Andy Burnham warned that the threat of terrorism still looms large as he reflected on the trauma of the September 11 attacks 25 years earlier.
He said terror still “knocks at the door of democracy” and that the United Kingdom and the United States “stand together in memory of those we lost, and in defence of the values we cherish”.
Remembering those killed
On September 11, 2001, 2,977 people, including 67 British people, were killed when hijacked passenger jets struck the World Trade Center towers in New York and the Pentagon outside Washington, DC.
United Airlines Flight 93 crashed into a field in rural Pennsylvania after its crew and passengers fought back, preventing it from reaching another target thought to be the congressional building.
The attacks killed victims from more than 90 nations and were described as the worst terrorist outrage of all time. The United States also invoked NATO’s collective-security clause, becoming the first and only country to do so.
Burnham said the anniversary should remember the nearly 3,000 people killed, including 67 Britons. He said the grief of their friends and family members remained deeply felt.
He also recalled that, after terrorist attacks in Manchester during his time as mayor of Greater Manchester, people across the United States, including children of people killed on September 11, 2001, sent messages of support.
Burnham said some of those children wrote to families of people killed in Manchester and told them: “We are you and you are us. We are one.”
UK-US relationship
Tony Blair said the anniversary was a time to “commemorate the unshakeable and essential bond” between the United Kingdom and the United States.
US ambassador to the United Kingdom Warren Stephens said Britain had rallied in support of the United States “in one of America’s darkest hours”. He said that, despite disagreements and debates, the transatlantic relationship “has kept us safe for centuries”.
Stephens said the US and UK military and intelligence communities began working together after 9/11 by sharing information, conducting joint operations and disrupting threats. He said that cooperation had saved countless lives and continued to save lives.
The attacks led to large-scale deployments of United Kingdom forces to conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq, where hundreds of British troops died and thousands more were injured, with global repercussions continuing.
Blair said the struggle against terrorism in all its forms continued. He called for renewed efforts to defeat people who engage in terrorism and to pursue peaceful coexistence among people of all faiths, cultures and nations.
Burnham said the terrorists had sought to weaken and divide America and people who believed in the values shared by the United Kingdom and the United States, but those seeking to destroy their way of life would never win.
Source: Mirror
