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Subscribe to RSSThousands gathered Tuesday in New York, suburban Washington and rural Pennsylvania to mark the 11th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks. NBC's Ron Allen reports.
Thousands gathered Tuesday in New York, suburban Washington and rural Pennsylvania to mark the 11th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, but at the somber day's biggest venue, Ground Zero in lower Manhattan, this year's observance was missing a key feature from years past: politicians' voices.
In a reminder of the global consequences of the attacks, in which nearly 3,000 people were killed by airliners hijacked by Islamist militants, commemorations also were being held abroad. At the Kaia airport in the Afghan capital Kabul, soldiers with the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force prayed during a memorial ceremony for the Sept. 11 victims.
The United States and its allies launched the invasion of Afghanistan to oust al-Qaida and its Taliban protectors in retaliation for the 2001 attacks. Nearly eleven years later, troops are still fighting there in what has become America's longest war.
President Barack Obama has pledged to end the main U.S. combat role in Afghanistan by the end of 2014, but current plans call for some thousands of U.S. troops to remain long after that to train Afghans and hunt terrorists. Since 2001, more than 2,000 American troops have been killed in Afghanistan.
In search of 'more intimate' commemorations
In previous years, politicians including presidents, state governors and New York City mayors have participated in the reading of the names, or have read from the Bible or recited passages from literature, at Ground Zero commemoration ceremonies.
PhotoBlog:360-degree-view of National 9/11 Memorial at dusk
The nation pauses in honor of the spirit and sacrifice made by the victims of the September 11th attacks in ceremonies at Ground Zero, Shanksville and the Pentagon. NBC's Danielle Leigh reports.
This year, only the families of the more than 2,750 who were killed when militant Islamist hijackers crashed two jetliners into the World Trade Center's Twin Towers, causing their collapse, appeared on the podium to read their names.
To Charles G. Wolf, it's a fitting transition.
"We've gone past that deep, collective public grief," says Wolf, whose wife, Katherine, was killed at the trade center. "And the fact that the politicians will not be involved, to me, makes it more intimate, for the families. ... That's the way that it can be now."
Fewer families attended the ceremonies this year, and some cities canceled their remembrances altogether.
The president and first lady observe a moment of silence on the White House font lawn in honor of the September 11 attacks.
"I feel much more relaxed" this year, said Jane Pollicino, who came to Ground Zero Tuesday morning to remember her husband, who was killed at the trade center. "After the ninth anniversary, that next day, you started building up to the 10th year. This feels a lot different, in that regard. It's another anniversary that we can commemorate in a calmer way, without that 10-year pressure."
Politicians still attended, but under event rules set down in July by the National September 11 Memorial and Museum, chaired by New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, none was to speak or participate in the reading of names.
The point, memorial President Joe Daniels said, was "honoring the victims and their families in a way free of politics" in an election year.
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano was among the officials attending the New York ceremony this year.
From NBC 4 New York: Agreement reached on Sept. 11 museum
Political friction
But others said keeping politicians off the rostrum smacked of ... politics.
The move came amid friction between the memorial foundation and the governors of New York and New Jersey over financing for the museum — friction that abruptly subsided Monday, when Bloomberg and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced an agreement that paves the way for finishing the $700 million project "as soon as practicable."
Before the deal, Cuomo, a Democrat, and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, a Republican, had signaled their displeasure by calling on federal officials to give the memorial a financial and technical hand. Some victims' relatives saw the no-politicians anniversary ceremony as retaliation.
"Banning the governors of New York and New Jersey from speaking is the ultimate political decision," said one relatives' group, led by retired Deputy Fire Chief Jim Riches. His firefighter son and namesake was killed responding to the burning World Trade Center.
Spokesmen for Christie and Cuomo said the governors were fine with the memorial organizers' decision.
The restrictions will not extend to politicians at the other remembrances.
Shah Marai / AFP - Getty Images
Soldiers with the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force pray at Kaia airport, Kabul, Afghanistan, during an 11th anniversary memorial ceremony for those who perished in the Sept. 11 attacks in the United States.
