Update at 10:40 a.m. ET

On the 13th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, President Obama, first lady Michelle Obama and Vice President Joe Biden gathered on the White House lawn to observe a moment of silence.

The solemn commemoration of the attacks that killed some 3,000 people came just hours after the president addressed the nation on a strategy to "degrade and destroy" Islamic State militants in Iraq — a stark reminder that the so-called "war on terror" appears to be far from over.

At a ceremony at the Pentagon, the president said "we carry on, because as Americans, we do not give in to fear. Ever."

Other Sept. 11-related events scheduled for today include a gathering at New York's ground zero for relatives of victims of the World Trade Center attacks with a reading of names of those killed. A similar ceremony is being held at Shanksville, Pa., in the field where hijacked United Flight 93 went down, killing all 40 passengers and crew aboard.

Copyright 2015 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.

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