Just days before the third anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attack on New York and Washington, Israeli and Israeli-Arab youths light candles in the memory of the victims of violence and terrorism around the world. The annual Interreligious Convocation in Jerusalem took place Sept. 9, 2004. In the last year, terrorism has claimed more victims in places like Israel, Iraq, Spain and Russia.
Rebuilding began this year at New York's Ground Zero. New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, third from right, touches the cornerstone for the Freedom Tower during an unveiling July 4, 2004. With him are New Jersey Gov. James McGreevey, right, New York Gov. George Pataki, second from right, and site owner Larry Silverstein, behind. The cornerstone is being buried beneath the new tower.
The World Trade Center site in New York remains a tourist attraction, drawing visitors from around the world. Here, Patrick Anderson of Bath Township, Mich., and his wife, Madhu, and son, Neal, look out at it from a building across the street Sept. 3, 2004. Anderson returned to the site for the first time since the attacks to honor three firefighters who helped save his life when the twin towers came down.
Former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, who shepherded the city through the crisis and emerged a hero, has become a Republican party star and an anti-terrorism proponent. On the eve of the third anniversary of the attacks, he was in Russia with Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, right, discussing the recent hostage-taking at a Russian school by terorists.
Earlier this year, the 9/11 commission issued its report, citing series intelligence flaws, and recommending a series of changes for the U.S. intelligence community. Its suggestions are being considered by Congress, where commission chairman Thomas Kean, left, and commissioner John Lehman, right, testifed Sept. 7, 2004. They were defending the recommendations in an open hearing before the Senate Intelligence Committee.
Images and lessons from Sept. 11 have now entered the cultural life of the nation. Filmmaker Michael Moore, photographed at the Republican National Convention in New York, Aug. 30, 2004, attacked President Bush's actions on that day and in its aftermath in his popular film "Fahrenheit 9/11." It is among several plays, movies and books to address the topic.
The terrorist attacks also figure prominently in the 2004 presidential campaign. At the GOP convention, held blocks from the site of the attacks, almost every speaker mentioned the disaster. Here, Tara Stackpole, widow of a New York City firefighter who died on 9/11, speaks during a 9/11 tribute at the Republican National Convention in New York, Aug. 30, 2004.