Bush says fight against terror is WW III

US President George W Bush has said that the September 11 revolt of passengers against their hijackers on board Flight 93 had struck the first blow of ‘‘World War III’’.

In an interview with CNBC on Friday, Bush said he had yet to see the recently released film of the uprising, a dramatic portrayal of events on the United Airlines plane before it crashed in a Pennsylvania field.

Bush said: ‘‘I believe that it was the first counter-attack to World War III…It was unbelievably heroic of those folks on the airplane to recognise the danger and save lives,’’ he said.