President Barack Obama lauded American unity yesterday as the country marked a sombre but low-key anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks under crisp blue skies poignantly reminiscent of 11 years ago.
The true legacy of 9/11 will not be one of fear or hate or division
“The true legacy of 9/11 will not be one of fear or hate or division,” Obama said at the Pentagon near Washington. “It will be a safer world, a stronger nation, and a people more united than ever before.”
Highlighting what he said were the “crippling” blows dealt against Al-Qaeda and the killing last year of Osama bin Laden, Obama said the United States is “even stronger.”
As every year, relatives of the nearly 3,000 people killed when al-Qaeda hijackers slammed airliners into New York’s World Trade Centre gathered at Ground Zero to read out the names of the dead.
The flawless blue sky was identical to the one 11 years ago when millions of people watched from the streets and live on television as the planes flew straight into the upper floors of the Twin Towers, causing them to collapse.
However, emotions are distinctly cooler as America finally tries to draw a line under an event that sparked the decade of Washington’s controversial and expensive war on terror.
No politicians joined in the reading at Ground Zero and security was less intense, in contrast to the 10th anniversary last year when Obama headed a long list of VIPs at the ceremony.
June Pollicino, who lost her husband on 9/11, told AFP: “I feel much more relaxed. After the ninth anniversary, those next days it started building up to the 10th anniversary. This year it’s different in that regard. It’s another anniversary we can celebrate in a discreet way.”
Although most New York area newspapers featured front page stories or other mentions about the anniversary yesterday, The New York Times and the tabloid Post were conspicuous in deciding to keep coverage inside.
The reading paused for silence at the exact time each of the four planes turned into fireballs – two smashing into the Twin Towers, one into the Pentagon and one into a Pennsylvania field.
Another two moments of silence were observed at the times the two main towers of the World Trade Centre collapsed, accounting for the vast majority of 9/11’s dead.