BIDEN CALLS ON AMERICANS TO UNITE AS NATION MARKS 20TH ANNIVERSARY OF 9/11

Sat 11 September 2021:

On the 20th anniversary of the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, US President Joe Biden urged Americans to remember the importance of unity.

“20 years after September 11, 2001, we commemorate the 2,977 lives we lost and honor those who risked and gave their lives. As we saw in the days that followed, unity is our greatest strength. It’s what makes us who we are and we can’t forget that,” the US president tweeted.

Biden is not scheduled to deliver remarks at any of the sites, but he released a video on Friday to express his condolences to the loved ones of the victims and highlight the national unity that resulted, at least initially, after 9/11.

“It’s so hard. Whether it’s the first year or the 20th, children have grown up without parents and parents have suffered without children,” Biden said.

The president noted the heroism that was seen in the days following the attacks.

“We also saw something all too rare: a true sense of national unity,” Biden said.

Biden, a Democrat, pledged to build up such unity after he came into office earlier this year, but the country remains deeply divided politically.

U.S. presidents often travel to one of the three attack sites on the 9/11 anniversary but it is unusual to go to all three of them on the same day.

On this day 20 years ago, 19 al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked four commercial airplanes.

Two of the planes were flown into the World Trade Center towers in New York. Another plane struck the west side of the Pentagon, and yet another one crashed in Pennsylvania before reaching its presumed target.

Earlier this week, Biden designated September 11 as Patriot and National Day of Service and Remembrance and noted that on this day, all government entities should display the US flag at half-staff.

Last month, many families of 9/11 victims asked Biden to skip 20-year memorial events unless he declassified documents they contend will show Saudi Arabian leaders supported the attacks. Last week the president ordered the Department of Justice to review documents from the FBI probe into the attacks for declassification and release.

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