The Jan 6 US Capitol riots: Democrats and Republicans battle over historical narrative

THERE are certain dates in modern US history that are likely to ring a bell among most educated Americans - like Dec 7, 1941, that marks the Japanese attacks on Pearl Harbor; Nov 22, 1963, when President John F Kennedy was assassinated; and most recently, Sept 11, 2001, that recalls the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, DC. Some older Americans even remember what they were doing when those history-changing events took place.

US President Joe Biden and his political allies in the Democratic Party are hoping and want to make sure that Jan 6, 2021 - the day the US Capitol, a sacred symbol of American democracy, was attacked by a mob of more than 10,000 supporters of Donald Trump - would be added to that list of the dates that changed the way Americans regarded their nation and altered the direction of their history.

Twenty years ago, in the aftermath of the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon by Al-Qaeda terrorists on 9/11, those terrorist acts became a focus of numerous congressional hearings and government investigations that enjoyed bipartisan support. These national efforts helped the American people and their leaders to draw the necessary lessons and to take steps to ensure that such horrific incidents would not happen again.