US marks 5 Years since 9/11 Tragedy by NYT / AP / The Brookings Institution / CIVICUS 2:43pm 11th Sep, 2006   11.9.2006. (AP)    The United States solemnly observed the fifth anniversary of the September 11 attacks on Monday with moments of silence timed to mark the World Trade Centre jetliner crashes and quiet remembrances held around the country.    The 6.5-hectare trade centre site in lower Manhattan fell quiet at 8.46am (2246 AEST), five years after American Airlines Flight 11 crashed into the north tower, and 9.03am (2303 AEST), when United Flight 175 slammed into the south tower.    Family members at ground zero held up signs reading "You will always be with us" and "Never forget," and quiet sobs could be heard as the moments of silence were observed.    Some victims relatives crossed themselves and wiped away tears.    "Five years have come, and five years have gone, and still we stand together as one," Mayor Michael Bloomberg said. "We come back to this place to remember the heartbreaking anniversary - and each person who died here - those known and unknown to us, whose absence is always with us."    The sorrowful task of reading the names of the 2,749 victims of the trade centre attacks fell to spouses and partners.    "My love for you is eternal," said Maria Acosta, who began the annual reading of the names, including her lost boyfriend, Paul John Gill. "And we all love you very much."    President George W Bush opened the day with breakfast at a historic firehouse on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, mingling with firefighters and police officers who were among the first to rush to the burning skyscrapers.    The president later stood in front of a door salvaged from a fire truck destroyed that day, a flag at half-staff above him.    Bush was to visit the attack sites in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, and the Pentagon later in the day before giving a prime-time address from the Oval Office.    At ground zero, family members had begun arriving before 7am, some holding bouquets of roses and framed photos of their loved ones. Others wore pins bearing pictures of the victims.    "I think it"s important that people remember as years go on," said Diana Kellie, of Acaconda, Montana, whose niece and niece"s fiance were killed on one of the planes. "The dead are really not dead until they"re forgotten."    In Shanksville, where United Flight 93 crashed to the ground, killing 40, people gathered at a temporary memorial - a 3-metre chainlink fence covered with American flags, firefighter helmets and children"s drawings.    Many of the visitors, like 15-year-old Carol Fritz, had no connection to the doomed flight.    "I didn"t understand when everything happened," Carol said, crying. "My kids, my grandkids are going to ask me what happened. I wanted to tell them, tell them I was here."    Moments of silence were also observed in the American and United terminals of Logan International Airport in Boston.    American Airlines Flight 11 and United Airlines Flight 175 took off from Logan before slamming into the towers.    Other remembrances were planned around the country: Firefighters in Akron, Ohio, planned to display 3,000 American flags on a 4-hectare plot in a western Ohio village.    In Virginia Beach, Virginia, firefighters and members of the public planned to form a human flag.    On Sunday, Bush marked the eve of the anniversary with sombre gestures and few words: He and his wife, Laura, set wreaths in small, square reflecting pools in the pit of the trade centre site, one each for where the north and south towers stood.    The Bushes had descended the long ramp from street level into ground zero accompanied by New York Governor George Pataki, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Rudolph Giuliani, hailed for his work as mayor in the months after the attack.    "It took about 30 years for this terrorism to develop," Giuliani said Monday morning on ABC"s Good Morning America as he stood at the site. "It"s going to take more than five years to deconstruct them."    On Sunday afternoon, the Bushes attended a memorial service at St Paul"s Chapel just off ground zero, where the first US president George Washington once prayed and where exhausted rescuers sought refuge in 2001 while they dug through the trade centre rubble.    September 11, 2006    9/11/06 (The New York Times: Editorial)    The feelings of sadness and loss with which we look back on Sept. 11, 2001, have shifted focus over the last five years. The attacks themselves have begun to acquire the aura of inevitability that comes with being part of history. We can argue about what one president or another might have done to head them off, but we cannot really imagine a world in which they never happened, any more than we can imagine what we would be like today if the Japanese had never attacked Pearl Harbor.    What we do revisit, over and over again, is the period that followed, when sorrow was merged with a sense of community and purpose. How, having lost so much on the day itself, did we also manage to lose that as well?    The time when we felt drawn together, changed by the shock of what had occurred, lasted long beyond the funerals, ceremonies and promises never to forget. It was a time when the nation was waiting to find out what it was supposed to do, to be called to the task that would give special lasting meaning to the tragedy that it had endured.    But the call never came. Without ever having asked to be exempt from the demands of this new post-9/11 war, we were cut out. Everything would be paid for with the blood of other people’s children, and with money earned by the next generation. Our role appeared to be confined to waiting in longer lines at the airport. President Bush, searching the other day for an example of post-9/11 sacrifice, pointed out that everybody pays taxes.    That pinched view of our responsibility as citizens got us tax cuts we didn’t need and an invasion that never would have occurred if every voter’s sons and daughters were eligible for the draft. With no call to work together on some effort greater than ourselves, we were free to relapse into a self- centeredness that became a second national tragedy. We have spent the last few years fighting each other with more avidity than we fight the enemy.    