SHANKSVILLE, Pa. (AP) – Warning that the country is divided and extremist, former President George W. Bush called on Saturday to return to the spirit of unity that emerged – almost immediately – after the 9/11 uprising 20 years ago.
Addressing a national commemoration to victims of Flight 93, who forced their plane to be hijacked by al-Qaida militants before being used as a weapon to attack the country’s capital, Bush warned of “internal violence.”
“There is not a small culture between foreign lovers of violence and domestic violence,” he said. “But because they have disregarded many persons, and have despised the life of the flesh, and have determined to defile the world, they are the children of the evil one. And it is our responsibility to continue to meet them. ”
Bush’s warning came just eight months after the US Capitol riots and supporters of former President Donald Trump’s bid to oust the 2020 elections.
Mr Bush lamented that “most of our politics have been about attracting angry, fearful and angry people.”
He admitted that he had no easy answers. Instead, he encouraged the courage of the victims of Flight 93, and the desperate spirit of the injured country to come out stronger.
“On a day of grief in America, I saw millions of people grab the hand of a neighbor and fight with each other,” Bush said. “That’s the American I know.”
He added that in the aftermath of Islamophobia, false power or selfishness could rise, but the country rejected it, saying, “That is the kind I know.”
“This is not just a wish, it is our real problem,” Bush said. “That’s what we’ve been, and what we can be.”
Bush’s call for unity was persuaded by President Joe Biden, who arrived in Shanksville shortly after Bush’s speech, to watch what he was saying in Air Force One during a 9/11 commemorative trip to New York.
“I think President Bush has spoken well today,” Biden said. “True.”
Biden also prioritized international cooperation, telling reporters on Saturday, “This is what will affect our lives more than anything else.”