Obama honors 9/11 victims, condemns terrorists

 

Observing the 9/11 anniversary at the Pentagon on Saturday, President Obama asked Americans to honor the tragedy's victims by renewing a "sense of common purpose" and refusing to let terrorists tear down the nation's ideals.

The highest honor that Americans can pay to those killed that day nine years ago is to do what adversaries fear most, Obama said.

"We define the character of our country," Obama said, "and we will not let the acts of some small band of murderers who slaughter the innocent and cower in caves distort who we are."
Obama spoke not far from a prayer room opened by the military weeks after the attack so that service members of all faiths could pray, read their holy books and join clergy — including an imam, once a week — for services.

As the furor continues over the possibility that an Islamic center and mosque will open blocks from ground zero in New York, Obama vowed to champion the rights of every American to worship as they choose, "as service members and civilians from many faiths do just steps from here, at the very spot where the terrorists struck this building."

The country is not at war with Islam, the president said.

"It was not a religion that attacked us that September day, it was Al Qaeda — a sorry band of men which perverts religion," he said. "And just as we condemn intolerance and extremism abroad, so will we stay true to our traditions here at home as a diverse and tolerant nation."

Obama spoke to friends and family members of the victims at the Pentagon, where 184 people died when terrorists crashed a hijacked plane into the building. He also laid a wreath at the site.

"Those who attacked us sought to demoralize us, divide us, to deprive us of the very unity, the very ideals, that make America America — those qualities that have made us a beacon of freedom and hope to billions around the world," Obama said. "Today we declare once more we will never hand them that victory."

Vice President Joe Biden marked the day in New York in a memorial service at ground zero in Lower Manhattan. The assembly observed four moments of silence — marking the time when two of four hijacked planes struck the World Trade Center and when each of the towers fell.

First Lady Michelle Obama and former First Lady Laura Bush were in Shanksville, Pa., where the fourth hijacked plane crashed.

"In the face of terror," the former first lady said, "Americans chose to overcome evil."

The group in Pennsylvania observed a moment of silence, broken when relatives of the victims began to read aloud names of the 40 passengers and crew who died and tolling a bell for each.

cparsons@latimes.com

Tribune wire services contributed to this report.

Source: LA Times