Tag: 9-11

Biden will withdraw all U.S. forces from Afghanistan by Sept. 11, 2021

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President Biden will withdraw all American troops from Afghanistan over the coming months, U.S. officials said, completing the military exit by the 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks that drew the United States into its longest war.

The decision, which Biden is expected to announce Wednesday, will keep thousands of U.S. forces in the country beyond the May 1 exit deadline that the Trump administration negotiated last year with the Taliban, according to a senior administration official who briefed reporters Tuesday under rules of anonymity set by the White House.

While the Taliban has promised to renew attacks on U.S. and NATO personnel if foreign troops are not out by the deadline — and said in a statement it would not continue to participate in “any conference” about Afghanistan’s future until all “foreign forces” have departed — it is not clear whether the militants will follow through with the earlier threats given Biden’s plan for a phased withdrawal between now and September. The Taliban has conducted sputtering talks with the Afghan government, begun under the Trump deal, since last fall. It was also invited to an additional high-level inter-Afghan discussion in Turkey later this month. Continue reading.

#EndorseThis: Can Donald Recite The Pledge Of Allegiance? Melania Didn’t Even Try

Only weeks ago, Donald Trump (and many of his eager minions) accused Democrats of eliminating the words “under God” from the Pledge of Allegiance at their convention. That was a fairly typical lie from an impious politician who is constantly trying to persuade gullible Christians of his fervent religiosity. (He doesn’t know a single Bible verse either, but never mind. They don’t.)

Flash forward to the commemoration of 9/11 on its 19th anniversary at Shanksville, PA, where Flight 93 crashed on that tragic day. Donald and Melania Trump showed up, stood there dutifully while an announcer recited the pledge, and…flubbed. Watch the video and it’s clear that Trump doesn’t really know all the words. He conspicuously omits “under God.” As for Melania, she doesn’t care enough to even move her lips.

Can they get anything right? Yeah, that’s a stupid question. Continue reading.

More People In U.S. Killed By Coronavirus Than In 9/11 Attacks

How the outbreak will change life in America is anyone’s guess.

More people in the U.S. have now died of COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, than were killed in the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.

The milestone raises the question of whether the country will mobilize to mend America’s social safety net and health care system the way it mobilized against terrorism after the plane hijackings.

Nearly 3,000 people were killed on 9/11, while the coronavirus death toll rose to 3,173 on Tuesday, according to Johns Hopkins University data.  Continue reading.

Congress reviewed its doomsday plans after 9/11. It never envisioned a threat like the coronavirus.

Washington Post logoSen. Richard J. Durbin sat in a leadership meeting Monday night in the same room he was in the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, with the location and today’s environment reminding him of that fateful day.

“Looking down the Mall, as the white black smoke came across from the Pentagon. I remember it well,” the Illinois Democrat said in an interview Tuesday.

Those attacks on Washington and New York — followed five weeks later by anthrax-laced letters sent to two senators — prompted a sweeping review of doomsday planning for how to keep Congress running in the event of a terrorist attack or other calamity. The past few days have sparked anew talk about the continuity of Congress but against an entirely different threat — a threat from within, literally, a virus that two members of the House announced late Wednesday that they had been diagnosed with, setting off a round of self-quarantining by other lawmakers.

Trump abandons tradition of observing 9/11 moment of silence

Trump can’t bring himself to do the right thing.

President Trump and first lady Melania Trump walk along the September 11th Flight 93 memorial, Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2018. Credit: AP Photo, Evan Vucci

For sixteen years, American presidents marked the terror attacks of 9/11 by publicly observing a moment of silence at 8:46 a.m., commemorating the time of the first strike on the World Trade Center.

On Tuesday, Trump ended that tradition.

Instead of marking that somber moment on the grounds of the White House, as he did last year, and as Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama did every year before him, Trump instead was out of view.

View the complete September 11, 2018, article by Eric Boehlert on the ShareBlue.com website here.

On Typically Unifying 9/11, Trump Attacks His Domestic Foes

On somber anniversary, president dubs DOJ, FBI ’so terrible‘

President Donald Trump began the 17th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks by lashing out at his own political foes. Credit: Getty Images

Wreaths were laid and bells tolled Tuesday for the fallen in Manhattan, at the Pentagon and in a field in Pennsylvania. Officials spoke, as did Vice President Mike Pence, about “honor and remembrance.” But President Donald Trump started off the 9/11 anniversary by lashing out at his political opponents.

“For the families of the fallen and all those looking on, the cherished final moments with your loved ones … seem like yesterday. Just know that your nation understands,” Pence said at the Pentagon, striking the tone George W. Bush and Barack Obamaadministration officials did on Sept. 11 anniversaries past.

“While we all suffered loss that day, we know you bear a special burden,” Pence said. “We stand with you. And we always will.”

View the complete article by John T. Bennett posted on the Roll Call website September 11, 2018 here.

‘And now it’s the tallest’: Trump, in otherwise somber interview on 9/11, couldn’t help touting one of his buildings

The Memorial in Light projects into the sky over New York City on Sept. 11, 2017. Credit: Sean Thompson, AP

“Donald Trump is on the line.”

It was the afternoon of Sept. 11, 2001, at WWOR’s station in Secaucus, N.J., and Rolland Smith, the lead anchor for the news outlet’s coverage of the day, was apologizing for the channel’s technical difficulties. The crushing pictures and videos of airplanes hurtling into the World Trade Center were seemingly on a loop for hours. That’s when Brenda Blackmon, the co-anchor of the coverage, interjected to let her colleague know that Trump, the real estate mogul with well-documented ties to Lower Manhattan, was on the phone.

When the planes hit the towers, Alan Marcus got a call from Will Wright, the news director at WWOR. Upon arrival, Marcus, who acted as a spokesman, lobbyist and consultant for Trump throughout the ’90s and also did on-air analyst work for WWOR, said Wright asked him whether he could get a celebrity on the line for them to interview. Befuddled by the request during the tragedy, Marcus asked him to clarify.

View the complete article by Timothy Bella on September 11, 2018, on the Washington Post website here.

DNC Chair on 9/11 Anniversary

On the 17th anniversary of the September 11th terrorist attacks, DNC Chair Tom Perez released the following statement:

“17 years ago, nearly 3,000 people were murdered in the worst terrorist attack in our history. It was an attack not just on our people but on our values and our way of life. But instead of succumbing to fear and division, the American people came together and refused to allow terrorism to triumph. Amid the chaos, we witnessed the courage of first responders who ran into the smoke and ordinary heroes who sacrificed to save others. And in the nearly two decades since, a new generation of heroes has risen to serve the country we love and protect us at home and abroad.

“On this anniversary, we must keep all those affected by this tragedy in our hearts. We must hold fast to the values we share as Americans. And we must ensure that hope and compassion will always outlasted hatred and cruelty.”

In solemn remembrance of victims of the September 11, 2001 attacks and the heroes who valiantly gave their lives that day, the Democratic National Committee will observe a day of silence with regard to campaign activity. We’ll instead take time to pray and reflect on a tragic day that not only changed the lives of all Americans, but changed the world. The DNC will never forget the lives that were taken that day or the brave first responders who answered the call of duty.