The president had planned for this to be a pivotal day in his nearly eight-month-old presidency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, instead of presiding over a moment of unity, Biden will traverse a country angry about the messy Kabul evacuation, which included 13 US soldiers killed by a suicide bomber, and stung by the broader realization of failure and defeat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the relatives of victims, the anniversary, as always, is about keeping the memory of their loved ones alive. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“It’s like Pearl Harbor,” said Frank Siller, whose firefighter brother Stephen died at the World Trade Center.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“People who weren’t alive don’t have the same feeling about it as those who were alive. But America has never forgotten about Pearl Harbour and America will never forget about 9\/11.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

sms-arb-pdh\/dw\/md\/mtp<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

America marks the 20th anniversary of 9\/11 Saturday with solemn ceremonies given added poignancy by the recent chaotic withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan and return to power of the Taliban. Heart-wrenching commemorations will unfold at each of the three sites where 19 Al-Qaeda hijackers — mostly from Saudi Arabia — crashed packed airliners, striking the cultural, financial and political hearts of the United States and changing the world forever. The memorials come with US troops finally gone from Afghanistan, but national discord — and for President Joe Biden, political peril — are overshadowing any sense of closure. In a video […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1804,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[544,545],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1803","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-politics"],"yoast_head":"\n