Many use 9/11 anniversary to look forward
NEW YORK -- Eleven years after the shocking 9/11 terrorist attacks, Americans mourned those who were lost, holding vigils, attending religious ceremonies, volunteering for community service and posting Facebook remembrances.
"It is extremely important that people never forget what happened on Sept. 11," said New York City Fire Commissioner Salvatore Cassano.
Tuesday morning, members of victims' families and others gathered at Ground Zero, the Pentagon and near Shanksville, Pa., to honor the nearly 3,000 people who were killed at those spots.
At the National September 11 Memorial plaza -- an area that once held the twin towers but now hosts two memorial pools -- family members recited the names of those who perished there. They also read the names of those killed at the Pentagon, on Flight 93 and in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. Several in the crowd held up photos of loved ones.
The Pentagon ceremony was held at the National 9/11 Pentagon Memorial, where 184 metal benches memorialize the 59 crewmembers and passengers and 125 people who were killed there.
President Obama spoke at that commemoration.
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"No matter how many years pass, no matter how many times we come together on this hallowed ground, know this: that you will never be alone," Obama said. "Your loved ones will never be forgotten."
Attendees at the Shanksville Flight 93 Memorial ceremony included Vice President Biden, servicemembers in uniform and others wearing red, white and blue. They honored the passengers killed while fighting terrorists for control of the hijacked plane.
"What they did for the country is still etched in the minds of not only you, but millions of Americans," Biden said. Relatives and community members read the 40 names of the Flight 93 passengers and crew and rang bells of remembrance.
Patrick White, president of Families of Flight 93, said the permanent memorial allows people to feel a closer connection to those killed in that crash.
"Being able to put your hand on the gleaming white walls and touch the names of the one that we lost is something that is just very real and tangible," said White, whose cousin Louis J. Nacke II died when Flight 93 plunged into a field.
Along with the official speeches and ceremonial processions, there were many less formal remembrances Tuesday. Some people went to religious services or had private moments of quiet reflection. Others did volunteer work on their own or joined an organized effort.
Financial services firm Cantor Fitzgerald & Co., with its affiliate BGC Partners, held its annual charity day. The global firm's revenue from Tuesday, approximately $12 million, will be donated to more than 100 charities and be used to help those affected by the Sept. 11 attacks.
Cantor Fitzgerald, which occupied offices in the north tower, had 658 employees perish that day.
The New York City Fire Department -- which lost 343 members -- had remembrances of its own.
Early on Tuesday, Ladder 35 and Engine 40 in Manhattan were setting up their annual breakfast for active and retired members, as well as family members of those who died.
"We lost 11 that day -- everyone who was working," Ladder 35 Capt. John Miles said.
He said even as the years pass, most of the families still come to the breakfast, which includes moments of silence and honoring the firefighters who died.
"It's good for us that they (the family members) are here, and it's good for them that we are here," Miles said.
Many still looked forward.
"This anniversary allows us to renew our faith that even the darkest night gives way to a brighter dawn," Obama said.
Some readers at the World Trade Center spoke directly to deceased loved ones, telling them of the accomplishments their children had made in the past 11 years.
Social media users posted messages of love and peace. Some urged moving on rather than replaying the horrors of the day.
Brian Jordan, a Roman Catholic priest who ministered to responders, construction workers and others at Ground Zero after the attacks, encourages those affected to continue healing.
He says it is important "never to forget" and to "always reflect, remember and recall," but Jordan adds, "There is a time to move on and not wallow in an extended period of grief."
And at the Flight 93 ceremony near Shanksville, Biden adapted words from a poem by William Butler Yeats. He told the families that he hopes, with every passing year, "you're able to sing more than you weep."
DiBlasio reported from Shanksville, Pa. Dorell from Washington, D.C.
Subdued ceremonies mark 9/11 anniversary
THE US marked the 11th anniversary of al-Qaeda’s 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon yesterday in a subdued, solemn manner, more low-key than the ceremonies of one year ago.
Under new rules drawn up by the National September 11th Memorial and Museum, politicians are no longer allowed to make speeches at the site in lower Manhattan, or participate in the annual reading of the names of the 2,983 victims. Nineteen hijackers also died.
About 1,000 relatives of those who perished gathered around the pools where the Twin Towers stood for the alphabetically ordered reading, which took more than three hours.
