American President George W. Bush has married the emotive rhetoric of "barbarism" and "evildoers" with the gruesome image of women's throats being slit to build his case for retribution.
Words and phrases such as "appalled, outraged, unbelievable, beyond comprehension" and "evil in the extreme" have rolled off Mr Bush's tongue regularly since the hijacked aircraft last week slammed into New York and Washington and he blandly referred to "those folks" responsible.
The Texan, who describes himself as a plain-spoken man, sought to prove it at the Pentagon in front of the nation's top military brass with a metaphor from the Wild West.
Although he lacked the white hat and silver star, the President sounded just like the town sheriff when he suggested that he wanted Osama bin Laden, the exiled Saudi dissident who is a prime suspect in the atrocities, "dead or alive".
"When I was a kid I remember the 'wanted' poster. It said, "Wanted, Dead or Alive," Mr Bush said. "All I want and America wants is to see them brought to justice."
White House spokesman Ari Fleischer refused to elaborate but said: "I think that justice comes in many different shapes and forms, and the President expressed his opinion about a couple of those."
Mr Bush has been preparing Americans for a protracted "crusade" to "root out" and rid the world of "evildoers" in the aftermath of suicide plane attacks on the World Trade Center's twin towers in New York and the Pentagon in Washington that left more than 5500 people dead or missing.
He has sought to educate the public about a new type of war against a different kind of enemy - a foe he demonises daily as barbarians who hide in holes and caves.
"It's an enemy that likes to hide and burrow in.
"Their network is extensive, there are no rules, it's barbaric behaviour," he said.
"They slit throats of women on airplanes in order to achieve an objective that is beyond comprehension."
Mr Fleischer said the President was referring to events on a fourth aircraft which crashed in western Pennsylvania apparently without reaching its intended target - the White House or the Capitol.
- REUTERS
Emergency telephone numbers for friends and family of victims and survivors
: 0168 1800 932 8555
: 0168 1800 245 0999
: 0800 872 111
US Embassy in Wellington (recorded info): 04 472 2068