Trump marks another 9/11 anniversary with war still raging

WASHINGTON (AP):

On his third September 11 anniversary as president, Donald Trump on Wednesday remembered the victims, first responders and US troops that have battled in Afghanistan, and he unleashed threats against militants contemplating another attack on America.

“If anyone dares to strike our land, we will respond with the full measure of American power and the iron will of the American spirit, and that spirit is unbreakable,” Trump said at the Pentagon.

It has been 18 years since al-Qaida hijackers commandeered four US commercial airliners and crashed them into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. Like Presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush, Trump marked the day with the war still raging.

“If for any reason they come back to our country, we will go wherever they are and use power the likes of which the United States has never used before, and I’m not even talking about nuclear power,” Trump said, without elaborating on what he meant. “They will never have seen anything like what will happen to them.”

He spent most of his speech at the Pentagon remembering those immediately affected by the attacks, which killed nearly 3,000 people.

“For the families who join us, this is your anniversary of personal and permanent loss. It’s the day that has replayed in your memory a thousand times over. The last kiss. The last phone call. The last time hearing those precious words, ‘I love you,’” said Trump, who began the day observing a moment of silence on the South Lawn with first lady Melania Trump and White House staff.