At the White House, Barack and Michelle Obama stood for a moment of silence on the south lawn, bowing their heads as a bugler played Taps.
The Obamas then rode to the Pentagon, where the President placed a wreath over a stone engraved “September 11, 2001, 9.37 am” – the moment United flight 77 struck the building, killing 184 people.
Obama said more than five million young people – the “9/11 generation” – had joined the US military since the attacks. “We’ve dealt a crippling blow to the organisation that brought evil to our shores . . . Our country is safer and our people are resilient.”
But Bruce Riedel, a former CIA agent and senior fellow at the Brookings Institute, wrote in a report this week that al-Qaeda is “thriving in the Arab world” and “remains intent on striking inside America and Europe”.
Ayman al-Zawahiri, Osama bin Laden’s successor, “is still orchestrating a global terror network and communicating with its followers”, Riedel warned.
The Taliban and Lashkar-e-Taiba, allies of al-Qaeda, continue to enjoy the protection of Pakistani intelligence, Riedel wrote. Al-Qaeda is active in Yemen, Iraq, Egypt and especially Syria, where it carried out at least 66 attacks in June.
In remarks before the National Guard Association, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney was closer in spirit to Riedel than Obama. “I wish I could say the world is less dangerous now – that it is less chaotic,” he said. “We live in a time of turbulence and disruption.”
Obama receives high poll numbers for his handling of foreign and national security policy. Romney said last April that “even Jimmy Carter” would have ordered the raid that killed bin Laden. But in a conciliatory interview with NBC on September 9th, Romney twice commended Obama for taking the decision.
Neil Newhouse, a pollster working for Romney, sent a memo to supporters and journalists saying they should “not get too worked up about the latest polling” which shows Obama benefiting from a far more substantial “bump” after the Democratic convention than Romney had enjoyed after Tampa.
A CNN poll published on Monday showed Obama at 52 per cent to 46 per cent for Romney. The Gallup tracking poll moved from a virtual tie to 49 per cent for Obama and 44 per cent for Romney, putting Obama’s lead beyond the statistical margin of error.
“While some voters will feel a bit of a sugar high from the conventions, the basic structure of the race has not changed significantly,” Newhouse wrote. “The reality of the Obama economy will reassert itself as the ultimate downfall of the Obama presidency.”
Obama also received a boost with news that his campaign raised $114 million (€88.65 million) in August, compared to $111.6 million raised by the campaign for Romney, who was ahead in the previous three months. However, the Obama campaign has been spending at a faster rate than Romney’s, which has greater cash reserves.
Romney’s ode to God at a recent rally was interpreted by some as a sign of post-convention desperation. After reciting the pledge of allegiance and noting that it says “under God”, Romney promised: “I will not take ‘God’ out of the name of our platform. I will not take ‘God’ off our coins. And I will not take God out of my heart. We’re a nation bestowed by God.” Obama never suggested getting rid of God, however.
Romney also sent mixed signals on “Obamacare”, telling NBC, “I’m not getting rid of all of health care reform.” He said he would “make sure that those with pre-existing conditions can get coverage”.
The Romney campaign later said the statement applied only to those who had been “continuously insured”. Close to two-thirds of adults working at lower salaries have had gaps in their healthcare coverage, making them ineligible for Romney’s plan.
The candidates have in recent days reproached one another for omissions in their respective convention speeches.
Obama said Romney should have talked about the war in Afghanistan, while Romney says Obama failed to mention the nation’s 8.1 per cent unemployment rate.
Although the President is now the clear favourite to win on November 6th, his campaign is keeping an anxious eye on the teachers’ strike that started in Obama’s home town of Chicago on Monday. Chicago has the country’s third largest school district, with 350,000 pupils.
The dispute between teachers and Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel, Obama’s former chief of staff and a fundraiser for him, could reflect badly on the President. Emanuel had attempted to lengthen the school day and had promised a pay rise which he later withdrew.
Chicago teachers are paid $76,000 on average. The city has agreed to a 16 per cent increase, but disagreement persists on the method of evaluation and whether vacant posts should be reserved for laid-off teachers.
“Teachers’ unions have too often made plain that their interests conflict with those of our children,” Romney said. “President Obama has chosen his side in this fight.”
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