From USATODAY, 12/14/2001:

President Bush pledged anew Friday that Osama bin Laden will be taken “dead or alive,” no matter how long it takes, amid indications that the suspected terrorist may be bottled up in a rugged Afghan canyon. The president, in an Oval Office meeting with Thailand’s prime minister, would not predict the timing of bin Laden’s capture but said he doesn’t care how the suspect is brought to justice. “I don’t care, dead or alive — either way,” Bush said. “It doesn’t matter to me.”

[snip]

“He may hide for a while, but we’ll get him,” the president said.

Then, on 12/28/2009, we get this from Obama:

President Barack Obama on Monday promised to track down all those behind an attempt to bring down a US airliner on Christmas Day, ending three days of silence on the attack.

Mr Obama told Americans his administration was doing all it could to ensure security after a Nigerian man managed to smuggle explosives onto a Detroit-bound flight, an incident that was a “serious reminder of the dangers that we face and the nature of those who threaten our homeland”.

He said: “Had the suspect succeeded in bringing down that plane, it could have killed nearly 300 passengers and crew, innocent civilians preparing to celebrate the holidays with their families and friends.”

Mr Obama, who broke from his holiday in Hawaii to make the statement, sought to reassure Americans, telling them he had ordered his staff to “keep up the pressure on those who would attack our country” rather than reacting defensively.

“We will continue to use every element of our national power to disrupt, to dismantle and defeat the violent extremists who threaten us, whether they are from Afghanistan or Pakistan, Yemen or Somalia, or anywhere where they are plotting attacks against the US homeland.”

He promised: “We will not rest until we find all who were involved and hold them accountable.”

BWAHAHA. Sure.