It's been nine long years and this son-of-a-bitch is still alive.
I want this bastard dead but not from natural causes.
For me... We Will Never Forget... means a hell of a lot more then just a "catchy" phrase.
A day of mourning for nearly 3,000 Sept. 11 victims began with moments of silence and tears at the World Trade Center site in New York City to mark the time terrorists began their attack on America nine years ago.
But hanging over the ceremonies, politics threatens to overshadow the day of mourning for victims of the attacks amid a polarizing national debate over a mosque planned blocks from the World Trade Center site.
Chants of thousands of sign-waving protesters both for and against the Islamic center were expected after an annual observance normally known for a sad litany of families reading names of loved ones lost in the 2001 terrorist attacks.
Speaking at "hallowed ground" at the Pentagon, President Barack Obama alluded to the controversy over the mosque in Lower Manhattan. Obama made it clear that the U.S. is not at war with Islam and called the Al Qaeda attackers as "a sorry band of men" who perverted religion.
"We will not give in to their hatred," Obama said. "As Americans, we will not or ever be at war with Islam."
Family members gathering at observances in New York and Pennsylvania brought flowers, pictures of loved ones and American flags, but no signs of opposition or support for the mosque. Reading victims' names at ground zero in New York, they urged a restrained tone.
"Let today never, ever be a national holiday. Let it not be a celebration," said Karen Carroll, who lost her brother, firefighter Thomas Kuveikis. "It's a day to be somber; it's a day to reflect on all those thousands of people that died for us in the United States."
Standing before microphones, stifling sobs, some family members who read names sought to emphasize sentiments on all sides of the mosque argument.
Some -- including Nadine DeGrange, whose uncle, Frank Wisniewski, 54, was killed -- stressed that ground zero is hallowed.
"I come here every year because this is the only burial ground I know. And I pray to God it remains sacred," she said.
Others sought to embrace unity and a spirit of reaching out, which is what the developers of the Islamic center have said is their goal.
"May we share your courage as we build bridges with other people to prevent this from happening again and to preserve human dignity for all," said Robert Ferris, saluting the dozens of building workers who joined families in reading names.
Ferris lost his father, who worked at Aon Corp.
Bagpipes and drums played to open the ceremony, followed by brief comments by Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
"Once again we meet to commemorate the day we have come to call 9/11. We have returned to this sacred site to join our hearts together, the names of those we loved and lost," Bloomberg said. "No other public tragedy has cut our city so deeply. No other place is as filled with our compassion, our love and our solidarity."
Moments of silence were held to mark the times the hijacked jetliners hit the north and south towers of the World Trade Center, as well as the times the towers collapsed. President Obama and first lady Michelle Obama attended separate services at the Pentagon in Washington and a rural field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
The mosque debate pits advocates of religious freedom against critics who say putting an Islamic center so close to ground zero disrespects the dead. While the rallies planned in New York embroiled victims' family members in a feud over whether to play politics, a threat to burn copies of the Koran was apparently called off.
John Bolton, who was U.S. ambassador to the United Nations under President George W. Bush, was expected to send a videotaped message of support to the anti-mosque rally, as was conservative blogger Andrew Breitbart. Anti-Islam Dutch politician Geert Wilders, who advocates banning the Quran and taxing Muslim women who wear head scarves, planned to address the crowd in person, along with a handful of Republican congressional candidates who have made opposition to the mosque a centerpiece of their campaigns.
Muslim prayer services are normally held at the site, but it was padlocked Friday and closed Saturday, the official end of the holy month of Ramadan. Police planned 24-hour patrols until next week. Worshippers on Friday were redirected to a different prayer room 10 blocks away.
In Shanksville, Michelle Obama and former first lady Laura Bush spoke to hundreds of people gathered at a memorial service for the 40 victims of Flight 93, which crashed about 60 miles (100 kilometers) southwest of Pittsburgh.
Flight 93 was en route from Newark, New Jersey, to San Francisco on Sept. 11, 2001, when hijackers seized control. But passengers fought back and the hijackers responded by crashing the plane.
Vice President Joe Biden spoke at the New York ceremony, where 2,752 people were killed when two jetliners flew into the trade center. Bells tolled to mark the times that each tower collapsed.
Meanwhile, as New York City and the nation brace to remember the attacks, those most affected say they feel more isolated and frustrated than ever.
"One of the nice things about 9/11 had always been the sense of unity that you felt with the rest of the country," said Mary-Ellen Salamone, an Essex County, N.J., mother of three who lost her husband on 9/11. "You could look back and see that out of the ashes of all the trauma and the horror there were some good things that were coming out of it. Unfortunately, this year that is not the case."
"This year, the tenor of the day is very volatile and actually almost harder to take because of that," she added.
Some said they expect to observe the anniversary in a new way, like Sally Regenhard, vice-chair of 9/11 Parents and Families of Firefighters & World Trade Center Victims. After attending the ceremony at Ground Zero in Lower Manhattan, the Yonkers, N.Y., resident, who lost her son, a firefighter, in the attacks, said she will attend the Stop Islamization of America rally in front of the site of the proposed Islamic community center and mosque known as Park51.
"We're hurt," said Regenhard. "This is the worst anniversary and the worst pain that I and my family have experienced since 9/11. We are a wounded group of people who were victimized nine years ago, and instead of having concern and consideration for this, we were vilified because we didn't support a project that was in the wrong place at the wrong time, and that I feel is going to be built for the wrong reasons."
But many families express mixed opinions and say they're trying to stay out of the fray, even leaving the city to mark a day they say is best spent in private. "Do I feel that in terms of the Constitution they have a right to do this?" said Diane Horning of Scotch Plains, N.J., whose son died in the attacks. "I do. But I don't think it was sensitive. Yes, they have a right to build this but I don't think it was the right move."
But instead of attending the New York memorial, Ms. Horning is going to Virginia to be with her daughter, son-in-law and their baby to remember her son. "We'll go there for some kind of connection and peace, because it's certainly not in New York," she said. "And if there are demonstrations in New York, it will be that much more agitating and that much more attention will be taken away from the issues that we should be addressing."
The Associated Press and The Wall Street Journal contributed to this report.
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