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Former
U.S.
President
George
W. Bush
and his
wife
Laura
attend
an event
commemorating
the 20th
anniversary
of the
September
11, 2001
attacks
at the
Flight
93
National
Memorial
in
Stoystown,
Pennsylvania,
U.S.,
September
11,
2021.
(REUTERS/Hannah
Beier) |
|
George
W. Bush
warns of
danger
from
domestic
terrorists
on 9/11
anniversary
reuters.com
SHANKSVILLE,
Pa.,
Sept 11
-
On the
20th
anniversary
of the
deadliest
attack
on U.S.
soil,
George
W. Bush,
who was
president
at the
time,
warned
of a new
danger
coming
from
within
the
country.
"We
have
seen
growing
evidence
that the
dangers
to our
country
can
come,
not only
across
borders,
but from
violence
that
gathers
within,"
Bush
said on
Saturday
at the
9/11
memorial
site in
Shanksville,
Pennsylvania,
during a
ceremony
to mark
the
anniversary
of the
Sept.
11, 2001
attacks.
"There
is
little
cultural
overlaps
between
violent
extremists
abroad
and
violent
extremists
at home
... they
are
children
of the
same
foul
spirit,
and it
is our
continuing
duty to
confront
them."
The
United
States
has seen
an
uptick
in
homegrown
terror
threats
in
recent
years,
particularly
from
white
supremacists,
capped
by the
deadly
Jan. 6
attack
on the
U.S.
Capitol
by
followers
of
Republican
former
President
Donald
Trump.
The
attackers
were
hoping
to stop
U.S.
lawmakers
from
certifying
the
election
that
Trump
lost to
Democrat
Joe
Biden.
Bush,
recalling
the
unity of
the
American
people
after
the
attacks,
appealed
for a
return
to that
spirit
amid
growing
political
division
in the
country.
"When it
comes to
unity of
America,
those
days
seem
distant
from our
own,"
the
Republican
former
president
said.
"Malign
force
seems at
work in
our
common
life ...
so much
of our
politics
has
become a
naked
appeal
to
anger,
fear and
resentment."
Trump
did not
attend
any
formal
9/11
events
on
Saturday.
In the
afternoon,
he
repeated
his
frequent
lie that
the 2020
election
was
"rigged"
to a
group of
New York
police
officers
at a
precinct
near his
Manhattan
home,
and said
the
city's
crime
would
stop if
police
were
allowed
to act
as they
wished.
Former
U.S.
President
George
W. Bush
speaks
during
an event
commemorating
the 20th
anniversary
of the
September
11, 2001
attacks
at the
Flight
93
National
Memorial
in
Stoystown,
Pennsylvania,
U.S.,
September
11,
2021.
REUTERS/Hannah
Beier
Bush
and his
wife
Laura,
as well
as Vice
President
Kamala
Harris,
were
attending
a
ceremony
at the
Shanksville
site
where
United
Airlines
Flight
93
crashed
after
passengers
overpowered
the
hijackers.
The
plane
crashed
in a
field,
preventing
another
target
from
being
hit.
"In
the
sacrifice
of the
first
responders,
in the
mutual
aid of
strangers,
in the
solidarity
of grief
and
grace,
the
actions
of an
enemy
revealed
the
spirit
of a
people,"
Bush
said,
describing
the
country's
reaction.
"We were
proud of
our
wounded
nation."
BUSH
ON
AFGHANISTAN
PULLOUT
Bush's
has
rarely
spoken
publicly
about
the 9/11
attacks,
which
killed
nearly
3,000
people
in New
York,
Washington
and
Shanksville,
since
leaving
office.
The
attacks
prompted
Bush to
launch a
U.S.-led
invasion
of
Afghanistan
that
ousted
the
Taliban
from
control
in Kabul
and sent
al Qaeda
leader
Osama
bin
Laden
into
hiding.
His
administration's
subsequent
invasion
of Iraq,
based on
the
erroneous
claim
that
Saddam
Hussein's
authoritarian
government
had
illicit
weapons
of mass
destruction
diverted
resources
and
attention
from
Afghanistan,
leaving
U.S.
strategy
there
adrift,
former
officials
and
experts
say.
Biden's
withdrawal
of
remaining
U.S.
military
forces
in
Afghanistan
at the
end of
August,
months
after a
deadline
set by
Trump,
triggered
harsh
criticism
from
both
Democrats
and
Republicans,
as a
lightning-fast
Taliban
takeover
stranded
Americans
and
Afghans
seeking
to
evacuate.
In a
July
interview
with
German
state
broadcaster
Deutsche
Welle,
Bush
called
the
pullout
a
mistake
and said
he
worried
"the
consequences
are
going to
be
unbelievably
bad."
Speaking
about
U.S.
veterans
who
served
in
Afghanistan,
Bush
said
"you
have
been a
force
for good
in the
world
and
nothing
that has
followed
can
tarnish
your
honor."
Reporting
By Steve
Holland,
Heather
Timmons
and Jeff
Mason,
Editing
by Chizu
Nomiyama,
Heather
Timmons
and
Jonathan
Oatis
Our
Standards:
The
Thomson
Reuters
Trust
Principles.
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