President Bush has sought to rally US domestic support for his campaign against terrorism and to put the nation on a "war" footing.
In a major speech to both houses of Congress that was being compared by aides to Franklin Roosevelt's appeal to the nation after Pearl Harbour, Mr Bush said the US was "a country awakened to danger and called to defend freedom".
Earlier his National Security Adviser, Ms Condoleezza Rice, spoke of a "war of mind and will", one that would involve sacrifice and patience in a long campaign.
In a clear statement of his intent to build an international coalition, President Bush said other countries were either "with us or with the terrorists".
The US and its allies would use "every resource" - political, military and financial - to defeat global terrorism, he said.
The President also tried to build confidence about the economic outlook. He described measures to be taken by the US administration with Congressional support to stimulate the economy, and spoke of the need for continued vigilance and for a return to work to get the country moving again.
Mr Bush used the speech to explain why America had been targeted. The "war" will be different to any they had fought before, he said, a war with invisible enemies and without beach-heads to storm or islands to take, themes that he has returned to again and again in recent days. He emphasised that it was not a war against Islam, referring to "our Muslim friends".
As efforts to build an international coalition continued, Mr Bush yesterday met the British Prime Minister, Mr Tony Blair, who was due to report on their discussions to today's special EU summit.
Delegations from the EU and Saudi Arabia were also received. Following the former meeting, the Secretary of State, Mr Colin Powell, said they had agreed on a range of new co-operation from intelligence and law and order exchanges, the tightening of air security and immigration controls, the strengthening of non-proliferation regimes, and clamping down on terrorist networks, their movement and finances.
Suggestions by the Taliban that the prime suspect for the attacks, Osama bin laden, might be asked to leave Afghanistan at some stage were dismissed by official sources as an attempt to win time. Mr Powell said, however, he would not rule out dialogue with the Taliban if they were willing to hand over the suspect and his lieutenants.
Speaking to journalists about the President's speech, Ms Rice said he "will make the case of why we are entering this long struggle" and argue that unless the US took the battle to both terrorists and their hosts, the attacks last week would have been the first of many on American soil.
She also spoke of the nature of the flexible coalition being built in which each country would make a different contribution, from intelligence to logisitical or military support. Some contributions, perhaps even the most important, might never be known publicly.
As the massive mobilisation of the US military continued, the Army Secretary, Mr Thomas White, confirmed that the country's special forces had been told to prepare for deployment.
He spoke of preparations for "sustained land combat operations". More heavy bombers were also on the way to the Persian Gulf as part of a mission being named "Infinite Justice".