At the Pentagon outside of Washington, where more than 180 were killed when a hijacked plane was flown into it, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta spoke in a ceremony that was closed to the public, attended only by victims' families.
Also speaking to the victims’ families, President Barack Obama said that the Sept. 11 victims would be remembered "no matter how many years pass.”
Obama said that the whole country shares their loss.
US adds cancer to list of illnesses linked to 9/11 terror attacks
"Eleven times we have paused in remembrance and reflection, in unity and in purpose," Obama said. "This is never an easy day, but it is especially difficult for all of you, the families of nearly 3,000 innocents who lost their lives."
"But no matter how many years pass, no matter how many times we come together on this hallowed ground, know this: That you will never be alone, your loved ones will never be forgotten. They will endure in the hearts of our nation because through their sacrifice they helped us make the America we are today, an America that has emerged even stronger."
Earlier, the president and first lady Michelle Obama observed the anniversary in a ceremony on the White House's south lawn, and then laid a white floral wreath at the Pentagon, above a concrete slab that said "Sept. 11, 2001 — 9:37 a.m."
Vice President Joe Biden and Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar delivered remarks in Shanksville, Pa., where 40 passengers aboard United Flight 93 were killed when that plane crashed as they revolted against their hijackers.
The names of 40 crew members and passengers aboard the plane were read beginning at 10:03, the time of the crash, by victims' families and local volunteers who assisted in the aftermath of the attacks. A bell was rung for each of the 40 victims, and a wreath was laid at the Wall of Names honoring the dead.
"How we handle the legacy of these 40 people and what they did, what they kept from happening, is really more of a statement about ourselves, about what we value as a society," said Patrick White, current president of Families of Flight 93. White's cousin, Joey Nacke II, was among the passengers who stormed the cockpit.
U.S. authorities say the al-Qaida hijackers planned to crash that plane into the U.S. Capitol in Washington.
The anniversary led to a brief pause in the presidential campaign as Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney pulled their negative ads and avoided campaign rallies. Romney shook hands with firefighters at Chicago's O'Hare Airport and was flying to Nevada to address the National Guard, whose members deployed after the attacks. His running mate, Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, had no scheduled public events.
Caitlin Leavey, who lost her father in the September 11th attacks, speaks out on how she found a way to cope and help other victims of terrorism. WNBC's Erika Tarantal reports.
Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Pandering is still playing politics!!! It's way past time to "move on"! A leader's job is to take care of the living, not pandering year after year on a so-called "tragedy". Their deaths were no more tragic than anybody else's death. How about think of all the Americans that have birthdays today and they have to hear all this political and media posturing BS year after year on their birthday!!!
why do so many americans feel comfortable telling people what is an acceptable time to grieve or be sensitive about something? you must have no soul whatsoever if you think that's okay. This is something we will remember the rest of our lives and it should have been written in every single history book but you think we should just stop talking about it now?
mind: tell that to the people that felt they had no choice but to jump from the 110 story, tell that to the people that were crushed by the debris, tell that to the people that burned to death!
peggy i cant tell if you're for or against what i am saying. regardless, i would never feel comfortable telling those families that lost someone to get over it just like i wouldnt tell you or supermanHere that they should not still grieve over their family members if something happened to them. it just isn't my business. you can't control and police dialogue like that.
mindyabusiness is an idot
Sorry "mindyabusiness", my "is an idot" comment should have been directed at "SupermanHere"
The Threat REMAINS.
God Bless the victims and their families
Now is a time to remember we have unfinished business with the Taliban and their Pakistani protectors. Those who died for doing nothing but going to work, the soldiers who paid the ultimate sacrifice, shall not have died in vain.
It is time for us to become increasingly close to India because the enemy of my enemy, Pakistan, is my friend. We need regime change in Pakistan. We need to take out their missile sites. Annexing that hellhole would be next.
It is not a time for politics but, like it or not, it is a time for war and to leave Afghanistan without taking care of Pakistan will make fools of us all and insult the memories of those soldiers who died in Afghanistan.
