On 9/11 anniversary, Biden remembers American unity, vows vigilance

U.S. President Joe Biden invoked the reminiscence of America’s united response to the Sept. 11, 2001 assaults by al Qaeda and vowed to “never give up” within the face of terrorist threats in a solemn commemoration on Sunday on the Pentagon.

Biden’s remarks about nationwide unity on the twenty first anniversary of the assaults stood in distinction to his warnings in current days about harmful divisions in American society, together with that some Republicans who assist former President Donald Trump’s agenda pose a risk to democracy.

“I hope we’ll remember that in the midst of these dark days, we dug deep. We cared for each other. And we came together,” Biden mentioned, as rain fell on troops standing behind him, flanking his protection secretary and high normal.

Nearly 3,000 folks died within the assaults, when al Qaeda hijackers flew planes into the New York’s World Trade Center towers and into the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, whereas a fourth airplane crashed in Pennsylvania.

A lady reacts throughout a ceremony marking the twenty first anniversary of the September 11, 2001 assaults on the World Trade Center on the 9/11 Memorial and Museum within the Manhattan borough of New York City, U.S., September 11, 2022. (Reuters)

Passengers on United Airlines Flight 93 overcame the hijackers and the airplane crashed in a discipline, stopping one other goal from being hit.

The anniversary comes a yr after Biden ended the U.S.-led struggle in Afghanistan, launched 20 years in the past to root out the al Qaeda militant group that carried out the 9/11 assaults after plotting them from Afghanistan.

Biden’s chaotic withdrawal of U.S. troops final yr and the ensuing fast fall of the nation to the Taliban drew criticism from members of each political events. But Biden vowed that the battle towards terrorism would proceed. “We will not rest. We’ll never forget. We’ll never give up,” he mentioned.

Last month, Biden licensed a drone strike in Kabul that killed al Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri, an Egyptian surgeon who had a $25 million bounty on his head and helped to coordinate the Sept. 11, 2001 assaults.

First responders stand in a driving rain as a U.S. flag is unfurled on the Pentagon in Washington (AP)

The disclosure of Zawahiri’s presence in Kabul raised questions concerning the diploma to which al Qaeda is receiving sanctuary from the Taliban.
U.S. navy and intelligence officers had warned {that a} full U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan may permit al Qaeda in addition to Islamic State to strengthen and, left unchecked, to ultimately plot towards the United States.

Biden and others argued that the risk from terrorism has unfold all through the world over the previous 21 years, and that there are higher methods to fight it than open-ended navy deployments and struggle.

“Our commitment to prevent another attack on the United States is without end,” Biden assured.

The first woman, Jill Biden, attended a ceremony in Pennsylvania on Sunday morning, whereas Vice President Kamala Harris and second gentleman Doug Emhoff attended one in New York City.

In New York, key moments on 9/11, such because the instances at which every tower of the World Trade Center fell, had been marked with a second of silence after the tolling of a bell.

Families of victims of the 9/11 assaults have waited for years to see a number of of the folks accused of planning and helping the hijackers delivered to trial and convicted, together with self-professed mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and 4 others imprisoned on the U.S. navy base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

On Sunday, Biden informed reporters that “yes, there is a plan for that” – to carry the accused plotters accountable – however declined to remark additional.