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The ceremony marking the 11th anniversary of the Sept 11 attacks at Ground Zero in New York on Tuesday morning was the first held without any speeches by government officials, in order to make it a moment of pure remembrance.

Yet politics arising from the terrorist attacks in 2001, which has dictated much of US foreign and domestic policy since, is not going to go away anytime soon.

In his weekly address on Saturday, US President Barack Obama said the US has come back stronger as a nation, decimated the leadership of al-Qaida and ensured that Osama bin Laden will never attack America again. He did not forget to congratulate himself on ending the war in Iraq and overseeing the transition in Afghanistan that will be completed by 2017.

Obama, regarded four years ago as weak on counterterrorism, has proved in poll after poll that national security is his strength. Compared to Republican challenger Mitt Romney, Obama has a clear lead in that area.

At last week's Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina, many speakers lauded Obama for bin Laden's killing.

But in the last four years, Obama's track record on counterterrorism has surprised both his supporters and opponents.

To the disappointment of many Democratic supporters, Obama preserved rendition, which allows terror suspects to be transferred to countries where harsh interrogation techniques, or torture, are employed.

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