Cowards adhere to cut and run. Some good judges would agree that men stand up for what is right in the protection of freedom and safety of innocents who can be subjugated by the nuclear weapons in the possession of Pakistan.
Geopolitical realities are sometimes a hard punch in the gut. It musn't stop us from seeing things as they are and not what we wish them to be.
I believe that your vision of the future is a real possibility, a all out war between the Extremist Muslim world and the Extremist Christian world! And those of us that just wish to get along and live our lives will perish with you. Not a good day to remember and not a good future to look forward to and a sad sad world we live in in the name of religion.
I fear for my kids and grandchildren that will live in this world that seems to thrive on hate and greed.
Especially today, I am proud to claim the title: "Firefighter." Rest in peace, brothers. Someday, when I answer my final alarm, I hope I am as brave and honorable as you are.
Everyday is filled with honor for you the Firefighters and Police.
The darkest history of 9.11.01 for me.
The darkest history of 9.11.01 for me happened about a year before 9.11.01.
I was living in a communal apartment with some people and had just gotten the Internet. The net was still pretty new me at that time.
The very first web site that I went to was a chat channel called 800 dot com. It was the old chat channel type where everyone was all talking at the same time.
One night I turned the laptop on and went into 800 dot com and then to a chat room called The Hun.
I chatted with some people about different things.
Then someone started chatting about taking down the Twin Towers.
I thought the person was talking about the basketball players called the Twin Towers and joked that they could never be brought down as they were unstoppable together.
The person than did the lol response and answered that they were not talking about the basketball players but the Twin Towers in New York City.
I told them that they were crazy and left the chat room.
Then September 9th, 2001 happened.
Some advice....if you come across ANYONE saying that they are going to blow a building up either on the net or in public take it seriously and at least report their screename and their post to the FBI.
It wasn't just Americans that died that day in these attacks and so I choose to remember ALL of them ............. and I would also like to know all of the truths/facts of that day, not just the ones the government(s) are sharing or fabricating! There is NO DOUBT that much is being kept secret!
i want to mention the first 9/11/1857 when mormon militia massacred 140 men women and children to keep the "gentiles" out of their sacred land. not sure how many people know of this fact because the church has kept it very covered up for years. they stole all their horses gold and evertything they were carrying too.they blamed the whole thing on a small band of peaceful natives. all this political talk- just sayin.
you do not justice with comments such as these to those who died in twin towers tragedy
Politics aside... I will never forget... God bless the victims of 9/11 and their families... God speed the safe return of all service men and women of our arm forces battling terror all over the world, thank you for your service.. God bless America!!
Secrecy or not at this point we can only have conjecture. The bottom line is thousands of Americans lost their lives in an attack on AMERICAN SOIL. They are honored and remembered. All that died that day due to this heinous act are honored and remembered
Eleven years ago today at 8:50AM my wife called me at the office as I was heading into the company conference room for a conference call with our investors in Ann Arbor, Michigan. She said a plane had flown into the World Trade Center. My first reaction was that some idiot had flown his Piper Cub into one of the buildings – I told her to keep me posted but for now I had to get into the meeting. I sat down at the table with a colleague who mentioned that someone in the office had just heard a report about the WTC and that something was going on. Moments later my wife called again saying that we were under attack, a second plane had hit the WTC. She was watching the events unfold live on the Today Show.
We had just begun the conference call, gotten through the pleasantries and introductions then we paused to suggest postponing the call to another day. Our investors agreed immediately (one had a daughter in
Washington DC) although our idiot CEO boss said we needed to complete the call. I “urged” him to change his [puny] mind reminding him that this was turning into an historic event and the purpose of our call was no longer much of a priority. We hung up and went to our desks in a fog to watch events unfold via the internet. We all called home. By 11:00 we closed the office and left for the day.
Every year on 9/11 at 8:50AM I step into our company conference room (it always seems to be sunny) and say a prayer for those who perished, their families, our firemen, policemen, EMTs and most of all for our country.
