White House’s 9/11 Anniversary Guidelines Ask Officials to ‘Minimize References to Al Qaeda’

The White House has provided guidelines to government officials regarding how to observe and discuss the 10th anniversary of the September 11 attacks. While there are certainly some beneficial recommendations held within, some may interpret the disseminated documents as more agenda-driven than not.

These instructions include information about how to honor the lives lost here in America. Additionally, they call for remembrance of the fact that Al Qaeda and other terror groups have also killed innocent individuals in other localities across the globe. Politico has more:

The guidelines detail what the White House has deemed the important themes that must be discussed, as well as the tone the 9/11 observances should take.

“A chief goal of our communications is to present a positive, forward-looking narrative,” the foreign guidelines state.

Again, these are worthwhile goals and ideals, but they may be viewed as something more sinister by President Obama’s political opponents. The Atlantic writes:

Though rebuilding support for the U.S. abroad is a worthy goal, it seems like these guidelines will fit in neatly with a popular meme on the right, that President Obama goes around the world and apologizes for how awesome America is. “Obama’s apology tour” has been debunked by The Washington Post and other places, but several Republican presidential candidates have made references to Obama’s supposed tendency to play down American specialness abroad. That events commemorating 9/11 will be “not just about us” seems likely to fit into that theme.