|
| Pope John Paul II sent a telegram to President George W. Bush saying: "I hurry to express to you and your fellow citizens my profound sorrow and my closeness in prayer for the nation at this dark and tragic moment.''
Russian President Vladimir Putin also sent a telegram to Bush. "Dear George," he wrote, "such an inhuman act must not go unpunished."
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan called the attacks "deliberate acts of terrorism, carefully planned and co-ordinated."
A sombre British Prime Minister Tony Blair said that "this was not an attack on America alone. This was an attack on the free and democratic world. And it is a responsibility the free and democratic world has to shoulder together."
He added that "to committ acts of this nature requires a fanaticism and ruthlessness beyond our comprehension."
British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said: "This is an event of such horrifying, unimaginable proportions that I believe it is one where shock grows with time rather than diminishes."
Britain's Queen Elizabeth II also sent a message of condolence to Bush expressing her "disbelief and total shock."
|
|
|
|
|
| "Never forget how we felt watching the planes fly into the twin towers. Never forget those answering machine messages.
"Never forget how we felt imagining how mothers told children they were about to die.
"Never forget the guts of the firefighters and police in New York who died trying to save others.
UK Prime Minister Tony Blair - 14th Sept '01 |
|
|
|
|
| Excerpt from The President's Address to a Joint Session of Congress and the American People. (September 14th 2001)
Great harm has been done to us. We have suffered great loss. And in our grief and anger we have found our mission and our moment. Freedom and fear are at war. The advance of human freedom -- the great achievement of our time, and the great hope of every time -- now depends on us. Our nation -- this generation -- will lift a dark threat of violence from our people and our future. We will rally the world to this cause by our efforts, by our courage. We will not tire, we will not falter, and we will not fail.
It is my hope that in the months and years ahead, life will return almost to normal. We'll go back to our lives and routines, and that is good. Even grief recedes with time and grace. But our resolve must not pass. Each of us will remember what happened that day, and to whom it happened. We'll remember the moment the news came -- where we were and what we were doing. Some will remember an image of a fire, or a story of rescue. Some will carry memories of a face and a voice gone forever.
And I will carry this: It is the police shield of a man named George Howard, who died at the World Trade Center trying to save others. It was given to me by his mom, Arlene, as a proud memorial to her son. This is my reminder of lives that ended, and a task that does not end.
I will not forget this wound to our country or those who inflicted it. I will not yield; I will not rest; I will not relent in waging this struggle for freedom and security for the American people.
The course of this conflict is not known, yet its outcome is certain. Freedom and fear, justice and cruelty, have always been at war, and we know that God is not neutral between them.
Fellow citizens, we'll meet violence with patient justice -- assured of the rightness of our cause, and confident of the victories to come. In all that lies before us, may God grant us wisdom, and may He watch over the United States of America.
Thank you. |
|
|