In 9/11 Remarks, George W. Bush Calls Out Current U.S. Division

SHANKSVILLE, PA — Former President George W. Bush on Saturday commemorated the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks from the Flight 93 memorial site in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. While delivering remarks, he recalled the unity shown by Americans in the days following the attacks and drew a sharp contrast to the climate of division in the country today.

Bush, the 43rd president of the United States, was in his first year of the presidency when the terrorist attacks took place. He was the only living president to deliver remarks during this year's memorial services.

As he spoke, Bush commended the bravery of the Flight 93 passengers and crew who are believed to have stopped an attack on the U.S. Capitol by leading the plane to crash.

Despite the brutality of 9/11 and the number of lives lost, Bush noted how the experience brought the country together.

"We saw that Americans were vulnerable, but not fragile — that they possess a core of strength that survives the worst that life can bring," Bush said.

"On America’s day of trial and grief, I saw millions of people instinctively grab for a neighbor’s hand and rally to the cause of one another," he continued. "That is the America I know."

Today, however, the unity displayed following 9/11 seems "distant," the former president said.

"A malign force seems at work in our common life that turns every disagreement into an argument, and every argument into a clash of cultures. So much of our politics has become a naked appeal to anger, fear, and resentment," Bush said. "That leaves us worried about our nation and our future together."

He also went on to compare U.S. and foreign extremists, calling them "children of the same foul spirit."

"There is little cultural overlap between violent extremists abroad and violent extremists at home," Bush said. "But in their disdain for pluralism, in their disregard for human life, in their determination to defile national symbols, they are children of the same foul spirit. And it is our continuing duty to confront them."

Read Bush's full speech online.