Reaction, reflection, resolve
Bush calls war on terror ‘struggle for civilization’
WASHINGTON — Across the land, Monday brought back memories of that awful morning five years ago: the crisp blue sky above Manhattan, the silver planes streaking into tall buildings, the flames, smoke, dust, horrified faces, people running, firefighters and police officers struggling, the fear, grief and death.
That day marked the end of America’s innocence; the grim realization that the nation no longer is protected by its broad ocean ramparts, that enemies can strike our homeland at any time. Americans everywhere recalled on Monday where they were when the planes struck and the towers fell on Sept. 11, 2001. Bells tolled, bagpipes wailed, flags flew at half-staff.
After an emotional tour of the crash sites in New York; Shanksville, Pa., and the Pentagon, President Bush used a prime-time speech to defend the war in Iraq. He previously has acknowledged that Iraq’s Saddam Hussein was not involved in the Sept. 11 attacks, but he linked Iraq to a broader struggle against global terrorism that he called “the decisive ideological struggle of the 21st century.
“This struggle has been called a clash of civilizations,” Bush said. “In truth, it is a struggle for civilization.”
Bush’s remarks echoed a series of recent speeches by Republicans casting November’s congressional elections as a ref
erendum on national security.
“I’m often asked why we are in Iraq when Saddam Hussein was not responsible for the 9/11 attacks,” Bush said. “The answer is that the regime of Saddam Hussein was a clear threat ... and after 9/11, Saddam’s regime posed a risk that the world could not afford to take.”
The president, who mentioned Iraq 16 times in his 16minute speech, urged Americans to put aside their differences “and work together to meet the test that history has given us.”
Earlier, at a memorial service in New York, relatives of the 2,749 people lost there stood in the void that was created when the World Trade Center towers collapsed and paid tribute to the victims. They clutched pictures of their loved ones, sobbing quietly as their names were read in a four-hour ceremony.
Blocks away, on a spectacular late-summer morning remarkably like the one that ended in tragedy five years before, the president and first lady Laura Bush joined a group of firefighters for moments of silence at 8:46 a.m. and 9:03 a.m., the times when the first aircraft, then a second one, slammed into the twin towers.
A few hours later, the Bushes
stood in a rainy field in Shanksville, where a third hijacked plane crashed as passengers fought back against the terrorists. Again, the weather mimicked conditions five years ago. Relatives of the victims from United Airlines Flight 93 wept as the president sought to console them.
“Their actions have ennobled our lives. Their death has enriched our lives. Their courage has demonstrated that which we are all capable of,” the Rev. Paul Britton, a Lutheran minister, told the crowd. His sister Marion died on the flight.
At the Pentagon, Bush’s final stop, the president wiped away tears after placing a wreath in honor of the 184 passengers,
crew members and people in the building who died when American Airlines Flight 77 smashed into its west side.
Lt. Col. John Jessup, whose office was destroyed in the attack, skipped the ceremonies, choosing to mark the day with quiet reflection. Jessup said he lost 23 co-workers and friends five years ago. He helped colleagues escape his office until the billowing black smoke stopped him.
He still has survivor’s guilt, but said he knows that God “isn’t done with me yet.” He said he was back at work the day after the attacks.
“Because I’m a soldier,” he said.
America’s memories of that fateful day were mixed Monday with reminders that life changed then.
Jittery officials diverted a United Airlines plane bound for San Francisco to Dallas when an unclaimed BlackBerry was found aboard. New York’s Penn Station was evacuated briefly because of a suspicious package.
Osama bin Laden’s deputy, Ayman al-Zawahri, warned in a new video that Persian Gulf countries and Israel would be al-Qaida’s next targets.
In Afghanistan, a planned moment of silence by American troops was disrupted by a rocket attack from resurgent Taliban fighters that sent the soldiers scrambling for cover.