If our government wants to honor the fallen of 9/11 then they should tell the whole world the truth. how can so many misunderstandings and questions still not be answered more than a decade later. There was more investigation into The first OJ simpson trial, than there was on the events of that day. George Bush and Dick Cheney should be brought up on trial for crimes against humanity....it was an inside job and there is more than enough proof to corroborate these facts. Those people and their families deserve more..I pray that one day someone will make the people responsible pay for the awful things they did that day, and I'm not talking about fictional terrorist, I'm talking about the real terrorists, the ones who sold this country out.
I have never heard them read all the names of the ones who died at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 and ring a bell for them. Have they or have they forgotten the lives lost in history?
Pearl Harbor has never been forgotten
Pearl Harbor also was a horrible tragedy that wasted valuable lives that was Government Driven. We weren't attacked, Japan retaliated. I wasn't alive then, but every war is a crime. Men women children die for greed, power, land, money... to die for the right to live, that would seem adequate.
And now we import products and services from Japan all these years later. What does that tell you. We shouldve nuked them when we had a chance! Everytime we go and blow up some country we allow their social rejects to come here, now look at this country. Muslims are coming here left and right, building mosques and temples. Where is somebody going to get a job wearing a sheet and a pillow case around their head? They probably gey money wired from their homeland to live oof of.
As we honor the 3,000 who lost their lives on 9/11, it might be worth taking a moment to remember the estimated 10,000 Afghan civilians and nearly 865,000 Iraqi civilians killed either directly or indirectly by U.S. retaliation.
I'm reminded of the words of the Prince in Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet," Act V, scene III:
"Where be these enemies?... See, what a scourge is laid upon your hate...
And I, for winking at your discords, have lost a brace of kinsmen. All are punish'd."
All flags should be at half mast for the remainder of the day across America.
If your flag isn't at half mast lets get it there now.
i failed to mention the fallen from 9/11/2001 - i wholeheartedly want to honor them and all who lost loved ones in that tragedy, there have been many attacks on American soil, I remember we closed our office that day too after witnessing it all on the TV's in our office with our young patients watching too. a day i will always remember, God bless all who suffered and continue to suffer from this act.
I lost my father at a young age from US Government errors proved in Federal Court. My family and I grieved and then moved on letting him go. Why can't the survivors of 9/11 do the same? All these memorial services and that $60 million a year to maintain the memorial compared to a small fraction of that to maintain others such as at Pearl Harbor bring into question just how much remembering we must do. Japanese memorials to Hiroshima and Nagasaki victims, easily 150,000 lost on two days, are small and respectful, nothing like what 9/11 survivors demand here. Sadly and with respect, GET OVER IT! Move on! I did!
Why commemorate something when we haven't learned a damned thing from the experience? We, as a nation, have never asked ourselves "Why would anyone hate us enough to commit this terrible crime?" Sure, the 9/11 terror attacks were tragic. But so was our heedless rush to war in the Middle East, which to date has cost One Trillion, 371 Billion dollars and the lives of 6,600 American troops.
God bless the families of the victims of the 9/11 attacks, and the soldiers who have fought for our country in the eleven years since.
I would love to know how many Muslims lived in America prior to this awful day and how many of them live here now. And then I would like to know why our government allowed the increase knowing what these people are capable of and the hate they have for our culture.
All Muslims did not commit this act of terrorism. Extremists did. What you're saying is the equivalent of saying All Christians must be evangelical when in all reality, it is only a minority group. This country was founded on religious tolerance and you're missing that point. Today isn't about hatred for Muslims. You can hate those who committed the crime but not all Muslims are responsible and it's time we as Americans stop punishing all of them for a crime they didn't commit.
Hate is like having cancer of the soul - It will ultimatly kill you but horribly it will also infect the souls of those around you. Remember, governments can and do use religion and hate to conduct their sorrid affairs!
