On the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks, U.S. President Joe Biden called for unity in America, saying it was the “central lesson” of September 11.
Mr. Biden released a pre-recorded video message on September 10 from the White House, in which he paid tribute to the 2,977 people from 90 countries who were killed in New York City, Arlington (Virginia), and Shanksville (Pennsylvania) twenty years ago. The President spent the day visiting commemorative events at the sites of the attacks.
“In the days that followed September 11, 2001, we saw heroism everywhere, in places expected and unexpected. We also saw something all too rare — a true sense of national unity,” Mr. Biden said, adding that the ‘9/11 generation’ was bringing terrorists to justice.
“Yet we also witness the darker forces of human nature,” the President said, referring to violence against Muslim Americans. “...Fear and anger, resentment and violence against Muslim Americans, true and faithful followers of a peaceful religion. We saw a national unity bend. We learned that unity is the one thing that must never break. Unity is what makes us who we are, America at its best,” he said, emphasising that unity was the central lesson of September 11.
“Unity is what makes us who we are. America at its best. To me, that’s the central lesson of September 11. It’s that at our most vulnerable, and the push and pull of all that makes us human, and the battle for the soul of America, unity is our greatest strength,” he said.
“Unity doesn't mean we have to believe the same thing. We must have a fundamental respect and faith in each other and in this nation,” Mr. Biden said.
On September 11 morning, the President and First Lady Jill Biden attended a memorial event at Ground Zero in New York, where the World Trade Center once stood, after which they flew to Shanksville, Pennsylvania, where they paid their respects at the ‘Flight 93 National Memorial’.
The memorial is at the site where United Airlines Flight 93 crashed, just outside Shanksville. The plane was one of four flights hijacked by Al Qaeda terrorists. It was re-directed to Washington DC, possibly because the hijackers wanted to target the U.S. Capitol, but this plan was thwarted by the crew and passengers, all of whom died.
The Bidens are scheduled to attend a wreath laying ceremony at the Pentagon along with Vice-President Kamala Harris and Second Gentleman Dough Emhoff, late afternoon on Saturday.
In the morning, Ms Harris spoke at a ceremony in Shanksville to commemorate the day. Former U.S. President George Bush, who was president in 2001, also spoke at the Shanksville commemorative event , which he attended with his wife Laura Bush.
‘Altered U.S. path’
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, released a message of remembrance for the nearly 3,000 individuals killed in the terror attacks of September 11, 2001. He said the event had shaped the U.S.’s engagement with the world.
“For so many Americans — regardless of whether we lost someone we knew or where we were on 9/11 — the attack felt personal. It still does,” Mr. Blinken said.
“As we saw in the aftermath of the attacks, our allies’ and partners’ commitment to us, and ours to them, is a sacred bond,” he said.
“As much as any other event in our lifetimes, 9/11 shaped the trajectory of our nation and how we engage in the world.” The U.S. recently completed a chaotic drawdown of its troops from Afghanistan, almost twenty years after it invaded the country in response to the 9/11 attacks.
