According to transcripts of Mr Obama's speech, he did say, "No acts of terror will ever shake the resolve of this great nation", in a statement the day after the attack.

BBC: Fact-checking the second presidential debate

British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, who in 1940 had said, "The fighters are our salvation but the bombers alone provide the means of victory, " was so shocked by the extent of the annihilation that he issued a memo criticizing the "acts of terror and wanton destruction, however impressive" and in his VE Day speech at the end of the war scarcely mentioned Bomber Command.

WSJ: Bomber Command Memorial | They Were the Means of Victory | By Richard Holledge