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Posted on 10/07/2001 3:08:08 PM PDT by JohnHuang2

WASHINGTON, Oct 7 (Reuters) - U.S. warplanes were about to start firing on Afghanistan on Sunday when President George W. Bush stepped off his Marine One helicopter and walked into the Oval Office with a determined air.

"I gave them fair warning, and they chose not to heed it," he told a top aide, referring to Afghanistan's Taliban rulers, who had spurned his demands to turn over Saudi-born militant Osama bin Laden and his al Qaeda followers or face the consequences.

It was the day that Bush became a war president, in the footsteps of his father, who presided over the Gulf War against Iraq. Polls have shown that Americans overwhelmingly support military retribution for the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

"A commander in chief sends America's sons and daughters into a battle in a foreign land only after the greatest care and a lot of prayer," Bush said.

He appeared to have given the final order on when to begin military operations in the last day or two. From Camp David, the presidential retreat in Maryland, he telephoned the four key leaders of Congress on Saturday night to tell them action was coming.

Aides said his speech to the country was written over the last couple of days by counselor Karen Hughes and chief speech writer Mike Gerson, both whom were with him at Camp David on Saturday.

FIREFIGHTERS HONORED

Bush steeled himself for war on Sunday by honoring firefighters killed in the line of duty, including the more than 300 who died while trying to save lives at New York's twin towers in September.

The ceremony took place in Emmitsburg, Maryland, a short helicopter ride from Camp David, where Bush went on Friday to put the final touches on the military campaign soon to be set in motion.

"Sometimes a person cannot know for sure what mark he or she has left on the world. That will never be said of the people we remember today or of their kind. They were strong and caring people, brave and upright," Bush said at the 20th Annual National Fallen Firefighters Memorial Tribute.

Looking strictly business, he left the ceremony early.

On arriving back at the White House, Bush made a series of phone calls to foreign leaders, including Russian President Vladimir Putin and French President Jacques Chirac.

Then amid reports of explosions in Afghanistan, White House spokesman Ari Fleischer appeared before reporters to announce that "we are beginning another front in our war against terrorism, so freedom can prevail over fear."

Minutes later, Bush himself announced to the nation that "the battle is now joined on many fronts."

TELECAST FROM TREATY ROOM

He made his remarks before a lone television camera in the Treaty Room, a formal hall on the second floor of the residential portion of the White House where John Kennedy signed the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty in 1963.

The Treaty Room, with light-green walls and decorated as a conference room from the period of former President Ulysses Grant, was an unusual choice. Aides said it was chosen because presidents had worked for peace there.

With the broad Ellipse greensward in the distance behind him and the Jefferson Memorial over his shoulder, Bush sat on a raised dais, with top aides, including Chief of Staff Andrew Card, on the perimeter.

In his remarks, he cited a letter he received from a 10-year-old girl whose father is in the military.

"'As much as I don't want my dad to fight,' she wrote, 'I'm willing to give him to you,'" Bush said. "This is a precious gift, the greatest she could give. This young girl knows what America is all about."

News photographers were ushered in after the statement for a quick picture. Bush sat with his hands in his lap, looking grave and contemplative. He showed little acknowledgment of the presence of others.

Bush apparently missed the first run on television of a videotape in which bin Laden called Bush the "head of the infidels" and promised that America would have no peace. He was having a sandwich lunch with staff members in the Roosevelt Room.

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