NEW YORK — A decade after 9/11, the potential for another devastating terrorist assault “remains very real,” Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said Tuesday after a somber visit to ground zero of the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center.
The Pentagon chief walked through the National September 11 Memorial park and museum with Mayor Michael Bloomberg and afterward told reporters that Americans must remain vigilant against the threat of another successful al-Qaeda attack.
“The potential for that kind of attack remains very real,” he said from the 10th floor of 7 World Trade Center, the first completed office tower at the site where hijacked commercial airliners were flown into the twin towers, killing more than 2,700 people.
Bad weather forced Panetta to scratch plans to visit Shanks ville, Pa., where hijackers flew United Flight 93 into the ground, killing all 40 passengers and crew shortly after the coordinated terrorist attack began in New York.
Panetta will attend 9/11 memorial events at the Pentagon on Sunday.
The Associated Press
