Bush says fight against terror is 'World War III'
May 05 6:07 PM US/Eastern
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US President George W. Bush said the September 11 revolt of passengers against their hijackers on board Flight 93 had struck the first blow of "World War III."

In an interview with the financial news network CNBC, Bush said he had yet to see the recently released film of the uprising, a dramatic portrayal of events on the United Airlines plane before it crashed in a Pennsylvania field.

But he said he agreed with the description of David Beamer, whose son Todd died in the crash, who in a Wall Street Journal commentary last month called it "our first successful counter-attack in our homeland in this new global war -- World War III".

Bush said: "I believe that. I believe that it was the first counter-attack to World War III.

"It was, it was unbelievably heroic of those folks on the airplane to recognize the danger and save lives," he said.

Flight 93 crashed on the morning of September 11, 2001, killing the 33 passengers, seven crew members and four hijackers, after passengers stormed the cockpit and battled the hijackers for control of the aircraft.

The president has repeatedly praised the heroism of the passengers in fighting back and so launching the first blow of what he usually calls the "war on terror".

In 2002, then-White House spokesman Ari Fleischer explicitly declined to call the hunt for Osama bin Laden's Al-Qaeda group and its followers "World War III."

http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/05/05/060505220719.qnjzncm8.html
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Straight from the horses mouth.

BushCo. doesn't strike me as they type of people to care about escalation. If they think ww3 is already in progress then Iran is already a done deal.

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BTW WW3 was the cold war. This in fact would be ww4.

Oh wow...seems that that article left out an interesting part of Bush's speech:

"Hear the words of Osama bin Laden," Bush said: " 'This Third World War is raging' in Iraq."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/blog/2005/06/29/BL2005062901429.html

So Bush is has now resorted to recycling terrorist rhetoric. Good times...

"It was, it was unbelievably heroic of those folks on the airplane to recognize the danger and save lives," he said.

Unbelievably heroic? What is so unbelievable, or for that matter, heroic? The passengers of Flight 93 supposedly knew the fate of the previously hijacked planes. They knew they had absolutely nothing to lose and everything to gain by attempting to regain control of the plane. While they were undoubtedly brave, their actions were rational and most likely motivated by self-preservation. I've had numerous conversations with fellow passengers since 9/11 and the sentiment is unanimous: anyone who tries to hijack another plane will do so over our dead and dying bodies.

Does Bush really believe his own rhetoric? If so, this remark about Flight 93 reflects a kind of delusional mind-set. If not, his raising the spectre of WWIII is ominous indeed. Either way it's bad news.

WWIII? oh that's amazing. I can't believe he's calling terrorism a 'world war'. That's completely marginalizing WWI and WWII. You can't compare the deaths of a few people to those world wars.

WWIII? oh that's amazing. I can't believe he's calling terrorism a 'world war'. That's completely marginalizing WWI and WWII. You can't compare the deaths of a few people to those world wars.
A few? A few every day for years upon years begins to take their toll, IMO.

I dont feel a comparison marginalizes either war at all.

62 million people died during WWII - That means Bush, OBL and friends really need to step up the killrate if they want to compete!

The sort of warfare seen in ww2 will be very remote and rare from now on,the main reason countrys keep vast Armys these days is more for employment reasons or egos.Half the boys in the Defence Dept,are on a good turn financially,virtually a job for life,with a pension.Most,I would imagine,wouldnt know a thing about warfare,but would be brave and quick sending thousands to fight in one..