Joe Biden referred to as on Americans to defend their democracy every single day, in remarks commemorating the twenty first anniversary of the terrorist assaults on September 11, 2001.
Speaking on Sunday on the Pentagon, one of many websites struck by a hijacked aeroplane, the US president underscored the duty of Americans to “defend, preserve and protect” the democratic ideas that underpin the nation’s social, political and financial cloth.
“Remember, the American democracy depends on the habit of the heart of ‘We the People’, he said, referencing the opening line of the US constitution. “It’s not enough to stand up for democracy once a year or every now and then. It is something we have to do every single day.”
He added: “This is a day not only to remember, but a day of renewal and resolve for each and every American and our devotion to this country, to the principles it embodies, to our democracy.
“That is what we owe those who we remember today, that is what we owe one another, and that is what we owe future generations of Americans to come.”
The defence of democracy has turn into a daily theme for Biden forward of midterm elections in November. The president used a primetime handle this month to name out Trump and his Make America Great Again motion as a risk to the nation.
Biden mentioned he had “no doubt” Americans will “meet this significant responsibility” and are available collectively to safe the nation’s democracy, citing as nicely the work of the nation’s counter-terrorism and intelligence companies in persevering with to hunt out these answerable for the 2001 assaults.
Over the summer time, the US killed al-Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri in a drone strike in Afghanistan. Zawahiri was Osama bin Laden’s second-in-command and took management of the group that plotted the 9/11 hijackings amongst different assaults on US soil after US Navy Seals killed bin Laden in a raid in 2011.
“I made a promise to the American people that we would continue to conduct effective counter-terrorism operations in Afghanistan and beyond. We’ve done just that,” Biden mentioned after the operation, which occurred only one yr after the US withdrawal from Afghanistan.
US vice-president Kamala Harris, who on Sunday spoke on the 9/11 memorial on the base of the place the World Trade Center towers as soon as stood in decrease Manhattan, underscored the vital function America performs on the worldwide stage and the way home threats to the nation’s democratic values threaten that standing.
In an interview with NBC’s Meet the Press that aired over the weekend, Harris spoke of final yr’s assaults on the US Capitol aimed toward overturning the 2020 presidential election outcomes, by which Biden defeated Donald Trump.
“When we, as the United States, walk into those rooms around the world, we have had the honour and privilege historically of holding our head up as a defender and an example of a great democracy,” she mentioned. “And that then gives us the legitimacy and the standing to talk about the importance of democratic principles, rule of law, human rights.”
With elected officers refusing to sentence the riot on January 6, Harris mentioned it despatched “a signal that causes people to question: ‘Hey, is America still valuing what they talk about?’”
“I’m very concerned about it,” she added. “Through the process of what we’ve been through, we’re starting to allow people to call into question our commitment to those principles.”
Sunday’s tributes included an handle by First Lady Jill Biden to victims’ households and first responders in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, the place a hijacked aeroplane heading for the US Capitol crashed after 40 passengers and crew on board sought to grab again management from the attackers.
“9/11 touched us all. It changed us all,” she mentioned. “But it reminds us that with courage and kindness, we can be a light in that darkness.”
Mark Warner, the Democratic chair of the Senate intelligence committee, mentioned the US was higher ready, and that the specter of terror had diminished.
“I do worry about some of the activity in this country where the election deniers, the insurgency that took place on January sixth, that is something I hope where we can see that kind of unity and spirit,” he mentioned on CBS’ Face the Nation programme.
