Although claiming authority to use military force on his own, Bush asked congress for a resolution approving such action, especially against the perpetrators of the attacks. In an overwhelming vote, congress with the Patriot Act agreed to a conception of war stretched well beyond the usual meanings of that term but without declaring war. The foe had no territory, no government, no army, navy, or air force and the "war" had no discernible boundaries, beginning, or perceivable end. It started as a crusade against one man, Osama bin Ladin, the prime suspect among those who plotted the slaughter of the American innocents.

Bush then morphed into a warrior-chieftain who demanded that Afghanistan, suspected of harboring bin Ladin, deliver him to the United States. When its rulers refused without seeing evidence of his guilt, the president of the mightiest nation on earth launched hostilities against one of the world's poorest and weakest nations. American air power added to the devastation of an Afghanistan already in shambles from previous warfare. Through collateral damage from allegedly surgical strikes, bombings apparently killed as many civilians as they did Afghan fighters but the American military did topple the fanatical Taliban regime.