Good ol’ Yankee know-how, says US President George W. Bush, will enable America to prevail in its war on global terrorism. Earlier this month, the president urged leaders of America’s top high-technology firms to innovate new ways to counter the terror threat.

"I want to thank you for contributions to national defense," Bush said to the gathering in Washington of high-tech chief executives. "You probably never dreamt, by the way, the president of the United States would be addressing a high-tech conference thanking you for your contributions to the defense of the United States and the defense of our homeland. But that’s the realities of the new world," he said.

These innovations, said Bush, include like the "Predator" unmanned aircraft, a surveillance aircraft made by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc., in San Diego, which has greatly helped the counter terror effort.

AOL Time Warner Incorporated Chairman Steve Case, AT&T Corporation Chief Executive Officer Michael Armstrong and Hewlett-Packard Company Chief Executive Officer Carly Fiorina, were among the small group of corporate leaders who stood on the stage at the Old Executive Office Building next to the White House while the president spoke to a group of about 200 technology entrepreneurs.

Case, the co-founder of Sterling, Va.-based America Online (AOL), introduced the president and said high-tech companies welcomed the chance to discuss their role in serving their country by helping to boost the economy and spurring innovation.

"I think it’s fair to say that in an increasingly interconnected world, companies have both an obligation and an opportunity to serve their country," Case said.

The US government plans to spend an estimated $53 billion on information technology and another $37.7 billion on homeland security in fiscal 2003.

"We will continue to use high-tech means and high-tech equipment to chase the killers down one by one and we will win the war because of our resolve and our determination and our love of freedom," the president said. "But we’re also going to win the war thanks to the incredible technology and technological breakthroughs that we’ve achieved here in America."

The Federal Bureau of Investigation and Central Intelligence Agency are two federal agencies that will rely on the private sector’s technology innovation, Bush said.

"I can envision a lot of new technologies that enable us to communicate with (public safety workers) and communicate with federal, state and local governments," said the president. "As you probably have read, we can do a better job of gathering intelligence and sharing intelligence between different agencies of our government."

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