Sept. 11, five years later: ‘We stand together’

In an interview broadcast Monday, he said that on that fateful day, he came harshly to grip with the reality that “we were involved in an ideological struggle akin to the Cold War.”

“In the long term, we’ve got to defeat an ideology of hate with an ideology of hope,” Bush said on NBC’s “Today” show.

CIA Director Gen. Michael Hayden said “we now know the enemy and understand his methods with far greater depth and precision.”

On Sunday, Bush and his wife, Laura, set floral wreaths adrift in two small reflecting pools in the pits that are all that remain of the once-soaring twin towers.

Reaction around U.S., world
At Logan International Airport in Boston, where the two planes that hit the trade center towers took off, security screeners stopped checking passengers for a moment and turned to an American flag. Passengers in line joined in the silent tribute.

“It’s a difficult moment for everybody,” said National Guard Cpl. Christopher Jessop, who joined the Guard on Sept. 12, 2001.

In Chicago, people filled churches to pray and remember the victims. In Virginia Beach, Va., firefighters and residents planned to form a human flag. In Ohio, volunteers aimed to put up 3,000 flags over 10 acres at a spiritual center.

Around the world, heads bowed at Sept. 11 remembrances.

“Nine-eleven will be in our memory forever,” Rome Mayor Walter Veltroni said at a downtown piazza. “We all remember where we were, what we were doing, what our first reaction was.”

German Chancellor Angela Markel warned that “tolerance and respect for other cultures” must be hallmarks of the international fight against terrorism, and New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark said the world was not safer since 2001.

New bin Laden video
The anniversary dawned on a nation unrecognizable a half-decade ago — at war in Afghanistan and Iraq, governed by a color-coded terror alert system, newly unable to carry even hair gel onto airplanes.

On Sunday, Bush administration officials mounted a vigorous defense of the measures they had taken to protect the country, even as the nation remains divided on the Iraq war, treatment of terror detainees and surveillance measures.

“There has not been another attack on the United States,” Cheney said on “Meet the Press” on NBC. “And that’s not an accident.”

And there was a fresh reminder of the terrorist threat: An hour-long videotape posted online Sunday showed previously unseen footage of Osama bin Laden, smiling, and other commanders apparently planning the New York and Washington attacks.

An unidentified narrator said the plot was devised not with computers and radar screens and military command centers but with “divine protection” for a brotherly atmosphere and “love for sacrificing life.”

Monday also saw indications of the tension that remains.

New York’s bustling Pennsylvania Station was briefly evacuated Monday and rush-hour train service was suspended when a suspicious bag was found. In the skies, a United Airlines jet headed from Atlanta to San Francisco was diverted to Dallas when an unclaimed BlackBerry e-mail device was found on board. A Transportation Security Administration spokeswoman later said the flight was secure.

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