WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama on Saturday recalled “that awful morning” nine years ago when “a sorry band of men” who perverted religion attacked the U.S. in hopes of demoralizing and dividing the country.
“Today we declare once more we will never hand them that victory . . . for our cause is just, our spirit is strong and our resolve unwavering,” Obama said at the Pentagon, where a hijacked plane slammed into the building on Sept. 11, 2001, killing 184 people.
“They may seek to exploit our freedoms, but we will not sacrifice the liberties we cherish or hunker down behind walls of suspicion and mistrust. They may wish to drive us apart, but we will not give in to their hatred and prejudice,” Obama said, despite the terrorists’ efforts to spark conflicts among faiths.
“As Americans we are not — and never will be — at war with Islam.”
This year’s remembrances of the 2001 attacks took place with growing public suspicion of Muslims, an emotional dispute over an Islamic community center and mosque planned near ground zero in New York City, and a Florida pastor’s threat to burn Korans.
“This is a time of difficulty for our country,” Obama said before the ceremony, in his radio and Internet address. “And it is often in such moments that some try to stoke bitterness — to divide us based on our differences, to blind us to what we have in common.
“But on this day, we are reminded that at our best, we do not give in to this temptation,” Obama said.
In the GOP’s weekly address, Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., echoed Obama’s plea for a common purpose. Kyl called for the country to “recapture the unity that allowed us to come together as a nation to confront a determined enemy.”
Without mentioning the president by name, Kyl seemed to question the Obama administration’s commitment to the fight against terrorism begun by former President George W. Bush. Obama recently declared an end to combat missions in Iraq even as he pledged to renew efforts in Afghanistan and pursue al-Qaeda terrorists.
