US marks 9/11 anniversary | Bangkok Post: breakingnews

Americans united in grief on Sunday's 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks which killed almost 3,000 people and plunged the country into an era of war and bitter internal division.

President Barack Obama and his predecessor and political foe George W Bush stood together at Ground Zero in New York for the main ceremony at the site of the destroyed Twin Towers. Obama was then due to pay homage at 9/11's other crash sites in Pennsylvania and at the Pentagon.With federal officials warning of a new terrorism scare, New York was on lockdown and security in other major cities was also tight, with Obama calling for a "heightened state of vigilance and preparedness."The ceremony began in New York with a procession of bagpipers and singing of the national anthem, before pausing for the first of six moments of silence marking the times when the four hijacked airplanes hit their targets and the two towers came down.The sky over New York was clear, recalling the brilliant backdrop to the horrific surprise attack on the World Trade Center, where 2,753 of the day's 2,977 victims died in the subsequent inferno of collapsing skyscrapers.As every year since September 11, 2001, relatives of the dead took turns reading out the names, a heartbreaking litany accompanied by virtuoso cellist Yo-Yo Ma.Readers fought to keep emotions in check as they pronounced loved ones' names. "I've stopped crying but I haven't stopped missing my dad. He was awesome," a young man said.Reflecting a growing sense that it is time to turn a corner from 9/11, the Ground Zero ritual this time was accompanied by signs of optimism.Instead of the chaotic-looking construction site and vast pit that scarred lower Manhattan for years, the ceremony now features a gleaming, three-quarter-built One World Trade Center tower and other signs of progress.Sunday also saw the dedication of a simple, but moving monument consisting of massive fountains sunk into the footprints of the former towers, with the names of the dead written in bronze around the edges.Even as US intelligence agencies chased down what officials said was a credible but unconfirmed threat of an Al-Qaeda attack around 9/11, Obama assured terrorism would never win."We will protect the country we love and pass it safer, stronger and more prosperous to the next generation," he said earlier. "Today, America is strong and Al-Qaeda is on the path to defeat."Obama and Bush were attending the ceremony together for the first time, along with victims' family members, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and his predecessor Rudolph Giuliani -- who led the city 10 years ago.In addition to the carefully stage-managed Ground Zero ceremony, Obama was to pay respects at the Pentagon, and in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, where one of the four hijacked planes fell into a field, apparently after...