Americans prepare to mark Sept. 11 anniversary

Jacob Campbell, 5, left, and his aunt Linda Maurer, both from the Queens, New York, look at an an image of Jacob's mother, Jill Marie Maurer-Campbell, who was killed during the World Trade Center attacks, among other Sept. 11 victims on America's 9-11 Victims' Memorial Quilt on Saturday in New York. PHOTO: AP

US President George W. Bush was scheduled yesterday to visit the site where New York's twin towers once stood, as he marks the fifth anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks amid an intensifying election-year debate over whether his policies have made the US safer or more vulnerable.

Bush's approval ratings soared and his presidency was reshaped after he stood in the ruins of the World Trade Center days after the 2001 attacks and sought to rally the country by shouting into a bullhorn.

But the unity that arose as Americans grieved the nearly 3,000 people killed in the hijacked airplane attacks has long since given way to sharp divisions over the Iraq war and the Bush administration's tactics in the war on terrorism.

The rift has widened with the approach of the Nov. 7 elections, in which Democrats hope to overturn Republican dominance of Congress.

Two-day tour

In a two-day tour of all three crash sites -- the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and the field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, where United Flight 93 crashed -- Bush will strive to put aside partisan acrimony, if only temporarily.

He has no prepared remarks for the visits, according to White House spokesman Tony Snow.

Bush was to attend an evening prayer service in New York yesterday and visit firefighters this morning.

He will save his formal remarks for a televised Oval Office speech tonight. Snow said Bush will reflect on the anniversary and discuss the war on terrorism.

On Saturday, political wrangling continued as Bush and Democrats pressed opposing approaches to fighting terrorism.

Radio address

In his weekly radio address, Bush assured Americans that the US was relentlessly hunting down suspected terrorists in order to avoid a new attack.

"America still faces determined enemies," he said. "We must take the words of these extremists seriously, and we must act decisively to stop them from achieving their evil aims."

Bush urged Congress to pass legislation setting up military tribunals to try detainees at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

He also defended a CIA detention program to interrogate terrorism suspects.

"As soon as Congress acts to authorize these military commissions, we will prosecute these men and send a clear message to those who kill Americans: No matter how long it takes, we will find you and bring you to justice," Bush said.

He argued that the intelligence program that involved the al-Qaeda captives "has been invaluable to the security of America and its allies."

"We are safer today because we've acted to address the gaps in security, intelligence and information sharing that the terrorists exploited in the 9/11 attacks," he said.

Bush administration officials have sought to paint Democrats as weak on terrorism.

Democrats respond

Democrats focused on the Iraq war. They say it has drained resources from the effort to hunt down al-Qaeda militants and shore up security at US ports and other potential targets. In their own radio address, Democrats said the country must end its "open-ended commitment in Iraq" and redirect its efforts toward fighting al-Qaeda.

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