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‘Not same as 20 years ago’: US President Joe Biden says country better equipped to deal with terrorist threats
“US is not the same country it was when it was attacked on 9/11, 20 years ago. Today we are better equipped to detect and prevent terrorist threats and we are more resilient in our ability to repel them and to respond,” Joe Biden said.
US President Joe Biden on Tuesday said that his country was better equipped and more resilient than it was 20 years ago during the September 2001 attacks or more commonly known as the 9/11 attacks. Biden made the remarks during his address at the 76th session of the United Nations general assembly (UNGA).
“We must also remain vigilant to the threat of terrorism poses to all our nations emanating from distant regions of the world or in our backyard. We know the bitter sting of terrorism. Last month, we lost 13 American heroes and many Afghan civilians in the heinous terrorist attack at Kabul airport,” Biden said, referring to a terrorist attack near the gates of Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul earlier on August 26.
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The US administration also retaliated against the Islamic State of Khorasan (IS-K), the group which claimed it was behind the deadly attacks, killing the planner suspected of plotting more attacks.
Further, he also said that the US was not the same country as it was 20 years ago, referring to the 9/11 attacks. “US is not the same country it was when it was attacked on 9/11, 20 years ago. Today we are better equipped to detect and prevent terrorist threats and we are more resilient in our ability to repel them and to respond,” he said.
“We know how to build effective partnerships to dismantle terrorist networks by targeting their finances and support systems, countering their propaganda, preventing their travel as well as disrupting imminent attacks. We will meet terrorist threats that arrive today and in the future with a full range of tools available to us including working in cooperation with local partners so that we need not be so reliant on large-scale military deployments,” Biden said during his address.
The remarks came as the US completed its total pullback from Afghanistan on August 31, a country where it has been present for close to two decades. Following the drawdown of US troops, several countries, including the US’ close allies such as the United Kingdom, Germany and other Nato countries, scrambled to evacuate their personnel, embassy staff and citizens along with Afghan nationals who wished to move out of the country.
The Taliban had rapidly taken over the country after the US announcement in a few days and on August 15, reached the capital city Kabul. Also, the US recently marked the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks earlier on September 11 when Biden visited all the sites of the attack.
