Just before 8:46 a.m. on Sept. 11--the moment that, two years ago, American Airlines Flight 11 crashed into the north tower of the World Trade Center--President George W. Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney and their wives stepped onto the lawn of the White House for a moment of silence. During that long day of remembrance, the President's only public engagement was at St. John's Church on Lafayette Square, across the street from the White House. A year ago, Bush spent 14 hours visiting all three sites of destruction and death--downtown Manhattan, the Pentagon and Shanksville, Pa. He ended that pilgrimage with a speech at Ellis Island--the Statue of Liberty and the wounded New York City skyline providing a backdrop both poignant and uplifting. This year, by contrast, a White House aide said before Sept. 11, "the message is low key." It could hardly have been lower.
In brief and halting remarks after the service at St. John's, the President remembered those who lost their lives two years ago, and the heroism, decency and compassion shown by Americans on that "sad and terrible day." Sept. 11 is worth remembering for all those reasons and for one other, which is now proving impossible to forget. In his response to the attacks, Bush launched the U.S. on an unprecedented and hugely ambitious campaign to rid the world of terrorism, to remove those regimes that aided terrorists in the past or might do so in the future, and to ensure that weapons of mass destruction do not leach into the hands of terrorists or their sympathizers. But to do that, Bush set out an even grander effort to pacify an arc of crisis running from Marrakesh to Bangladesh. Hence, two wars so far--in Afghanistan and Iraq--plus a concerted U.S. effort to set Israelis and Palestinians on a road map to a peaceful settlement. In the most hopeful version of the Administration's strategy, these objectives come together in a virtuous circle--and peace breaks out all over. Having seen that the U.S. was a "strong horse" in Afghanistan and Iraq, Palestinian radicals would realize--by some process never quite explained--that there is no point continuing to use violence as a way of advancing their political goals.
All this may yet come to pass. The Bush Administration remorselessly reminds anyone who will listen that it never promised a quick and easy consummation of its policies. But it has not come to pass yet, and Bush was forced to reckon last week with the reality of the enormous task he has set himself and to acknowledge that it is messier, more daunting and more complicated than he ever imagined. Bush needs help, and he has admitted as much by calling on the U.N. Security Council to pass a new resolution to encourage the flow of more money and armed forces into Iraq. How he copes with the new reality on the ground and whether he gets the help he seeks will determine the fate of his presidency.
THE BIG PICTURE