Familiar rituals of grief marked the seventh anniversary of Sept. 11 on Thursday as thousands paid tribute at the attack sites, the presidential candidates laid flowers at ground zero and children mourned parents they can barely remember.
Sens. John McCain and Barack Obama called off their campaigns for the day, and in the late afternoon descended the long ramp into the pit of the World Trade Center site, bowing their heads and leaving the flowers in a reflecting pool.
At the Pentagon, 15,000 people turned out for the dedication of the first permanent memorial built at any of the three sites where hijacked planes crashed. It includes 184 benches that will glow at night, one for each victim there.
"Thanks to the brave men and women, and all those who work to keep us safe, there has not been another attack on our soil in 2,557 days," President Bush said at the outdoor dedication.
When you see someone who makes it their job to make you safe from harm, thank them. Cops, Firemen, Military personnel, even doctors. It doesn't take much just to get their attention and say "thank you".
Seven years after the Sept. 11 attacks, there is no consensus outside the United States that Islamist militants from al Qaeda were responsible, according to an international poll published on Wednesday.
The survey of 16,063 people in 17 nations found majorities in only nine countries believe al Qaeda was behind the attacks on New York and Washington that killed about 3,000 people in 2001.
U.S. officials squarely blame al Qaeda, whose leader Osama bin Laden has boasted of organizing the suicide attacks by his followers using hijacked commercial airliners.
On average, 46 percent of those surveyed said al Qaeda was responsible, 15 percent said the U.S. government, 7 percent said Israel and 7 percent said some other perpetrator. One in four people said they did not know who was behind the attacks.
That's because people are stupid.
Respondents in the Middle East were especially likely to name a perpetrator other than al Qaeda, the poll found.
Because they don't like the idea that one of their own could be responsible for such an atrocity. Their religion specifically says that if you spill the blood of an innocent, you are condemned to hell. It's a big, fat, mirror pointing out how some of them have warped their religion, and the poisonous tree must be pruned.
Some say "never forget", but I say "never forgive".
Travis
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