WASHINGTON (AP) — Looking to win voters even as they swore off negative attacks, the presidential candidates clashed over whether the country is a safer place on the 11th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks.

President Barack Obama pointed to gains in the war on terror under his time as commander in chief to make the case that Americans are better protected. "Al-Qaida's leadership has been devastated and Osama bin Laden will never threaten us again. Our country is safer and our people are resilient," the president said at a Pentagon memorial service.

But Republican nominee Mitt Romney disagreed in a speech to the National Guard convention in Reno, Nev. While he won applause for thanking the Navy SEALs who killed bin Laden — without mentioning Obama — he added: "I wish I could say the world is less dangerous now."