 Bush met Lieutenant Colonel Brian: White House Staff Secretary's Office to White House Senior Staff, e-mail, September 26, 2001, George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum, http://www.georgewbushlibrary.smu.edu/Photos-and-Videos/Photo-Galleries/Sneak-Peek-Document-Gallery.aspx. See also Laura Bush, Spoken from the Heart, 208.

28 "We've got another threat": Woodward, Bush at War, 5557. See also Hughes, Ten Minutes from Normal, 23870.

29 Over the course of just four hours: Secret Service log, assembled at request of Vice President Cheney, November 17, 2001, http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB358a/doc22.pdf.

30 "Nous sommes tous Americains": It headlined an unsigned editorial published on the front page of Le Monde, September 13, 2001, http://www.lemonde.fr/idees/article/2007/05/23/nous-sommes-tous-americains_913706_3232.html. The editorial compared the moment of solidarity to when John F. Kennedy went to divided Berlin and declared, "Ich bin ein Berliner." Having said that, the editorial suggested America to some extent brought the attack on itself because it supported Osama bin Laden and other mujahideen against the Soviets in Afghanistan.

31 NATO for the first time: Article 5 further states that when one member is attacked, the others "will assist" with action, "including the use of armed force." http://www.nato.int/terrorism/five.htm.

32 Condoleezza Rice cried when she: Meyer, DC Confidential, 197.

33 "We seek your special blessing": Rumsfeld, Known and Unknown, 35152.

34 "When I have to give a speech": George W. Bush, Decision Points, 145.

35 "Defiance is good": Hughes, Ten Minutes from Normal, 23870.

36 "May I come with you": Kirbyjon Caldwell, author interview.

37 "We are here in the middle hour": George W. Bush, address at Washington National Cathedral, September 14, 2001, http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2001/09/20010914-2.html.

38 "What is that?": Caldwell interview.

39 "You could literally smell": Ibid.

40 "like walking into hell": George W. Bush, interview with National Geographic, September 11, 2011, http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/national-geographic-channel/all-videos/ngc-the-president-looks-back/.

41 "look what they've done": Rocco Chierichella, author interview.

42 "They want to hear from": Rove, Courage and Consequence, 277.

43 "Where are you going?": Bob Beckwith, interview with CNN, September 2005.

44 "I want you all to know that America": George W. Bush, remarks to rescue workers in New York, September 14, 2001, http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2001/09/20010914-9.html.

45 "This is my son's badge": George W. Bush, Decision Points, 14850.

46 "Put it out": Fleischer, Taking Heat, 167.

47 "You could tell he was": Eric Draper, author interview.

48 "I didn't vote for you": Keil, "With the President."

49 renamed the place "Camp Marvin": George H. W. Bush, All the Best, 648.

50 Rice for once felt: Rice, No Higher Honor, 83.

51 "the place where great powers": Ibid., 84.

52 10 percent to 50 percent chance: Woodward, Bush at War, 7585.

53 "No one will understand": Colin Powell, author interview.

54 "it is not a coalition worth": Paul Wolfowitz, author interview. See also Graham, By His Own Rules, 29091.

55 Shelton outlined three military: Shelton, Without Hesitation, 44445.

56 "But we really need to think": Ibid.

57 "How many times do I": Ibid.

58 "I'm so glad you asked": Ashcroft, Never Again, 14142.

59 Bush pulled Card aside: Rice, No Higher Honor, 8687.

60 called Lyzbeth Glick: Dick Cheney, In My Time, 33234.

61 "Whatever problem Iraq is": Senior administration official, author interview.

62 "If we go after Saddam": Woodward, Bush at War, 8691.

63 "Well, that is imaginative": Wolfowitz interview.

64 "Bay of Goats": Eric Edelman, author interview.

65 "We have seen the face of evil": Rice, No Higher Honor, 8687.

66 "If you provide sanctuary": Dick Cheney, Meet the Press, NBC, September 16, 2001.

67 "This crusade, this war": George W. Bush, remarks to reporters, South Lawn, September 16, 2001, http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2001/09/20010916-2.html.

68 "No, we want to do this": Debra Dunn, author interview.

69 "Is that supposed to be there?": Laura Bush, Spoken from the Heart, 20910.

70 "Thanks for coming to work": Matt Schlapp, author interview.

71 "You were the last person": Keil, "With the President." Keil in his piece remembered this encounter taking place on Thursday, September 13, but White House schedules show that the event at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building took place on Monday, September 17. In an e-mail exchange with the author, Keil agreed it must have happened on that Monday.

72 "The purpose of this meeting": 9/11 Commission Report, 333.

73 "quaking in their boots": Bob Woodward and Dan Balz, "Combating Terrorism: 'It Starts Today,' " Washington Post, February 1, 2002, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/18/AR2006071800703.html.

74 "I believe Iraq was involved": Ibid.

75 "I want justice": George W. Bush, remarks, Pentagon, September 17, 2001, http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2001/09/20010917-3.html.

76 "Bushie, you gonna git 'im?": Gerhart, Perfect Wife, 172.

77 "The language was a little": Rice, No Higher Honor, 146.

78 "to get control of Bellinger": Eichenwald, 500 Days, 7980.

79 if there was even a 10 percent: 9/11 Commission Report, 33536.

80 no "compelling case" that Iraq: Ibid., 334.

81 Unsatisfied, Bush told Tenet: Suskind, One Percent Doctrine, 23.

82 "I don't want to quote anyone": Draper, Dead Certain, 15455.

83 "Is this news enough": Gerson interview.

84 exercise called Dark Winter: Dark Winter exercise overview, http://www.upmc-biosecurity.org/website/events/2001_darkwinter/index.html.

85 "What does a biological weapon": Randall Larsen, e-mail exchange with author. See also Larsen, Our Own Worst Enemy, 13, and Wil S. Hylton, "Warning: There's Not Nearly Enough of This Vaccine to Go Around," New York Times Magazine, October 30, 2011, http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/30/magazine/how-ready-are-we-for-bioterrorism.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0.

86 "He was unbelievably": Tony Blair, Journey, 354.

87 "This is a time to wobble": Campbell, Blair Years, 57374.

88 "God dang, what on earth": Ibid.

89 "I said Arafat is not": Ibid.

90 "I agree with you, Tony": Bryan Burrough, Evgenia Peretz, David Rose, and David Wise, "The Path to War," Vanity Fair, November 2004, http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2004/05/path-to-war200405.