Biden to mark 20th anniversary of 9/11 at 3 memorial sites

By Zeke Miller and Darlene Superville | Associated Press

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden volition sojourn each 3 9/11 memorial sites to commemorate the 20th day of the Sept. 11 attacks and wage his respects to the astir 3,000 radical killed that day.

Biden volition sojourn crushed zero successful New York City, the Pentagon and the memorial extracurricular Shanksville, Pennsylvania, wherever United Flight 93 was forced down, the White House said Saturday. He volition beryllium accompanied by archetypal woman Jill Biden.

Vice President Kamala Harris volition question to Shanksville, Pennsylvania, for a abstracted lawsuit earlier joining the president astatine the Pentagon, the White House said. Harris volition question with her spouse, Doug Emhoff.

Biden’s itinerary is akin to the 1 President Barack Obama followed successful 2011 connected the 10th day of the attacks. Obama’s sojourn to New York City coincided with the opening of a memorial astatine the tract wherever the iconic World Trade Center towers erstwhile stood.

Next Saturday’s day falls little than 2 weeks aft the extremity of the astir two-decade-long U.S. warfare successful Afghanistan. The warfare was launched weeks aft the 9/11 attacks to retaliate against the al-Qaida plotters and the Taliban, who provided them harmless haven.

Biden has recovered enactment from the nationalist for ending the struggle but has faced crisp criticism, adjacent from allies, for the chaotic evacuation of U.S. troops and allied Afghans during the last 2 weeks of August.

Biden connected Friday directed the declassification of definite documents related to the Sept. 11 attacks successful a motion toward victims’ families who person agelong sought the records successful hopes of implicating the Saudi government.

The struggle betwixt the authorities and the families implicit what classified accusation could beryllium made nationalist came into the unfastened past period aft galore relatives, survivors and archetypal responders said they would entity to Biden’s information successful 9/11 memorial events if the documents remained classified.

Superville reported from Wilmington, Delaware.