Former President George W. Bush issued a grave warning on Saturday as he commemorated the twentieth anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks, saying international extremists are not the only threats to the country’s security. After the crude political and social divide in the United States, Bush said “the violence that gathers at home” is just as dangerous as extremists abroad.
“We have seen growing evidence that the dangers to our country can reach not only the borders, but the violence that occurs,” said Bush, who was president on Sept. 11. “There is little cultural overlap between violent extremists abroad and those at home. But in their contempt for pluralism, in their ignorance of human life, in their determination to contaminate national symbols, they are children of the same. dirty spirit and it is our duty to face it. “
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Bush’s remarks came eight months after hundreds of supporters of former President Trump stormed the U.S. Capitol building in an effort to stop certification of the 2020 presidential election. 570 people arrested for their part in the attack, officials said at least 83 people have links to extremist groups, including the Proud Boys, Oath Keepers and Three Percenters.
Members of far-right groups are also expected to attend concentration at the U.S. Capitol on Sept. 18 to demand “justice” for those who have been charged with the Capitol attack.
Bush spoke Saturday from the site of Shanksville, Pennsylvania, where United Airlines Flight 93 crashed in 2001. The hijacked plane was believed to be heading to Washington, DC, when passengers and crew chose to crash the plane. ‘plane against a field because it would not reach its goal.
Bush said those 33 passengers and seven crew members “represented us all.”
“Faced with an impossible circumstance, they comforted their loved ones over the phone, prepared to take action, and defeated the designs of evil,” Bush said. “These Americans were brave, strong and united in ways that shocked the terrorists, but they shouldn’t surprise any of us.”
A recent one CBS News poll found that 40% of Americans believe that if international terrorists led an attack today, the U.S. would not be as united as they were directly after 9/11. More than half of those surveyed said discrimination worsened after the attacks.
One of the most common memories of the 9/11 attacks is the way the Americans came together later. However, for many American Arabs and Muslims which was there then, the weeks after the attacks were much more violent. The political rhetoric of the two decades following the attack has also fueled discrimination against Muslims and those from the Middle East.
And now the landscape shows an even more divided America, highlighted by the commotion of the Capitol, the deep political divisions and protests of last year provoked by the death of George Floyd at the hands of the police and the AAPI community treatment in the middle of the Coronavirus pandemic.
President Biden also addressed the country’s division in recorded statements he tweeted on Friday.
“In the battle for the soul of America, unity is our greatest strength. Unity does not mean we have to believe the same. We must have fundamental respect and faith in each other and in this nation. said Biden. . “We are unique in the history of the world because we are the only nation based on an idea, an idea that everyone creates equally and must be treated equally throughout their lives.”