Bush returns to Pentagon to salute victims

Associated Press WriterWASHINGTON (AP) -- President Bush was returning to the Pentagon on Thursday to honor both those who died there and the military personnel now carrying out his campaign against terrorism.

Thousands of people were expected at the memorial service outside the Pentagon, which was hit by a hijacked jetliner on Sept. 11, killing all 64 on the plane and probably 125 inside. The service was on the opposite side of building from the crash site, where a blackened gash remains.

The president scheduled a prime-time news conference Thursday night to discuss the Sept. 11 attacks. The East Room event is the first of Bush's presidency.

In a message emphasizing renewal, Bush was reminding listeners that construction of the Pentagon began precisely 60 years before the crash, on Sept. 11, 1941.

Americans will never forget, Bush was assuring victims' relatives and friends and Defense Department employees.

And he was pledging not to relent in his effort to eradicate terrorism.

"They try to hide, but we're going to shine the light of justice on them," Bush said Wednesday.

Bush was re-emphasizing that his campaign has multiple fronts, releasing what the administration described as substantial progress in blocking funds of terrorists and their associates.

"We're halting their money," Bush said. "We've got allies around the world helping us close the net."

Last month, Bush moved to freeze assets of alleged terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden, an exiled Saudi multimillionaire, and 26 other people and organizations with suspected links to terrorism. The administration said recently that $6 million has been blocked and 50 bank accounts frozen, 30 in this country and 20 overseas.

Bush also was meeting with his Cabinet for an update on the broad range of government activities related to the terrorist strike.

Near the top of the agenda was how to revive the suffering American economy.

Under one plan floated by the White House, taxpayers who did not qualify for rebates earlier in the year would receive checks for $300 or $600, according to officials who spoke on condition of anonymity. Many of those would be low-income earners. Those who already received a rebate could benefit from accelerated rate cuts, though it was unclear whether they would see a check reflecting that, one official said.

Bush's trip to the Pentagon was his first since the U.S.-led bombing campaign on Afghanistan began Sunday. He toured the Pentagon damage the day after hijackers slammed the jet into the building and two more in New York City's World Trade Center.

Though one side of the Pentagon was badly damaged, and military personnel deeply shaken, the building has taken center stage since the strikes began Sunday.

A fourth day of aerial raids Wednesday, including attacks on the outskirts of Kabul, the Afghan capital, moved the U.S.-led campaign closer to the expected start of ground operations against the bin Laden's al-Qaida terrorist network and the Taliban government.

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