Americans remember September 11

NEW YORK – The United States paused yesterday to remember the horror of the September 11 attacks four years ago in ceremonies now overshadowed by the death and destruction wrought by Hurricane Katrina.

In a now-familiar ritual, the names of the 2 749 people who died when the twin towers of the World Trade Center collapsed under the impact of two hijacked airliners were read out at the main memorial event at Ground Zero. This year, however, the thoughts of many Americans will be focused on other victims: the estimated one million left homeless and the thousands feared killed by the hurricane which devastated the US Gulf coast nearly two weeks ago.Both tragedies served to highlight the vulnerability of the world superpower, but where September 11 forged a sense of national unity out of trauma and anger, Katrina highlighted divisions of race and class and triggered accusations of government indifference.In his weekly radio address on Saturday, President George W.Bush, under fire for the sluggish official response to Katrina, invoked the national spirit of post-September 11 defiance and resilience in an effort to pull the country together in the hurricane’s wake.”Today, America is confronting another disaster that has caused destruction and loss of life.This time the devastation resulted not from the malice of evil men, but from the fury of water and wind,” Bush said.”America will overcome this ordeal, and we will be stronger for it,” he said.The administration is also trying to rally support with a Defence Department-sponsored “Freedom Walk” in Washington to honour US troops in Iraq, in what critics called a blatant piece of political propaganda by the Bush administration.The part of the Pentagon where a third jet crashed on September 11 was opened up to the public for the first time on Saturday.Even without Katrina, the new 9/11 anniversary falls at a time of growing uncertainty in the United States.There is growing public concern with the cost, human and economic, of US involvement in Iraq.Opinion polls show many Americans feel no safer from the threat of another terrorist attack.- Nampa-AFPThis year, however, the thoughts of many Americans will be focused on other victims: the estimated one million left homeless and the thousands feared killed by the hurricane which devastated the US Gulf coast nearly two weeks ago.Both tragedies served to highlight the vulnerability of the world superpower, but where September 11 forged a sense of national unity out of trauma and anger, Katrina highlighted divisions of race and class and triggered accusations of government indifference.In his weekly radio address on Saturday, President George W.Bush, under fire for the sluggish official response to Katrina, invoked the national spirit of post-September 11 defiance and resilience in an effort to pull the country together in the hurricane’s wake.”Today, America is confronting another disaster that has caused destruction and loss of life.This time the devastation resulted not from the malice of evil men, but from the fury of water and wind,” Bush said.”America will overcome this ordeal, and we will be stronger for it,” he said.The administration is also trying to rally support with a Defence Department-sponsored “Freedom Walk” in Washington to honour US troops in Iraq, in what critics called a blatant piece of political propaganda by the Bush administration.The part of the Pentagon where a third jet crashed on September 11 was opened up to the public for the first time on Saturday.Even without Katrina, the new 9/11 anniversary falls at a time of growing uncertainty in the United States.There is growing public concern with the cost, human and economic, of US involvement in Iraq.Opinion polls show many Americans feel no safer from the threat of another terrorist attack.- Nampa-AFP