"President Bush told us the day after 9/11, 'This is not going to be removing a mole; it is going to be removing a cancer,' " England told about 200 former Navy members and local defense industry executives at Paul Brown Stadium.

"This is going to take a long, long time."

England said he knew the United States was in for a protracted fight when, on the day after the terrorist attacks, President Bush came to the Pentagon "with the building still burning" to begin planning the administration's war on terrorism.

England, a former defense industry executive, was tapped by President Bush to be the Navy and Marine Corps' top civilian administrator in January 2001. From January 2003 to October 2003, he served as deputy secretary of homeland security before returning to job of Navy secretary.

England, an electrical engineer who worked on the Gemini space program in the 1960s, told the Navy League Friday that these are the "most threatening" days in his lifetime, "including Pearl Harbor and World War II."

"After what happened on Sept. 11, 2001, you can not put the lid back on Pandora's Box," said England.

"The world will never be the same."

England said he is convinced that morale among the troops serving in Iraq is good.

"I have visited our Marines in Iraq and spoken to many of them," England said.

"Every single one of them I have talked to has said that he or she would rather be fighting in Iraq, rather than on the streets of Cincinnati, Boston or Fort Worth, Texas."

After speaking to the Navy League, England toured the Cincinnati VA Medical Center and delivered a speech at the International Association of Machinists convention, downtown.

E-mail hwilkinson@enquirer.com