September 22, 2001 Diary: America Responds

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'High value' targets sought
Saturday, September 22, 2001
Whether it would begin with cruise missiles from Navy ships, bombs from Air Force jets or quick strikes by Army special forces, an American attack on Afghanistan's Taliban probably would aim to knock out airfields, communications links and other targets that sustain the religious militia.

Markets' fall triggers retirement worries
Saturday, September 22, 2001
After the stock market began plummeting this past week, Mary Mahon and her husband took a look at their retirement accounts and were dismayed by what they saw. "We're taking hits," said Mahon, a project coordinator for Action Marketing Research in Minneapolis.

Security tight across U.S. this weekend
Saturday, September 22, 2001
With no-fly zones declared over football stadiums and bomb-sniffing dogs deployed at the Miss America Pageant, Americans head into what might have been a festive weekend in a state of watchfulness.

Homeland Security chief wins widespread praise
Saturday, September 22, 2001
Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge will soon shoulder the burden of helping secure the nation against terrorists. First, on Friday, the White House began finding him office space and feeding him paperwork.

Former defense secretary warns of further terrorism
Saturday, September 22, 2001
In a chilling assessment of the United States' exposure to terrorism, former Defense Secretary William Cohen told a gathering of Long Island, N.Y., business leaders Friday that radical terror organizations are likely to launch future attacks on the nation with nuclear, biological or chemical weapons.

Residents return to World Trade Center area; mayoral candidates resume campaigns
Saturday, September 22, 2001
(Updated Sunday at 1:18 a.m.) Lugging their bags behind them, teary residents of eight newly reopened buildings in lower Manhattan made their way home Saturday, as crews blocks away continued picking through the debris of the World Trade Center.

Dow suffers worst weekly drop
Saturday, September 22, 2001
Wall Street, consumed by political and economic uncertainty, sold stocks sharply lower for the fourth time in five sessions Friday, giving the Dow industrial index its biggest one-week point decline ever.

European, U.S. officials make arrests as Ashcroft urges vigilance against new attacks
Saturday, September 22, 2001
(Updated Sunday at 1:18 a.m.) Authorities in Europe and the United States made a slew of arrests in the terrorist investigation, and officials went on alert against new attacks despite the lack of specific threats.

Gasoline price increases bring lawsuit
Saturday, September 22, 2001
By Mindie Paget

A Leavenworth oil company that increased fuel prices at its northeast Kansas gas stations after last week's terrorist attacks says it will provide refunds to customers who paid the $2.49 price.

Kansans gather at Statehouse to mourn victims of attacks
Saturday, September 22, 2001
Kansans filed quietly Friday on the Statehouse grounds and, wearing their nation's colors and their hearts on their sleeves, they remembered victims of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. With a 24-by-40-foot American flag fluttering behind him, Gov. Bill Graves told the more-than 2,000 people who gathered on the south lawn that the attacks changed the nation forever, but they should not lose hope.

Paint free-for-all provides outlet
Saturday, September 22, 2001
By Scott Rothschild

With talk of war in the air and memories of the worst terrorist attack on America still vivid, students Friday stopped by a quiet spot on the Kansas University campus to paint. "I don't think painting is going to help," said Joel Carlson, a senior from Lenexa, as he dabbed at the 30-foot canvas.

McConnell unit called up
Saturday, September 22, 2001
The 22nd Air Refueling Wing is deploying from McConnell Air Force Base, but officials are silent about how many — and where — of the unit's aircraft and airmen are going. Spokeswoman Lt. Jennifer McDonald said Friday that the unit's deployment order, which came "in the last week," called for an immediate activation.

More planes head to gulf
Saturday, September 22, 2001
The Pentagon committed more aircraft to the Persian Gulf and the gathering war on terrorism Friday as Afghanistan snubbed a demand from President Bush to turn over Osama bin Laden and others blamed for last week's death and awesome destruction.

Naming operations serious business
Saturday, September 22, 2001
First the U.S. military operation to lash out at Osama bin Laden was officially nicknamed Infinite Reach. Then Noble Eagle. Then Infinite Justice. By late this week, that last name was being rethought because some Muslims might find it offensive, according to Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld.

