Obama calls for service and unity on Sept. 11

President Obama said that Sept. 11 is a day to remember those who died
nine years ago when terrorists flew commercial airliners into the World
Trade Center and the Pentagon and a time to “renew our resolve” against
al-Qaeda.

Obama, in his weekly radio address, said that “while nine years
have come and gone since that September morning, the passage of time
will never diminish the pain and loss forever seared in the
consciousness of our nation.”

{mosads}”We pray with the families of those who died,” Obama said. “We
mourn with husbands and wives, children and parents, friends and loved
ones. We think about the milestones that have passed over the course of
nine years — births and christenings, weddings and graduations — all
with an empty chair.”

On Saturday, Obama will hold a moment of silence at the White House
at 8:46 in the morning, the same time American Airlines Flight 11
crashed into the North Tower of the World Trade Center.

Shortly afterwards, the president will deliver remarks at the Pentagon before participating in a service event in Washington.

In his radio address, Obama said that Sept. 11 is not just a day of
service and remembrance but also a day to remember who attacked us and
renew the national commitment to security.

“We renew our resolve
against those who perpetrated this barbaric act of terror and who
continue to plot against us — for we will never waver in defense of
this nation,” Obama said.

---

But, the president said, the day is also an occasion to “renew the true spirit of that day.”

“Not
the human capacity for evil, but the human capacity for good,” Obama
said. “Not the desire to destroy, but the impulse to save.”

As Obama has waded more deeply into controversies involving the
planned building of a mosque near Ground Zero and a Florida pastor’s
suspended desire to burn copies of the Koran, in his address the
president again called for national unity.

“On this day, we recall that at our darkest moment, we summoned a
sense of unity and common purpose,” Obama said. “We responded to the
worst kind of depravity with the best of our humanity.”