Remembering 9-11
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10 September 2008
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Seven years ago – September 11th, 2001 – nearly three-thousand men, women and children from over ninety countries were killed when terrorists attacked the United States, destroying the World Trade Center in New York City, damaging the Pentagon near Washington, D.C., and bringing down a civilian airliner in a field in Pennsylvania. Since that day, said President Bush, the United States and its allies have launched a worldwide campaign against global terrorism.
Terrorism affects all of us. It has brought tragedy, destruction, death, and terrible grief. We have seen hundreds of innocent children slaughtered in a school in Russia; scores of civilians murdered on commuter trains in London and Madrid, and on a ferry in the Philippines; still more in Casablanca, in Algiers, in Saudi apartment complexes, in Sinai resorts, Uzbek cities, and Jordanian and Indonesian hotels.
"We are confronting terrorism by advancing freedom, liberty, and prosperity as an alternative to the ideologies of hatred and repression," said Mr. Bush.
"Since nine-eleven, our coalition has captured or killed al-Qaida managers and operatives, and scores of other terrorists around the world," said Mr. Bush. "The enemy is living under constant pressure, and we intend to keep it that way."
President Bush noted that "thanks to our efforts, there are now three fewer state sponsors of terror in the world than there were on September the eleventh, 2001. Afghanistan and Iraq have been transformed from terrorist states into allies in the war on terror. And the nation of Libya has renounced terrorism, and given up its weapons of mass destruction programs, and its nuclear materials and equipment."
In a proclamation recalling the tragic events of September 11, 2001, President Bush said, "Seven years ago, ordinary citizens rose to the challenge, united in prayer, and responded with extraordinary acts of courage, with some giving their lives for the country they loved." Their lasting memorial, he said, must be a safer and more hopeful world. "We will meet the test that history has given us," he said, "and continue to fight to rid the world of terrorism and promote liberty around the world."