When we measure the possibilities created by 9/11 against what we have actually accomplished, it is clear that we have found one way after another to compound the tragedy. Homeland security is half-finished, the development at ground zero barely begun. The war against terror we meant to fight in Afghanistan is at best stuck in neutral, with the Taliban resurgent and the best economic news involving a bumper crop of opium. Iraq, which had nothing to do with 9/11 when it was invaded, is now a breeding ground for a new generation of terrorists.    Listing the sins of the Bush administration may help to clarify how we got here, but it will not get us out. The country still hungers for something better, for evidence that our leaders also believe in ideas larger than their own political advancement.    Today, every elected official in the country will stop and remember 9/11. The president will remind the country that he has spent most of his administration fighting terrorism, and his opponents will point out that Osama bin Laden is still at large. It would be miraculous if the best of our leaders did something larger — expressed grief and responsibility for the bad path down which we’ve gone, and promised to work together to turn us in a better direction.    Over the last week, the White House has been vigorously warning the country what awful things would happen in Iraq if American troops left, while his critics have pointed out how impossible the current situation is. They are almost certainly both right. But unless people on both sides are willing to come up with a plan that acknowledges both truths and accepts the risk of making real-world proposals, we will be stuck in the same place forever.    If that kind of coming together happened today, we could look back on Sept. 11, 2006, as more than a day for recalling bad memories and lost chances.    September 7, 2006    9/11 Plus 5: Hope Not Hate, by Peter W. Singer, Senior Fellow, Foreign Policy Studies -The Brookings Institution.    How do you make something good come out of 9/11? This weekend, as America marks the fifth anniversary of the attacks, some 300 student leaders from colleges throughout the U.S. and the Muslim world will converge on Washington, D.C. to try to answer this difficult question. They will gather at a unique meeting called 9/11 Plus 5: A Hope Not Hate Summit, organized by the non-partisan student group Americans for Informed Democracy, George Washington University"s Elliott School, and The Brookings Institution. The students goal is to honor the anniversary by developing a blueprint for long-term engagement between the U.S. and the Muslim world towards preventing future 9/11s.    They will have much to talk about. In the five years since 9/11, we"ve had two major ground wars, spent over a trillion dollars, and suffered more than 20,000 American casualties to prevent its repeat. Unfortunately, few are optimistic it"s paid off at this point. Indeed, 73% of Americans expect another 9/11 like attack within the year and 69% of Americans expect that we will still be fighting a war on terrorism at least a decade from now.    This is in large part because the long-term impact that history may weigh the most is the sea change that has occurred in relations between the world"s undisputed superpower and the world"s community of 1.4 billion Muslim believers. The 9/11 attacks have created a new prism of global affairs, a tension between a state and a religion that plays out on an international level as never before. Now, nearly 90% of publics in Muslim states view the U.S. as the primary security threat to their country. Around 60% have said in polls that weakening the Muslim world was a primary objective of the United States. At the same time, the number of Americans who have a negative view of the religion of Islam itself has grown each year since the 9/11 attacks, to now constitute nearly half of the American body politic. We are in the midst of a building schism driven by themes of hurt, fear, and suspicion that feeds both the forces of terrorism and our own resulting insecurity. Knocking down this growing wall will be the major challenge of "9/11" Generation, akin to that faced by the generation coming of age in the 1940s.    Things are not going well so far. In the five years since 9/11, there have actually been twice as many al Qa"ida attacks as before. More importantly, Bin Laden"s ideology has spread into a global network ranging from Algeria and Belgium to Indonesia and Iraq. As attacks from Bali to Madrid to London reveal, its capabilities may even be growing through its metasis, changing from a specific organization that was fairly centralized to becoming self-organized, self-inspired and cellular. This change from al-Qa"ida to al-Qa"ida-ism makes the deep and rapid deterioration of America"s standing in the Islamic world not merely an issue of unpopularity but a very threat to our security.    For such a strategic problem, our government has struggled to find its footing. In response to the attacks, instead of creating long-term pillars like the Marshall Plan and NATO, we went down the path of Iraq. Regardless of one"s partisan position, we can now agree that it has been an immense drain on U.S. resources and reputation in the world, and a boon to terrorist recruiting. But the challenges extend beyond the debate over whether we should now "cut and run" or "stay the course." We still lack a grand strategy for winning the wider 9/11 war and programs to match it, whether political reform or a public diplomacy effort that has been largely absent without leave.    Rather than just complaining from the sidelines, however, the student leaders represent the twenty-first century version of America"s do-it-yourself spirit. In a blend of age-old conservatism and new age student activism, they are looking beyond government for the solutions; as part of attending this event, each student has agreed to organize one event in his or her community designed to raise awareness and build bridges between the U.S. and the Muslim world.    