Bush underscores threats posed by domestic terror in 911 memorial speech It is our duty to confront them

Former president George W Bush recalled images of chaos and death rejoined by stories of service and kindness in the aftermath of the 9/11 terror attacks during a memorial service in Pennsylvania, surrounded by families of the 40 passengers and crew members who wrestled control of a plane to avoid untold destruction 20 years ago.

“Twenty years ago, we all found â€" in different ways, in different places, but all at the same moment â€" that our lives would be changed forever,” said the former president, who was several months into his administration during the attacks on 11 September 2001.

He also appealed to a national unity he claims followed the attacks and the administration’s wars that followed but is now missing from national discourse.

“When it comes to the unity of America, those days seem distant,” he said. “So much of our politics has become a naked appeal to fear and resentment … I come without explanations or solutions. I can only tell you what I’ve seen.”

He said that the years that followed revealed that “dangers can come not only across borders but from violence that gathers within.”

“There is little cultural overlap between violent extremists abroad and those at home,” he said. “In their disdain for pluralism, in their disregard for human life, in their determination to befoul national symbols, they are children of the same foul spirit ... It is our continuing duty to confront them.”

The former president was joined by former First Lady Laura Bush and other officials in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, where passengers steered United Airlines Flight 93 into a field in Somerset County.

In the first half of his remarks, the former president paid tribute to the lives lost in the attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people that day and the families whose lives are “quiet with missing voices that would never be heard again.”

“These lives remain precious to our country and infinitely precious to many of you,” he said.

“For those too young to recall that clear September day, it is hard to describe the mix of feelings we experienced,” he continued.

He said the “horror” at the scale of the destruction was met by the “awe of the bravery and kindness that rose to meet it”, and that the “shock” of evil was met by “gratitude for the decency that opposed it.”

“The actions of an enemy revealed the spirit of a people, and we were proud of our wounded nation,” he said.

He said he continued to lead a nation of “amazing, united and resilient people” in the aftermath of the attacks.

“When it comes to the unity of America, those days seem distant,” he said.

He then claimed he observed, in the years after the attack, that Americas rejected prejudiced embraced Muslim and welcomed immigrants and refugees.

“That is the nation I know,” he said.

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