President George W. Bush prays with New York state Governor George Pataki, (L), New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani (second from right) and Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik before breakfast with U.S. Military Veterans while at the Park Avenue Seventh Regiment Armory in New York, November 11, 2001. Bush marked Veterans' Day with a tribute to Americans who fought in past wars.

PHOTO: Larry Downing/Reuters

Two months after hijacked planes slammed into the World Trade Center, Bush also was to pay homage at Ground Zero to the thousands who ``still lie in a tomb of rubble.''

At the 7th Regiment Armory on Park Avenue, Bush and the elite of New York Republican politics, including Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, Mayor-elect Michael Bloomberg, and Gov. George Pataki, said Americans looked "a little differently" at their veterans this year.

November 10 — What is probably the most focused General Assembly session in many years got under way today with a lecture from President Bush on the evil of terror. Bush paid tribute to the spirit of New York in the first speech he has delivered before the General Assembly, saying the city had been "scarred by violence."

"A few miles from here, many thousands still lie in a tomb of rubble," he told representatives from more than 160 countries. "It is our task, the task of this generation, to provide the response to aggression and terror."

The speech was followed by a procession of world leaders saying, in essence, "Yes, but."

The emir of Qatar, Sheik Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, speaking also as chairman of the Islamic Conference, was typically effusive in expressing horror at the terror attacks of Sept. 11, which he declared "unprecedented and almost beyond our imagining."

But, he added, "We need to have a clear definition of terrorism and distinguish between this phenomenon, which is based on criminal practices and attacks against civilian and innocent people, and legitimate struggles to get rid of the yoke of illegitimate occupation and subjugation."

He was referring to the Palestinians, and other speakers followed suit in declaring support for the Palestinians. Indeed, one of the most commented-on portions of Mr. Bush's address was his declaration that "we are working toward a day when two states, Israel and Palestine, live together within secure and recognized borders."

Israel was not in the hall to hear that, prompting some speculation of a boycott. In fact, it was the Jewish Sabbath, on which the Israelis shun public appearances. Yasir Arafat, the Palestinian leader, was there, but was not available for comment.

The readiness among speakers to distinguish between terrorists and freedom fighters seemed to depend on what was threatening them. India, for example, has long denounced the separatists in Kashmir as terrorists, so India's prime minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, vehemently rejected "any ideological, political or religious justification for terrorism."

Among speakers from the developing world, a common theme was sounded by President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa, that the "fundamental source of conflict in the world today is the socio-economic deprivation of billions of people across the globe, coexisting with islands of enormous wealth and prosperity within and among countries." That sentiment was echoed in several speeches today.

Another undercurrent was a criticism of the American bombing in Afghanistan. President Mohammad Khatami of Iran issued one of the fiercest condemnations of the bombings, but also an indirect reproach of the terrorist attacks.

"The world has yet to overcome the horror and disbelief caused by the malicious terrorist attacks of the 11th of September against thousands of innocent people," he said, "while the most destructive and modern weapons are being used in one of the most deprived parts of the world and against an oppressed and dispossessed people. Once again history repeats its sad experience that war triggers war."

But he followed with an overt declaration of affinity for Americans. "Today, beyond the rhetoric, one can notice the concordance between the peoples of the United States and Iran, who have experienced earlier the muted yet brutal massacre of chemical weapons," he said.