Prime Minister Boris Johnson has published a slightly bizarre video message to mark the 20th anniversary of 9/11, claiming Joe Biden’s disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan will “only strengthen our determination to remember those who were taken from us”.
“A handful of dates are etched into our collective memory, some joyous, others tragic,” the Tory leader began.
“Twenty years ago, September 11th 2001 became, in President Roosevelt’s words after Pearl Harbour, a ‘date which will live in infamy’,” he continued.
“On a crystal clear morning, terrorists attacked the United States with the simple goal of killing or maiming as many human beings as possible, and by inflicting such bloodshed in the world’s greatest democracy, they tried to destroy the faith of free peoples everywhere in the open societies which terrorists despise and which we cherish,” he claimed.
Prime Minister Johnson said that it was “precisely because of the openness and tolerance of the United States that people of almost every nationality and religion were among the 2,977 murdered on that day, including 67 Britons, each of them a symbol of the eternal friendship between the United Kingdom and the United States.”
“But while the terrorists imposed their burden of grief and suffering, and while the threat persists today, we can now say with the perspective of 20 years that they failed to shake our belief in freedom and democracy; they failed to drive our nations apart, or cause us to abandon our values, or to live in permanent fear,” he suggested.
“The fact that we are coming together today – in sorrow but also in faith and resolve – demonstrates the failure of terrorism and the strength of the bonds between us.”
Perhaps controversially, the British leader then went on to say that “Recent events in Afghanistan” — namely the botched Joe Biden-led withdrawal from the country — “only strengthen our determination to remember those who were taken from us, cherish the survivors and those who still grieve and hold fast to our belief in liberty and democracy, which will always prevail over every foe.”
Britain and America did not prevail over the Taliban, however, which now controls more territory in Afghanistan than it did prior to the Western invasion in 2001, when the Northern Alliance still held the country’s north-east, including the key border with Communist China — which is now lending geopolitical support to the restored Islamist regime.
Follow Jack Montgomery on Twitter: @JackBMontgomery
Follow Breitbart London on Facebook: Breitbart London
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.