Obama calls on Americans to embrace diversity on 9/11
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| President Barack Obama, right, with Defense Secretary Ash Carter, center, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Joseph Dunford, stand at attention as the national anthem is played during a memorial ceremony at the Pentagon in Washington, Sunday, Sept. 11, 2016, to commemorate the 15th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. |
WASHINGTON
(AP) -- President Barack Obama on Sunday marked the 15th
anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks by calling on Americans to embrace
the nation's character as a people drawn from every corner of the world,
from every religion and from every background. He said extremist groups
will never be able to defeat the United States.
Obama
spoke to hundreds of service members, and relatives and survivors of
the attack that occurred at the Pentagon when American Airlines Flight
77 slammed into the Defense Department's headquarters, killing 184
people. The youngest victim was only 3 years old.
In
all, about 3,000 people lost their lives that day as a result of the
planes that crashed into New York City's World Trade Center and in a
Pennsylvania field.
The president said
extremist organizations such as the Islamic State group and al-Qaida
know they can never drive down the U.S., so they focus on trying to
instill fear in hopes of getting Americans to change how they live.
"We
know that our diversity, our patchwork heritage is not a weakness, it
is still and always will be one of our greatest strengths," Obama said.
"This is the America that was attacked that September morning. This is
the America that we must remain true to."
Obama
spoke on warm, mostly sunny morning, noting that the threat that became
so evident on Sept. 11 has evolved greatly over the past 15 years.
Terrorists, he said, often attempt strikes on a smaller, but still
deadly scale. He specifically cited attacks in Boston, San Bernardino
and Orlando as examples.
In the end, he said,
the enduring memorial to those who lost their lives that day is ensuring
"that we stay true to ourselves, that we stay true to what's best in
us, that we do not let others divide us."
"How
we conduct ourselves as individuals and as a nation, we have the
opportunity each and every day to
live up to the sacrifice of those
heroes that we lost," Obama said.
Obama's
comments also came in the heat of a presidential election in which
voters will weigh which candidate would best keep America safe.
Republican
nominee Donald Trump said he would suspend Muslim immigration into the
United States, a policy he later amended by saying he would temporarily
ban immigration from "areas of the world where there is a proven history
of terrorism against the United States, Europe or our allies, until we
fully understand how to end these threats." Obama's speech Sunday
reinforced themes he has emphasized in recent months when he has
described Trump's proposals on Muslim immigration as "not the America we
want."
Obama also marked his final Sept. 11
observance as president with a moment of silence inside the White House
to coincide with when the first plane hit the Twin Towers. Atop the
White House, the American flag flew at half-staff. Obama invited
governors, interested organizations and individuals to follow suit.
Obama
said he has been humbled by the people whose 9/11 stories he's come to
learn over the past eight years, from the firefighters who responded to
the attacks, to family members of those who died, to the Navy Seals who
made sure "justice was finally done" in the killing of al-Qaida leader
Osama bin Laden. He said the nation's security has been strengthened
since 9/11 and that other attacks have been prevented.
"We
resolve to continue doing everything in our power to protect this
country that we love," he said, facing the benches that are a hallmark
of the Pentagon Memorial.
Behind the
president, a U.S. flag stretching some three stories tall hung on the
section of the Pentagon that was struck on Sept. 11. The president said
15 years may seem like a long time, but he imagined that for the
families, it can seem like yesterday. He said he has been inspired by
their efforts to start scholarship programs and undertake volunteer work
in their communities.
"In your grief and grace, you have reminded us that, together, there's nothing we Americans cannot overcome," Obama said.
