US election truce to mark 9/11

The heated presidential race will pause today, the seventh anniversary of the September 11 attacks, as both John McCain and Barack Obama honour those killed in the attacks.

Republican Mr McCain and Democrat Mr Obama are due to appear together twice today and have agreed to suspend all TV adverts critical of each other to mark the day.

Seven years ago today terrorists forced four planes to crash into the World Trade Centre towers in New York City, a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, and the Pentagon in Washington, killing nearly 3,000 people.

The respite from campaign attacks marks a rare moment of political tranquility in what has become an increasingly negative campaign to win voters before the November 4 election.

The two candidates have often sparred over who is best suited to lead the country when it comes to issues of national security, with Mr McCain portraying himself as the seasoned foreign policy veteran and Mr Obama trying to link his opponent with the unpopular Iraq war policies of President George Bush.

Mr McCain and Mr Obama will visit ground zero together in New York for a wreath-laying in the pit that marks the largest loss of life in the attacks.

Then they will appear together at a forum at Columbia University to discuss their views on public service.

A joint statement from the campaigns said they wanted to visit ground zero in thanks for all emergency service personnel who served during and after the attacks as well as the military troops still defending the nation.

“We will put aside politics and come together to renew that unity, to honour the memory of each and every American who died, and to grieve with the families and friends who lost loved ones,” the statement said.

While the economy has overtaken the war in Iraq as the most important issue in voters’ minds, the candidates have sought to differentiate themselves when it comes to how they would have acted following the September 11 attacks.

Mr Obama, an opponent of the Iraq war, has argued that the United States has neglected the war in Afghanistan and as a result the Taliban has strengthened there.

He argues that the US needs to move troops from Iraq to Afghanistan. The Illinois senator has also highlighted the failure of the Bush administration to capture Osama bin Laden, the purported mastermind of the September 11 attacks who is believed to be hiding in the border region of Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Mr McCain, who has supported the Iraq war, has resisted efforts to set a timetable for US troop withdrawals from Iraq, saying it could endanger the fragile security there.

He also supports an unspecified increase in troops in Afghanistan, but not at the expense of the war in Iraq.

Mr McCain was also briefly speaking at a ceremony near the Shanksville crash site, alongside other dignitaries and relatives of the 40 passengers and crew who were killed there.

Investigators believe passengers rushed the cockpit of United Airlines Flight 93 to thwart terrorists’ plans to use that plane as a weapon like the others.

Mr Obama’s only other planned outing today was lunch in New York with former President Bill Clinton.

Today’s pause from negative campaign adverts comes after a harsh exchange of words between the two campaigns over comments Mr Obama made that the McCain camp called “sexist.”

Mr Obama on Tuesday mocked McCain’s claim to represent a change from the unpopular Bush presidency. “You can put lipstick on a pig. It’s still a pig,” Mr Obama said.

Republican vice presidential candidate Alaska Governor Sarah Palin was not mentioned in that part of his remarks. But the lipstick reference recalled a widely publicised line in Mrs Palin’s nomination acceptance speech when she joked that lipstick was the only difference between pit bulls and suburban “hockey mums” like her.

The McCain campaign accused Mr Obama of attacking Mrs Palin in “offensive and disgraceful comments” and demanded an apology. It issued an internet advert maintaining that Mr Obama was talking about Mrs Palin and said of Mr Obama: “Ready to lead? No. Ready to smear? Yes.”

Mr Obama yesterday lashed out at McCain’s campaign, accusing it of lying and trying to undermine his White House bid with the same tactics used to torpedo John Kerry’s presidential bid four years ago.

The comments came as Mr Obama looks to regain the upper hand in the presidential race after Mr McCain received a boost from last week’s Republican National Convention and his selection of Mrs Palin. Opinion polls now show Mr McCain tied or with a narrow lead over Mr Obama.