HotmailSolemn Bush begins 9/11 anniversary rites
Even before Bush left Washington, surrogates from Vice President Dick Cheney on down spent the Sept. 11 anniversary’s eve vigorously defending the administration’s record on improving the national defense over the past five years.
“There has not been another attack on the United States,” Cheney said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “And that’s not an accident.”
On television and newspaper opinion columns, Cabinet secretaries and agency heads sought to make the case that the government under Bush has made important changes that have lessened the risk of attack.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice cited additional security at ports and airports and increased cooperation among intelligence agencies, a point echoed by the nation’s intelligence chief, John Negroponte.
Democrats, however, contend the administration has fallen short because so little cargo is inspected at U.S. ports and chemical plants, and other high-value sites are vulnerable.
‘Bogged down’
“I think we’re in trouble,” said Democratic National Committee chairman Howard Dean. “We have not pursued the war on terror with the vigor that we should have because we’ve gotten bogged down in this civil war in Iraq.”
Presidential spokesman Tony Snow rejected suggestions that the administration’s hunt for al-Qaida leader bin Laden — mastermind of the 9/11 attacks — had bogged down. “We’re not at liberty to go into sources and methods, but we have never stopped looking for him,” Snow told reporters aboard Air Force One as Bush flew to New York.
|
The fifth-year anniversary falls less than two months before elections in which Republican control of Congress is seen as in danger.
In a series of speeches that began over a week ago and continue for at least one more, Bush and his political advisers are seeking to frame the vote as a choice between Republicans who are effective stewards of Americans’ safety and Democrats who would erode protections.
A poll released Sunday shows the landscape in which the parties are competing. Just over half of those surveyed believe the country is safer from attack than on Sept. 11, 2001, and that the fight against terrorism is going well, according to ABC News. In December 2003, nearly two-thirds of those questioned felt the anti-terrorism battle was going well.
Some 2,749 died when the twin towers collapsed after being pierced by hijacked airliners. In all, some 2,973 died in the World Trade Center, Pennsylvania and Pentagon attacks, not counting the 19 hijackers.
The schedule for Monday included a visit to a firehouse nicknamed “Fort Pitt” in the Lower East Side in honor of the first responders who rushed into the towers.
Breakfast with firefighters
At the base for Ladder 18, Engine 15 and Battalion 4, the president was to have breakfast with firefighters, police officers and Port Authority police and observe moments of silence to mark the times when planes struck each tower.
From New York, the next stop was to be Shanksville, Pa., where 40 people died when a plane slammed into the ground, and then the Pentagon, to mark the deaths of 184 there, before returning to the White House for the televised address.
At all three crash sites, each with memorials far from completion, Bush did not plan to participate in the official anniversary observances, intending to avoid the distraction that accompanies a presidential appearance.
- Discuss Story On Newsvine
-
Rate Story:
View popularLowHigh - Instant Message
MORE FROM TODAY |
 Today Section Front |
| Add Today headlines to your news reader: |
Sponsored links
Resource guide