Washington, Sept 10: There is a smell of fresh paint around the Pentagon, the world's largest office complex, here rebuilding from September 11 has become an act of defiance to terrorism. Some 3,000 staff will return to their offices in the US department of defense headquarters today one year to the day after terrorists steered a passenger jet into the building killing 125 office workers, 59 passengers and crew on the plane and the five hijackers.
With most attention focused on the destruction of the twin towers of New York's World Trade Center, the attack on the pentagon and the crash of a fourth hijacked jet in Pennsylvania took a lower profile.
But the reconstruction has been proudly baptized operation "phoenix" for the mythical bird that rises from its own ashes.

More than 400,000 square meters of office space has been rebuilt at an estimated cost of 500 million dollars.
About 1,000 workers from all us military branches have labored around the clock, according to US army spokeswoman Rachel Decker during a tour of the site.
"We have been several weeks ahead of every schedule," Decker said, noting that making the deadline had become an act of patriotism for most workers.
John Simons, an electrician wearing a yellow hard hat and a smile, gestured toward photographs of loved ones lost at the site, a constant reminder of what they are rebuilding.
"The work was done extremely quickly. This is amazing... This was dedication, maybe a matter of pride," Simons said. Bureau Report