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Obama Honors 9/11 Victims a Day After Announcing New Mission Against Terror On a Day Devoted to Past Events, Focus on New Terror Link
(about 11 hours later)
WASHINGTON — A day after committing the nation to a new mission against Islamist terrorism, President Obama honored the victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, 13 years after four hijacked planes plunged the United States into a decade of war against distant enemies. WASHINGTON — The morning after committing the nation to an expanded military campaign against Islamist terrorism, President Obama honored the victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks as the White House argued that he had the right to wage his new fight under the same legal authority he used to hunt down Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda.
Speaking before a giant American flag draped over the part of the Pentagon wall where one of those planes crashed, Mr. Obama said, “Thirteen years after small and hateful minds conspired to break us, American stands tall, and America stands proud.” On a day suffused with memories of four hijacked planes and the war they ignited, the president’s new mission seemed less a break from the past than the continuation of a long national struggle.
He hailed the “9/11 generation” of soldiers who served in the years after the 2001 attacks, and noted that “three months from now, our combat mission in Afghanistan will come to an end.” The Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, the administration said, was formerly the Iraqi affiliate of Al Qaeda, and has maintained ties with Al Qaeda even after its very public falling-out with Qaeda leaders. It uses brutal tactics that are out of the Qaeda playbook, and is viewed, even by some members of Al Qaeda, as the legitimate heir to Bin Laden’s legacy.
For Mr. Obama, the Sept. 11 anniversary lent historic and emotional resonance to his announcement Wednesday night of a new mission against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. But it also carries a somewhat dissonant message: The president has labored to distinguish the expanded fight against ISIS from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The argument, laid out Thursday by Josh Earnest, the White House press secretary, could spare the president’s lawyers from having to negotiate a new legal authorization from Congress, should Mr. Obama decide to ask lawmakers to approve a prolonged military campaign.
The president on Thursday made no mention of ISIS, speaking only of challenges facing the country. But his description of a nation coping with the threat of terrorism seemed entirely relevant to what is happening now. “We carry on because as Americans, we don’t give in to fear — ever,” he said. But it ties his efforts against ISIS more firmly to the war on terrorism waged by him and his predecessor George W. Bush in the decade after the 2001 attacks, even though Mr. Obama insists they are different. In his prime-time speech to the nation on Wednesday, Mr. Obama drew a distinction between the ISIS campaign and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, saying it was a new kind of counterterrorism operation that would rely on bolstering local troops rather than deploying American ones.
In some ways, this anniversary was no different than its 12 predecessors. It was filled with familiar rituals – a moment of silence, the playing of taps by an Army bugler, the assembled families of the victims, many now with children who have grown into adulthood. On Thursday, Mr. Obama paid tribute to the service members and civilians killed at the Pentagon. Speaking before a giant American flag draped over the part of the Pentagon wall where one of the hijacked planes crashed, Mr. Obama said, “Thirteen years after small and hateful minds conspired to break us, America stands tall and America stands proud.”
Earlier on Thursday, Mr. Obama and the first lady, Michelle Obama, along with Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. and his wife, Jill, took part in a solemn ceremony on the South Lawn of the White House at 8:46 a.m., when the first plane struck the World Trade Center. The president hailed the “9/11 generation” of soldiers who have served in the years since the 2001 attacks, noting that “three months from now, our combat mission in Afghanistan will come to an end.”
Later in the day, as they do every year, Mr. and Mrs. Obama will take part in a volunteer project. The president will otherwise remain at the White House, having lunch with Mr. Biden and meeting in the afternoon with his new secretary of Health and Human Services, Sylvia Mathews Burwell. Mr. Obama made no mention of ISIS, speaking only of challenges facing the country. But his description of a nation coping with the threat of terrorism seemed entirely relevant today. “We carry on because as Americans, we don’t give in to fear — ever,” he said.
But Mr. Obama is also certain to be immersed in the details of the military campaign against ISIS that he outlined Wednesday night in his speech to the nation. His warning about the challenges to come still hung in the air, even as he marked the anniversary of battles past. On Wednesday, the president said he had the authority as commander in chief to expand military action against ISIS, though he added, “I welcome congressional support for this effort to show the world that Americans are united in confronting this danger.”
Americans born after Sept. 11, 2001, are now teenagers, Mr. Obama noted, and he said this post-9/11 generation gave him hope that the United States would remain resilient in the face of terrorist threats. Mr. Earnest said the White House believed that the new military campaign fell under a 2001 statute that authorized the use of force against the perpetrators of the Sept. 11 attacks. The language has been interpreted to apply to Al Qaeda and its affiliates, and has been used to justify drone strikes against terrorism suspects in Yemen and Somalia.
“Generations from now, Americans will fill our parks, our stadiums, our cities,” he said. “Generations from now, Americans will still build towers that reach toward the heavens, still serve in embassies that stand for freedom around the world, still wear the uniform But the connections between ISIS and Al Qaeda are a matter of dispute among counterterrorism experts. While ISIS was formed as Al Qaeda’s affiliate in Iraq after the American-led invasion of the country in 2003, it broke with Al Qaeda in the past year and was formally banished in February by the leader of Al Qaeda, Ayman al-Zawahri.
“Generations from now, no matter the trial, no matter the challenge,” he said, “America will always be America.” “That long, decade-long or more, relationship is not something that can be disregarded as the result of one internal disagreement that was aired in public,” Mr. Earnest told reporters.
He offered a list of other links to Al Qaeda, including similarly brutal tactics, like the beheading of two American journalists, and similar aspirations, like the establishment of an Islamic caliphate, which ISIS has declared in a stretch of territory in Syria and Iraq.
Counterterrorism experts, however, said that would-be recruits, including from the United States, make a clear distinction between ISIS and Al Qaeda. They cite the case of a California man, Nicholas Teausant, who was arrested in March on his way to Syria. Mr. Teausant told investigators that he was determined to join ISIS, not Al Qaeda.
“While it is understandable that we don’t make a distinction between them in this country, that should not, for a second, cloud the distinction that jihadis make,” said Brian Fishman, a counterterrorism research fellow at the New America Foundation.
Last year, Mr. Obama called for the repeal of the 2001 Authorization to Use Military Force, saying it had outlived its usefulness. “Unless we discipline our thinking, our definitions, our actions,” he said, “we may be drawn into more wars we don’t need to fight.” Mr. Earnest suggested that if Congress wanted to show support for this mission, it could pass a “refined” version of the 2001 measure.
In some ways, this anniversary was no different from its 12 predecessors. It was filled with familiar rituals: a moment of silence; taps played by an Army bugler; the assembled families of the victims, many now with children who have grown into adulthood.
But this year, Mr. Obama is immersed in planning a new military campaign. His warning on Wednesday about challenges to come still hung in the air as he observed the anniversary of battles past and expressed hope that the United States would remain resilient in the face of terrorist threats.
“Generations from now, Americans will fill our parks, our stadiums, our cities,” Mr. Obama said. “Generations from now, Americans will still build towers that reach toward the heavens, still serve in embassies that stand for freedom around the world, still wear the uniform.”