by Giles Hewitt
NEW YORK, Sept 10 (AFP) - Americans will pay quiet tribute Saturday to victims of the September 11 terror strikes, amid a presidential election war of words over national security.
A taunting reminder of the traumatic events of three years ago came Thursday in the form of a video statement by Al-Qaeda number two Ayman al-Zawahiri.
Osama bin Laden's deputy said defeat for US forces in Iraq and Afghanistan was just a matter of time and warned that Americans would not be safe while their government "commits crimes against Muslims in Iraq and Afghanistan and Palestine."
With the November 2 presidential election looming, the video tape triggered fresh debate between Republicans and Democrats over President George W. Bush's national security strategy in the wake of the September 11 attacks.
The tape makes it clear "the war on terror is not over," said Stephanie Cutter, a spokeswoman for Democratic challenger John Kerry. "They took their eye off the ball on the war on terror to rush to war in Iraq."
While the tape was a reminder of the US failure to hunt down the top al-Qaeda leadership, including bin Laden, Bush's national security adviser Condoleezza Rice argued that the administration's policies had effectively hampered the terrorist network's operations.
"Al-Qaeda is, of course, no longer occupying Afghanistan," Rice told NBC television.
"They are no longer sitting in Afghanistan, operating with impunity. They don't have territory there.
"They are being chased in every country in the world. They are sitting in a cave making these tapes -- it's a lot more difficult, but they are still a very dangerous organization," she said.
Three years after jets hijacked by Al-Qaeda members devastated the World Trade Center towers, fear of fresh terrorist strikes remains a potent force among Americans, fuelled in the past week by images of the terrorist bombing in Jakarta and massacre of schoolchildren in Beslan, Russia.
And the third anniversary comes just days after the death toll of US soldiers in Iraq crossed the symbolic 1,000 mark -- a grim reminder of the cost of the open-ended war on terror.
For Bush, September 11 remains the defining moment of his presidency and the foundation of his national security policy, which he has placed at the centre of his election campaign.
"We have fought the terrorists across the earth, not for pride, not for power, but because the lives of our citizens are at stake. Our strategy is clear," Bush told the Republican convention in New York this month.
While Kerry has focused more on economic and health issues, he has also struggled to present himself as a more effective commander-in-chief who would keep Americans safe.
Campaigning in Iowa on Thursday, Kerry warned that North Korea is "more dangerous than it was before," Iran is being "ignored," and that Iraq has "diverted" resources from "the real war on terror in Afghanistan and getting Osama bin Laden."
As was the case with the past two anniversaries, New York City will be the focus of Saturday's remembrance events, with a ceremony at Ground Zero featuring parents and grandparents reading the names of the 2,749 victims of the World Trade Center attack.
The reading will pause at four moments: twice to mark the times that each plane hit the towers and twice more to mark the times each tower fell.
Later in the evening, two powerful spotlights will send two shafts of light up into the night sky to symbolise the fallen twin towers.
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld will lay a wreath at the national Arlington Cemetery in memory of the 184 people who died when another hijacked plane was flown into the Pentagon.
A fourth airliner carrying 44 people crashed in Pennsylvania after passengers staged a rebellion against the hijackers.
Despite the horrific memories associated with the anniversary, there are increasing signs this year that New Yorkers and their city have moved on.
The gaping scar that was Ground Zero is now a hive of redevelopment, following the groundbreaking ceremony on July 4, Independence Day, for the Freedom Tower that will form the centrepiece of the reconstructed trade center site.
The city's economy is back on track after three harsh years, with tourist numbers back up and small businesses returning in force to the lower Manhattan area.