US President George W. Bush vowed on Saturday Americans will overcome the ordeal presented by Hurricane Katrina as a weekend of September 11, 2001, remembrances was overshadowed by scenes of destruction in New Orleans and along the Gulf Coast.
Bush used his weekly radio address to remember the fourth anniversary of the September 11 attacks, saying Americans were pulling together to help Katrina victims just as they did the victims of the hijacked-plane attacks on the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon.
"Today, America is confronting another disaster that has caused destruction and loss of life. This time the devastation resulted not from the malice of evil men, but from the fury of water and wind," Bush said. "America will overcome this ordeal, and we will be stronger for it."
But Bush has not recaptured the spirit of bipartisan unity he championed in the weeks and months after the September 11 attacks, a period in which he gained great credit for his leadership and his job approval ratings soared.
On Friday, he was forced to bring his head of emergency management, Michael Brown, back to Washington amid widespread evidence that relief operations have been botched and charges that Brown had padded his resume.
Bush's approval ratings have sunk to all-time lows. A majority of Americans, 59 percent, are dissatisfied with Bush's performance and 39 percent said he is doing a good job, according to a new Associated Press/Ipsos poll of 1,002 people taken this week.
A contributing factor to his low poll numbers has been the Iraq war, fought over weapons of mass destruction that were never found.
In the Democratic response to Bush's radio address, a Mississippi Democrat criticised the White House for failing to follow through on its promise after the New York attacks to ensure the country was prepared for a catastrophe.
"Like that day four Septembers ago, we once again find ourselves asking, 'How could this have happened?'" said Rep. Bennie Thompson. "The answer is painful, but it must be acknowledged: we simply were unprepared."
While Democrats had rallied to help Bush after September 11, this time they have raised pointed questions about the slow federal response to the hurricane, demanded an independent investigation and criticised his handling of the crisis. Many Republicans have joined in criticisms of the response.
Thompson criticised the lack of preparedness for such a disaster and the inability of police, fire and rescue officials to communicate with each other, blaming Bush and Republicans in Congress for cutting the budget for first responders.
"The failure of the levees in New Orleans shows us how vulnerable our nation's critical infrastructure is," he said. "Diminishing the ability of our sheriffs, police, fire-fighters, and all first responders to get the job done is simply unacceptable.
US FORCES IN AFGHANISTAN REMEMBER 9/11:
US forces in Afghanistan held a solemn ceremony on Saturday to mark the fourth anniversary of the September 11 attacks, remembering those who died then and in the US-led war on terrorism that followed.
Several hundred servicemen and women gathered in a huge hanger-like tent at Bagram air base, on a sun-baked plain north of Kabul, for a service that began with a brief video of the hijacked aircraft attacks four years ago.
"I'm here, my fellow soldiers are here, because of those attacks. They are with us always," said Sergeant Rick Scavetta, from Hartford, Connecticut. The attacks killed nearly 3,000 people.
A small choir sang God Bless America and officers read passages form the bible on courage, honour, freedom, sacrifice and faith at the Saturday service.
"Being here in conjunction with 9/11 means a lot to me, it was a very tragic event, but we're here on a mission to root out terrorism and to ... let freedom prevail," said Sergeant Allison Anderson, from Tacoma, Washington.
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