Their sessions will try to fill in the missing gaps in how we leverage America"s strengths, capitalizing on the areas and issues for which we are admired rather than hated. For example, American political values are well-regarded in the Muslim world. How then do we help create a culture of open discourse? Likewise, America is still looked up to for its prowess in science and technology - how do we then help create a new generation of scientists who might help jumpstart economies in poor states that now foster radicalism? How do we take advantage of the enormous influence that Hollywood still wields to build bridges to the Islamic world through arts and culture? And, how do we better tap into the strengths of the Muslim-American community, whose very success is a remarkable demonstration of what citizenship and integration is all about, and proof that the U.S. is not anti-Islam?    At the same time, the students will weigh how to shore up weaknesses that still beg for action. Areas they will question include whatever happened to the 9/11 Commission recommendations and how can America do a better job at preventing recruiting by terrorist groups, so that the next generation will not be facing the same threats and dangers?    These are the issues student leaders will grapple with over the weekend. Will our own national leaders have the foresight to do the same?    (Note: The views expressed in this piece are solely those of the author).    A Joint Civil Society Statement on the Tragedy in the United States. (CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation)    The fundamental civil liberties that underpin democratic participation    In the wake of the tragic events that took place in the United States of America on 11th September 2001, we wish to extend our deepest condolences to all who have lost loved ones and to the millions more whose lives have been affected. The horrific scenes we have witnessed remind us that all too often, in many places around the world, innocent people are the victims of conflict and aggression beyond their control.    During this time of shared grief, we pay tribute to citizens, non-profit organizations and rescue workers whose acts of bravery and volunteerism sum up the best of our common humanity. We urge continued support for the important work being done by a range of civil society organisations to help people affected by this current crisis as well as by the increasing political violence around the world.    At the global level, we want to raise our voices for peace, justice, human rights and the rule of law. Those who have planned, carried out or abetted these appalling crimes must be brought to justice. This tragedy makes plain the need for a system of international justice, relying on rules of evidence, proof of guilt, respect for rights and due judicial process.    We should resist efforts to target people because of their race, religion, ethnic background or appearance, including immigrants in general and people of the Islamic faith and Arab community in particular. We note with great concern the attacks against people believed to be Muslims or from the Arab community and the desecration of mosques and Sikh Temples.    Great care must be taken in the use of language and images. Neither justice nor peace will be served by the demonisation of particular communities. As leaders in civil society, we have an obligation to ensure that every part of the community is respected, that its voice can be heard, and that human rights and public safety for all are upheld. We appeal to the media to act responsibly in their use of imagery or inflammatory language. We also wish to stress the vital role of information and communications to promote informed debate and decision-making.    While emotions are running high, we urge restraint on the part of political leaders. To react with wisdom and long-term effect, leaders must not act in haste, unilaterally, or indiscriminately. We call for a strong commitment to human rights, international law and humanitarian concern in any actions that are taken. We should be motivated by the demand for justice, not revenge, and by the pursuit of peace, exhausting all peaceful measures so that many more innocent victims do not suffer. We feel strongly that there is no purely military solution to the kinds of acts that we saw last week. Indeed, the blunt instrument of war may further intensify a cycle of violence and attract new recruits to terror.    We do not underestimate the difficulty or the urgency of the task facing political leaders. But we are convinced that a safer world for all can only be achieved by the extension of human rights and the rule of law. As they act to prevent such attacks in the future, we urge governments to uphold the fundamental civil liberties that underpin democratic participation. We believe that in a world afflicted by vast inequality, governments and citizens alike have a responsibility to work for sustainable development and social inclusion. Across the whole range of non-profit activities for the public good, we encourage civil society organisations to redouble their efforts to weave anew the torn fabric of our lives.    We appeal to world leaders to protect and strengthen the institutions of civil society. We believe firmly that robust local and national communities - linked internationally and inspired by an ethos of compassion and tolerance - are our best defence against those who would sow hate and destruction.    A key strength of civil society is its diversity. We, as a group of concerned organisations, encourage our colleagues in civil society across the world to give practical expression to the objectives of this statement in ways they deem most appropriate. In addition, we invite other organizations to add their endorsement to this statement.    Finally, we hope that from the pain and sorrow of recent events hope may yet rise again for the establishment of a more peaceful, just and sustainable world order.    # Released shortly after 9/11 republished 09 September 2006.
	Next (more recent) news item
	Next (older) news item