The events of 9/11 were, according to high Bush administration officials, both worldview changing and world changing. President Bush told a joint session of Congress on September 20, 2001 that ‘‘Americans have known the casualties of war—but not at the center of a great city on a peaceful morning. Americans have known surprise attacks—but never before on thousands of civilians. All of this was brought upon us in a single day— and night fell on a different world. . . .’’ Dick Cheney told NBC’s ‘‘Meet the Press’’ on September 14, 2003, that ‘‘9/11 changed everything. It changed the way we think about threats to the United States. It changed about our recognition of our vulnerabilities. It changed in terms of the kind of national security strategy we need to pursue.’’ Secretary of State Colin Powell said in 2002: ‘‘And now it’s a different world . . . it’s a new kind of threat.’’ Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld argued: ‘‘[T]he world’s changed . . . . Business as usual won’t do it.’’ National Security Advisor Condoleeza Rice said ‘‘9/11 crystallized our vulnerability. . . . And after 9/11, there is no longer any doubt that today America faces an existential threat to our security.’’

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