Giving all the prominence to the memory of the victims and the emotion of their families, President Joe Biden pays tribute this Saturday to the almost 3,000 dead in the attacks that the terrorist organization Al Qaeda perpetrated in the United States on September 11, 2001. He does so with visits to the places that the jihadists made a target: ground zero in New York, where the Twin Towers were raised against which the first two planes hit; the National Memorial in Shanksville (Pennsylvania), the place where the passage of Flight 93 managed to divert the fourth aircraft, and, finally, to the Pentagon, in Arlington (Virginia), where he will meet with Vice President Kamala Harris. The first ceremony of the day, at the Ground Zero Memorial, is also attended by former Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama,among a large group of authorities, all of them in a voluntary background. On such an important anniversary - even more underlined by the convulsive withdrawal of the United States from Afghanistan, a few days ago - there was no place for political brilliance, not even for demonstrations of exalted patriotism: only honor, dignity, mourning and memory.
After the parade of a representation of the rescue teams, police and firefighters and the interpretation of the national anthem by a youth choir, the tolling of a bell marked 8:46, the time the first plane crashed into the Tower North of the World Trade Center; the first moment of silence and recollection of the day. Then Mike Low, Sara's father, a stewardess on that flight, number 11, spoke. “On the first anniversary, where her mother and I went, this was a place of darkness; today it is a peaceful place of memory, ”Low said. After his brief speech, batches of relatives of the victims began to read their names, alphabetically and, often, between sobs. "Twenty years that we have lived as an eternity," said one of the participants in the recitation. At 9:03,another chime recalled the impact of the second assassin plane, in the South Tower. A necktie Bruce Springsteen, in rigorous mourning, played the song on guitar.
I'll see you in my dreams
.
Only a few timid applause, of hurried courtesy, celebrated his sober performance.
No cheers or whistles, just suppressed emotion.
The 20th anniversary of 9/11, in pictures
Biden and his companions left ground zero shortly after 9:37 a.m., when the ringing of the third bell recalled the impact of the third plane against the Pentagon, and while in the Memorial the reading of the names of the victims continued, which will last several hours. The presidential entourage headed to the airport, heading for the Pennsylvania memorial, which was also attended by former President George W. Bush - in office in 2001 - and his wife, Laura Bush. Bush gave a short speech on "the day that changed our lives forever" and the consequences for the country. He spoke in a very measured tone, about the collective feelings and the greatness of the United States, criticizing at the same time the paroxysm of some. It seemed a message addressed to the only ex-president who did not participate in any of the acts, Donald Trump.The Republican today posted a video on the Internet promising a "great America again" and initialed his brief message with an attack on Joe Biden, whom he accused of "incompetence", and his Administration, of inept, for the "sad" way that it covered the withdrawal from Afghanistan. It was precisely Trump who forced the departure of the US troops, due to his agreement with the Taliban in 2020.
On a cool morning, with sunshine as bright as it had been 20 years ago before the attacks darkened the New York sky, Biden had arrived at the 9/11 Memorial with the first lady, Jill Biden, after 8:30, after a flood of relatives and survivors - the majority, members of the rescue teams, in uniform - entered the compound, among a sea of photographs of the victims raised like banners. Parallel to the ceremony in New York, the Pentagon and Pennsylvania were held, where the vice president of the country did deliver a speech.
Respectful of the recollection of loved ones, and with the memory of Afghanistan still too fresh, Biden has declined to make speeches at his appearances, as confirmed by the White House.
Instead, through a video posted on Twitter this Friday, he addressed a brief message to the nation calling for unity and overcoming fear.
"For me, the main lesson of September 11 is that, when we are most vulnerable, in the tug of war that makes us human, in the battle for the soul of the United States, unity is our greatest strength." , said.
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Shortly before, he had ordered the flag to be flown today at half mast in all official buildings and asked his compatriots to participate in the commemorative ceremonies that were organized in their respective communities.
The president has also wanted to avoid the controversy carried out by a group of 1,800 relatives and friends of victims, who have repudiated his presence and demanded greater transparency in the results of an investigation into the Saudi connection to 9/11.
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Six rehearsals to rebuild 9/11
To the usual solemnity of this type of commemoration - September 11 is celebrated in the United States as Patriot's Day, since 2001, and National Day of Service and Remembrance since 2009 - another dimension is added this year: the withdrawal of troops from America from Afghanistan after twenty years of war. The last episode of the string of consequences that unleashed 9/11 was stained with mourning for the death of 13 soldiers in Kabul as a result of a suicide attack, a few days before the departure of the troops. The chaos surrounding the evacuation was a particularly sensitive time for Biden, the target of criticism from the opposition and also from numerous fellow Democrats. But in the almost invisible profile that the Democrat adopted this Saturday, the respect and honor due to the dead seemed to outweigh any political calculation.
An impressive police device surrounded the vicinity of ground zero in Manhattan. Thousands of officers, special explosives detection units, and sniffer dogs had been clearly visible for several blocks from the day before. Around the two ponds that flank the museum, onlookers and official delegations, from representatives of the diplomatic corps to pilots' associations, deposited wreaths in memory of the dead. During the ceremony, only the rumbling of the water from the ponds was perceptible and, as in mute, a delicate musical accompaniment: cello chords, brief piano and violin duets or the discreet performance of the
Boss
. An exercise in sobriety and contained emotion to commemorate a wound that still festers.
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