Because of some stupid freedom of religion constitution made 200 years ago. America didn't have muslims coming over here to be "free". They just had to worry about some mormons, amish, Native Americans, Etc. The government could control those few groups. They had no idea what we were going to be up against now. We need to adjust to the times. Now, hope it's not to late, Thats to president Washington and all those fools
How refreshing and appropriate is this!
I forgot to include this line:
"A glooming peace this morning with it brings;
The sun for sorrow will not show his head.
Go hence, to have more talk of these sad things;
Some shall be pardon'd, and some punished..."
In memory of the innocent victims - men, women, and children - who were born into this world with great hope and perished for no reason then to satisfy a lust for hate and revenge.
Vs…9/11 truthers dominating theory…..
Ground Zero – (101)
Neither are the French buying this FALSE-FLAG-EVENT. Everything about the official story is FALSE!
youtube: Bigard’s 9/11 series: 1. The magical passports
(serirs 1,2, and 3… are translated from french television). Hilariously funny!
Educate Yourselves!!!
Google Video: (1-2 hr ea)
1. Blueprint for truth -120 mins.
2. 9/11 Mysteries -full version
3. Dr David Ray Griffin at Boston U. (1-9)
4. William Rodriquez Part (1-9)
5. Loose Change 2cd Edition
6. 9/11 In Plane Site -72 mins.
7. John Schroeder -47 mins.
8. ZERO.investigation.Into.911.avi
9. 9/11 False Flag.avi (Nuoviso)
10. TRU tv conspiracy “pentagon episode”
11. Building what? Campaign
12. The Truth is Out There TVO
13. 9/11: Explosive Evidence – Experts Speak Out
14. Aaron Russo’s “America: Freedom To Fascism”
AFTER watching these videos you will come to the following conclusions… no plane at the pentagon/no plane in Shanksville (debris field 8 miles wide… (What?)… and still no photo of any wreckage or any debris). No plane at WTC 7. WTC 1 and 2 debris field from 220 stories + 200 elevators only between 5 and 6 stories tall /or less… (Probably zero planes that day-looked like computer graphics-plane melts into building- nose out shot- probably a missile – at best agree that 2 planes did NOT take down 3 towers). All planes usually 100% full; only 34% full. Seven 9/11 hijackers still alive-BBC and all documentaries above. Put Options. Trillions of dollars missing 9/10/01 and the area of the Pentagon struck by a missile/destroyed by explosives or both was the accounting department that had contained all records of this missing money/SEC investigations WTC 7???). Prior to 9/11 Operation Northwoods was President Bush, VP Cheney, Rummy, Rice, and Wolf all agreeing that we (The US) needed a new “Pearl Harbor”. The Pentagon collapsed 20 minutes after said impact. The four aircraft never having been truly, finally, or honestly serial number identified. Jeb Bush + Securacom contract ended 9/10/01… (What?)...Who built the Bush’s 1st oil-rig? Who worked for the CIA until 9/11? Who previously held the position as Director of Central Intelligence? Who was Big Daddy having breakfast with 9/11 morning? Who is Phillip Zelikow? (Ask questions …Ask many more questions?????) The War on Terror is a Major Fraud. (RIP Berry Jennings) (RIP Danny Jowenko)(RIP Beverly Eckert)(RIP Kenneth Johannemann)(RIP Michael H Doran)(RIP Daniel Wallace). Ostracize yourself from the Lamestream Media Wahore Mongers!!
NOTE: Do not be fooled into the idea that hijackers, passengers, pilots, and co-pilots had been gassed into submission and then remotely controlled into the Twin Towers, into the Pentagon, and flown into the ground at Shankesville. That’s a con job.
No planes no problem = witnesses were FAKE = watch September Clues (A and B)
To investigate 16 of the most prevalent claims made by conspiracy theorists, POPULAR MECHANICS assembled a team of nine researchers and reporters who, together with PM editors, consulted more than 70 professionals in fields that form the core content of this magazine, including aviation, engineering and the military.
