9/11 Anniversary: President Joe Biden Vows to Continously Defend the U.S. Against Terrorism

Last month, the United States of America commemorated the 21st anniversary of the September 11 attacks (Bose, 2022). Invoking the memory of the country’s tragic day, President Joe Biden vowed to "never give up" in the face of terrorist threats.

During a memorial service conducted at the Pentagon, one of the targets during the attack that claimed nearly 3,000 lives, Biden declared, "...and 20 years after, Afghanistan is over but our commitment to preventing another assault on the United States is without end." Similar memorial events were also conducted in New York and other cities to commemorate the victims. In his speech at the Pentagon, Biden urged Americans to rise up for "the very democracy that ensures the right to freedom that those terrorists on 9/11 wanted to bury in the searing flames, smoke, and ash." The president also used his speech on September 11 to criticize his Republican predecessor, Donald Trump, as he gears up for the upcoming midterm elections. In spite of his previous warnings about dangerous divisions in American society, particularly that some Republicans who continue to support former President Donald Trump's agenda, constitute a significant and severe threat to democracy (Associated Press, 2022).

The event also marks one year since Biden declared an end to the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan, which started two decades ago to hunt down al-Qaeda and overthrow the Taliban government. Members of both major political parties had criticized Biden for the disorderly, deadly and chaotic withdrawal of American soldiers last year, questioning if the two-decade long war had been in vain, given the resurgence of the Taliban and their recapture of the seat of government in Kabul.

U.S. intelligence agencies and military officials had previously warned that Al Qaeda and the Islamic State would, if given the chance to become stronger and unexamined, plan another series of attacks against the US. According to the Biden administration, the threat of terrorism has grown around the world over the past 21 years, and that there are more effective solutions to tackling the problem than long-term military campaigns and hostilities (Associated Press, 2022). Osama bin Laden, the founder of al-Qaeda and the mastermind behind the terrorist attacks, was killed by U.S. special operations forces during a raid on his compound in Abbotabad, Pakistan, in 2011. His successor, Ayman al-Zawahri, who was also a key coordinator during the attacks, was killed by an American drone strike in Afghanistan in late July of 2022. Presently ongoing intelligence operations conducted by the U.S. intelligence community have been moderately effective in targeting the operations of terror organisations.

In related news, a book detailing the events leading up to the attacks has been published by the terrorist organization al-Qaeda. The book, which was released online by As-Sahab, the media wing of al-Qaeda, also covered the motivations for the organization's violent activities. The roughly 250-page book, which was written by a senior member of the organization, said that al-Qaeda intended to target U.S. interests in order to ensnare the nation in an extended conflict of "attrition." Abu Muhammad al-Masri, the book's author, is thought to have been killed in Iran around 2020.

With terrorism becoming more unpredictable in this day and age, Biden will need to provide more details on his plans to combat the global phenomenon, especially given that the Taliban-governed Afghanistan may once again become a safe haven for terrorist groups, despite commitments by the Taliban to prevent such an occurence. Though attacks on the scale of 9/11 have not occured in the years since, terrorism remains a constant threat that requires constant surveillance and vigilance – especially given its evolutions into far more unpredictable and untraceable forms.

Bibliography

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Bose, N. (2022, September 11). On 9/11 anniversary, Biden recalls American unity, vows vigilance. Reuters. Retrieved September 25, 2022, from https://www.reuters.com/world/us/911-anniversary-biden-recalls-american-unity-vows-vigilance-2022-09-11/

Deutsche Welle (www.dw.com). (n.d.). US: Joe Biden vows to fight terrorism on 9/11 anniversary. DW.COM. Retrieved September 25, 2022, from https://www.dw.com/en/us-joe-biden-vows-to-fight-terrorism-on-9-11-anniversary/a-63086347

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