President Joe Biden attended a solemn wreath-laying ceremony at the Pentagon on the 21st anniversary of the September 11 attacks, paying tribute to “amazing Americans” who lost their lives on one of the nation’s worst days.
The event took place a little over a year after Biden concluded the lengthy and costly war in Afghanistan that the United States and its allies undertook in response to the 9/11 attacks.
Biden stated that his administration continues to seek individuals responsible for the 9/11 atrocities even after the US has departed Afghanistan. Last month, Biden revealed that the United States had assassinated Ayman al-Zawahri, the al-Qaida commander who helped mastermind the September 11 attacks, in a covert operation.
“We will never forget, we will never give up,” Biden said. “Our commitment to preventing another attack on the United States is without end.”
For the annual moment of homage, the president was joined by family members of the slain, first responders who were at the Pentagon on the day of the assault, and Defense Department officials in New York City, the Pentagon, and Somerset County, Pennsylvania.
By ending the war in Afghanistan, the Democratic president fulfilled a campaign promise to withdraw US troops from the country’s longest battle. However, the war ended in chaos in August 2021, when the US-backed Afghan government disintegrated, a horrific bombing at Kabul’s airport killed 170 Afghans and 13 US troops, and hundreds of desperate Afghans gathered in the hope of escaping before the final US cargo aircraft went over the Hindu Kush.
Late last month, Biden honoured the first anniversary of the United States pullout from Afghanistan in a low-key manner. He delivered a statement commemorating the 13 US servicemen killed in the Kabul airport bombing and spoke by phone with US veterans who are aiding continuing efforts to relocate Afghans who assisted the war effort in the United States.
On Sunday, Biden said the United States owes a “great responsibility” to the warriors and families who fought in Afghanistan. According to the Pentagon, throughout the almost 20-year battle, more than 2,200 US servicemen were killed, and more than 20,000 were injured.
He also pledged that the country would never fail to fulfil its sacred commitment to you to properly prepare and equip those we put into harm’s way and to care for those and their families when they return — and never to forget.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell slammed Biden’s handling of the war’s end on Thursday, saying the nation has fallen worse under resurgent Taliban leadership since the US exit.
“Now, one year on from last August’s disaster, the devastating scale of the fallout from President Biden’s decision has become sharper focus,” McConnell said. “Afghanistan has become a global pariah. Its economy has shrunk by nearly a third. Half of its population is now suffering critical levels of food insecurity.”
The president also recalled Queen Elizabeth II’s words of comfort, which she conveyed to the American people shortly after the 2001 attacks: “Grief is the price we pay for love.” Biden stated that their remarks are still as relevant as they were 21 years ago, but the weight of loss is equally heavy.
“On this day, when the price feels so great, Jill and I are holding all of you close to our hearts,” Biden said.
Biden has recently increased his warnings about former President Donald Trump and his “MAGA Republican” supporters as a threat to American democracy. Without mentioning Trump, Biden called on Americans to protect democracy again on Sunday.
“It’s not enough to stand up for democracy once a year or now and then,” Biden said. “It’s something we have to do every single day. So this is a day not only to remember but also for renewal and resolve for every American in our devotion to this country, to the principles it embodies, to our democracy.”
Jill Biden addressed an audience at the Flight 93 National Memorial Observance in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, recalling her fear for her sister Bonny Jacobs, a United Airlines flight attendant.
She said the attacks showed that “with courage and kindness, we can be a light in that darkness.”
“It showed us that we are all connected,” said Biden, who was joined by her sister in Shanksville for Sunday’s commemoration. “So as we stand on this sacred and scarred earth, a record of our collective grief and a monument to the memories that live on each day, this is the legacy we carry forward: Hope that defies hate.”
Vice President Kamala Harris and her husband attended a memorial service at New York’s National September 11th Memorial.