In the end, they were able to debunk each of these assertions with hard evidence and a healthy dose of common sense. We learned that a few theories are based on something as innocent as a reporting error on that chaotic day. Others are the byproducts of cynical imaginations that aim to inject suspicion and animosity into public debate. Only by confronting such poisonous claims with irrefutable facts can we understand what really happened on a day that is forever seared into world history.
http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/military/news/debunking-911-myths-planes
The NWO’s 11th anniversary Official Version of 9/11 goes something like this…Directed by a beardy-guy from a cave in Afghanistan, nineteen hard-drinking, coke-snorting, devout Muslims enjoy lap dances before their mission to meet Allah…Using nothing more than craft knifes, they overpower cabin crew, passengers and pilots on four planes…And hangover or not, they manage to give the world’s most sophisticated air defense system the slip…Unphased by leaving their “How to Fly a Passenger Jet” guide in the car at the airport, they master the controls in no-time and score direct hits on two towers, causing THREE to collapse completely…Our masterminds even manage to overpower the odd law of physics or two… and the world watches in awe as steel-framed buildings fall symmetrically – through their own mass – at free-fall speed, for the first time in history. Despite all their dastardly cunning, they stupidly give their identity away by using explosion-proof passports, which survive the fireball undamaged and fall to the ground… only to be discovered by the incredible crime-fighting sleuths at the FBI Meanwhile down in Washington…Hani Hanjour, having previously flunked 2-man Cessna flying school, gets carried away with all the success of the day and suddenly finds incredible abilities behind the controls of a Boeing…Instead of flying straight down into the large roof area of the Pentagon, he decides to show off a little…Executing an incredible 270 degree downward spiral, he levels off to hit the low facade of the world’s most heavily defended building……all without a single shot being fired…. or ruining the nicely mowed lawn… and all at a speed just too fast to capture on video……Later, in the skies above Pennsylvania…So desperate to talk to loved ones before their death, some passengers use sheer willpower to connect mobile calls that otherwise would not be possible until several years later…And following a heroic attempt by some to retake control of Flight 93, it crashes into a Shankesville field leaving no trace of engines, fuselage or occupants… except for the standard issue Muslim terrorists bandana……Further south in Florida…President Bush, our brave Commander-in-Chief continues to read “My Pet Goat” to a class full of primary school children… shrugging off the obvious possibility that his life could be in imminent danger…In New York…Trade Center leaseholder Larry Silverstein blesses his own foresight in insuring the buildings against terrorist attack only six weeks previously…While back in Washington, Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld and Paul Wolfowitz shake their heads in disbelief at their own luck in getting the ‘New Pearl Harbor’ catalyzing event they so desired to pursue their agenda of world domination…And finally, not to be disturbed too much by reports of their own deaths, at least seven of our nineteen suicide hijackers turn up alive and kicking in mainstream media reports (DO NOT ask questions!!)(Go shopping!!)(Somewhere in the good ol’ USSA of Amerika a TSA pat-down is waiting for you) The FY 2012 National Defense Authorization Act awaits us all.
This should be as much a day of "tell us the truth!" as it is a day of mourning for 9/11 victims who very well could have been murdered by thier own countrymen/women and their friends throughout the world who believe that only they should inherit the earth!
Pretty good synopsis bro...and isn't it weird that we've seen the 'plane' hitting the 2nd tower over and over but we've never seen any video of the most heavily secured building in the USA (The Pentagon) being hit by a plane and all the video from surrounding businesses were confiscated within minutes...or what about the news conferences where a moving truck loaded with explosives was caught by the GWB that day...where did that story disappear to?
Those four frames released intially with the wrong Date......
The calcualted speed of the missle 1100 mph
These all could be dispelled by the Government by releasing all the tapes.
Ask yourself...why haven't they?
And there are those out there that want to put another puppet administration in the Whitehouse.
As we used to say in the south.
"Bless their hearts" - Translation "Boy are they stupid"
Mary Jones,
Please explain what your post means. I have to tell you, the first impression is not very good, so I want to be sure I understand what you're trying to say before I jump to conclusions about you. Thanks