Circumstances

George W. Bush’s “War on Terror” speech was delivered to the US Congress on 20th of September, 2001, 11 days after the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

The speech can be considered a follow-up on George W. Bush’s Address to the Nation on the day of the attack. Then, he promised the American people that he would identify those responsible for the attacks and fight to bring them to just…

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The 9/11 terrorist attacks and Al-Qaeda

The 9/11 terrorist attacks involved members of the terrorist group Al-Qaeda, who hijacked of four passenger planes and directed them towards important US targets. Two planes hit the twin towers of the World Trade Center New York, one hit the Pentagon building, and one missed its target and crashed in a field. The attacks resulted in the death of almost 3,000 people and injured over 6,000. The speech includes references to both the victims of the attack and the targeted objectives: “the victims of this tragedy” (l. 264), “the damaged Pentagon” (l. 22…

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Reactions following the attacks

George W. Bush also makes numerous references to the immediate reactions of the public following the attacks which suggest national, political and international solidarity:

“We have seen the state of our union in the endurance of rescuers working past exhaustion.” (ll. 12-13);

“All of America was touched on the evening of the tragedy to see Republicans and Democrats joined together…” (ll. 29-30);

“…I thank the world for its outpouring of support.” (ll. 39-40)

The “War on Terror” speech was a necessary reaction to the events because this was the first time since World War II that there had been an attack on US soil. Furtherm…