Sunday marks the 15th anniversary of the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States targeting the World Trade Center in NY, the Pentagon near Washington, D.C., and bringing down a plane in rural Pennsylvania.
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“We will never forget the almost 3,000 lovely lives taken from us so cruelly”, Obama said.
President Barack Obama, first lady Michelle Obama, and others, pause on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington as they observe a moment of silence to mark the 14th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, at the Oval Office, on Sunday, September 11, 2016. After all, terrorists will never be able to defeat the United States.
“We’re still the America of heroes who ran into harm’s way, of ordinary folks who took down the hijackers, of families who turned their pain into hope”, Obama said. “American diversity “not a weakness” but a great strength”, the US President added. Still, he said Americans must remain vigilant in the wake of Islamic State-inspired attacks on USA soil.
“And if we stay true to those values, we’ll uphold the legacy of those we’ve lost, and keep our nation strong and free”.
Obama noted in his address that the terrorist threat has evolved since September 11 “as we’ve seen so tragically from Boston to Chattanooga, from San Bernardino to Orlando”, cities that suffered headline-grabbing, terrorist-linked, fatal shootings.
At the same time, the terrorist threat has evolved, as we’ve seen so tragically from Boston to Chattanooga, from San Bernardino to Orlando. “Write them on the table of your heart”. But in the end, the most enduring memorial to those we lost is ensuring the America that we continue to be – that we stay true to ourselves, that we stay true to what’s best in us, that we do not let others divide us.
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The American flag has been lowered to half-staff at the White House and other federal buildings. Obama has invited governors, interested organizations and individuals to follow suit. “We’ve delivered devastating blows to the al-Qaida leaders that attacked us on 9/11”, Obama said. Obama noted that event as he spoke about how the nation has responded since 9/11 by delivering “justice” to bin Laden, by strengthening homeland security and by preventing attacks. And we’ll keep doing everything in our power to protect our homeland.
