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9/11: the day that America will never forget
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US President Donald Trump marked his third 9/11 anniversary as president yesterday amid his growing frustration about what he calls the 鈥渆ndless war鈥 in Afghanistan, where al-Qaida conceived the deadly 2001 attacks.
It has been 18 years since al-Qaida hijackers commandeered four US commercial airliners and crashed them into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. Like former Presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush, Trump marked the day with the war still raging.
In a proclamation marking the anniversary as 鈥淧atriot Day,鈥 Trump reflected on how many Americans recall the moment when the terror group conducted the largest attack on American soil, killing nearly 3,000 people.
鈥淎 beautiful September morning was marred by stark disbelief, agonizing sorrow, and profound suffering,鈥 Trump said in a statement on Tuesday. 鈥淎merica鈥檚 strength, courage, and compassion, however, never wavered.鈥
With the American flag flying atop the White House at half-mast, Trump participated in a moment of silence on the South Lawn with first lady Melania Trump and dozens of members of the executive branch. He then headed to a commemoration at the Pentagon, where he laid a wreath and observed another moment of silence.
The commander in chief told families that 鈥渢his is your anniversary of personal and permanent loss,鈥 and he said that their loved ones 鈥渨ill never ever be forgotten.鈥
Less than a month after the terror attacks, Bush announced on October 7, 2001, that US and British troops had begun striking Afghanistan for harboring the al-Qaida terrorists blamed for 9/11. The massive air campaign initially targeted troops, training camps and air defenses of the Taliban, which ruled Afghanistan under a harsh version of Islamic law from 1996 and hosted Osama bin Laden as he masterminded the September 11 attacks.
For nearly a year, US envoy Zalmay Khalilzad has been negotiating with the Taliban on issues including a US troop withdrawal and Taliban guarantees to keep Afghanistan from again becoming a launch pad for global terror attacks. Those talks came to an abrupt halt last weekend when Trump tweeted that he had canceled a proposed meeting with the Taliban and members of the Afghan government at the Camp David presidential retreat in Maryland.
It鈥檚 unclear if the US-Taliban talks will resume, but Trump has said he wants to withdraw about 5,000 of the 14,000 US troops still in Afghanistan.
More than 2,400 American soldiers have been killed in the conflict.
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