Obama says US stronger since 9/11

President Barack Obama has said that the decade since the September 11 attacks shows that America does not give in to fear, and never succumbed to suspicion and mistrust.

"These past 10 years tell a story of resilience," the president declared at the end of a long day of memories and reflection that took him to all three sites where hijacked planes struck on that frightening day.

Speaking at a memorial concert at the Kennedy Centre in Washington DC, the president spoke of remembering the past, and of honouring the sacrifices of those who died in the attacks and the two long wars they spawned.

But he also looked to a future when 9/11 will be seen through the eyes of generations that never witnessed the attacks themselves, and instead learned of them through memorials.

To them, the president said, the legacy of 9/11 will be the soldiers who signed up to serve, the citizens who withstood fear, the workers who built new towers to replace the old, and the children who lived out their parents' dreams.

"They will remember that we have overcome slavery and civil war, bread lines and fascism, recession and riots, Communism and, yes, terrorism," Mr Obama said.

"It will be said of us that we kept that faith; that we took a painful blow, and emerged stronger."