Press Releases 2009

Remarks of Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary Michael S. Owen
Introduction to “Kobita Concert 9/11”
GD Birla Sabhaghar, Kolkata
September 11, 2009

September 11, 2009

Rajat Bagchi, Producer, Rain of Melody, Biman Das, Producer, Rain of Melody,
Joy Duttagupta, Director and Script Writer of “Kabita Concert 9/11”
Mr. Shovan Sundar Basu, Director, Poetry Band
Bickram Ghosh, Percussionist and Grammy Award winner
Nachiketa, the maestro of modern music
Sonali Choudhury, Actress
Rimjhim Mitra, Actress
Tuli Basu Chakraborty, Coordinator

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Tonight we celebrate the unifying and healing power of music, poetry, dance, and performance.  Eight years have passed since nearly 3,000 people died in coordinated terrorist attacks in New York, Virginia, and Pennsylvania.  Although this was the deadliest attack ever on American soil, this tragedy touched people around the world.  Citizens from more than 90 countries were working on September 11, 2001 in the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City.  The terrorist attacks in the United States on September 11, 2001, revealed, in the most striking manner terrorists can threaten the security of any state.
 
During the past eight years, Americans have had a robust debate with often divergent views on how best to respond to the challenge of terrorism.  American society is pluralistic with plenty of room for contrasting philosophies, political approaches, and religious beliefs.  But, after eight years of struggling to find the right approach to terrorism, we have concluded that we cannot sacrifice our core values in our efforts to combat terrorism.

In his inaugural address, President Obama set the tone for a new way forward when he said, “As for our common defense, we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals.  Our Founding Fathers, faced with perils that we can scarcely imagine, drafted a charter to assure the rule of law and the rights of man -- a charter expanded by the blood of generations.  Those ideals still light the world, and we will not give them up for expedience sake.  And so . . . know that America is a friend of each nation, and every man, woman, and child who seeks a future of peace and dignity.  And we are ready to lead once more.”

President Obama has led us to think outside the usual boundaries.  He has launched a new era of engagement based on common interests, shared values, and mutual respect.  The United States will forge global partnerships, and promote universal values through the power of its example and the empowerment of people.  In this way, together we can forge the global consensus required to defeat the threats and manage the dangers of the 21st century.  No nation can solve the problem of terrorism alone.  No government can eradicate this problem single-handedly.

I would like to thank the organizers, composers and participants of the poetry concert for expressing their solidarity with the United States in the fight against terrorism.  It is through events such as this that we transform tragedy and heal the wounds of the past to move forward into a new future, together.