Main U.S. military question remains: When?
Saturday, September 22, 2001
War has been declared. The world has been told to choose sides. So now the countdown begins. Yet President Bush's thundering pledge Thursday night that "the hour is coming when America will act" offered not a single solid clue about just when that hour will be. Is the first strike just days away, as the Washington rumor mill has hyped it?

Pentagon activates 5,172 more reserves and dispatches B-52 bombers in newest wave of mobilization for military strikes
Saturday, September 22, 2001
(Updated Sunday at 1:17 a.m.) The Pentagon rolled out workhorse B-52 bombers and activated an additional 5,172 National Guard and reserve troops Saturday in preparation for the first military strikes in the new U.S. campaign against terrorism.

Spy plane shot down over Afghanistan
Saturday, September 22, 2001
(Updated Sunday at 1:16 a.m.) Taliban forces shot down an unmanned spy plane in northern Afghanistan on Saturday, a Taliban official said. Abdul Salam Zaeef, the Taliban's ambassador to Pakistan, said the aircraft was shot down over Tashgurgan Pass in Afghanistan's northern Samangan province by Taliban soldiers armed with Russian-made anti-aircraft weapons. "We are still trying to ascertain what country this plane belongs to," Zaeef said in an interview.

Bush confers with Putin, seeks to boost confidence in economy; tight security at sports events
Saturday, September 22, 2001
(Updated Sunday at 1:18 a.m.) President Bush consulted at length with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday as the United States mustered a military assault on terrorism. Americans returned to their weekend games in a semblance of normalcy, but now their stadiums were no-fly zones.

Vanguard, Northwest report cutbacks
Saturday, September 22, 2001
Vanguard Airlines and Northwest Airlines announced Friday that they were cutting jobs and reducing services in the wake of last week's terrorist attacks. Kansas City, Mo.-based Vanguard Airlines said it would cut about 20 percent of its daily flights and up to 15 percent of its 1,000 jobs.

Army preparing for game, war
Saturday, September 22, 2001
Dustin Plumadore was on his way to visit a friend hospitalized with a broken leg when the chilling thought occurred. Packed into a Chevy Tahoe with five other Army offensive lineman, Plumadore looked around and wondered how many of them would be alive to attend the Class of 2002's 10-year reunion.

Ex-Yankee Tepedino knows real heroes
Saturday, September 22, 2001
As a boy growing up in Brooklyn, Frank Tepedino had one idol: Mickey Mantle. Tepedino freely admits being in awe when, as a 19-year-old rookie with the New York Yankees, he watched Mantle hit his 500th home run.

Baseball back in New York
Saturday, September 22, 2001
Al Leiter stared at the miniature New York City skyline atop the right-field scoreboard, and closed his eyes. The World Trade Center's twin towers were still standing, covered by a red, white and blue ribbon.

U.S. must send clear message to world
Saturday, September 22, 2001
By Jim Hoagland
Washington Post Writers Group

Foreign leaders converge on Washington this week bearing expressions of sympathy and support for the American people. Most will also bring a barely hidden agenda: to temper and focus narrowly the Bush administration's military response to America's day of mega-terrorism.

Saudi Arabia, Turkey cooperating in anti-terrorism effort, encouraging to U.S. officials
Saturday, September 22, 2001
(Updated Saturday at 12:37 p.m.) U.S. officials said Saturday they were pleased with cooperation from Saudi Arabia and Turkey as American military forces moved to position themselves for a military strike against Afghanistan.

Long period of suffering ahead for airlines--the ones that survive
Saturday, September 22, 2001
(Web Posted Saturday at 2:17 p.m.) The airline industry was in awful shape long before airborne terrorist attacks sent shivers through the public.

Fertilizer plant blast rocks France
Saturday, September 22, 2001
When they heard the huge blast, many people thought it was a terror attack. But the explosion that ripped through a chemical fertilizer plant on Friday, killing at least 18 people and injuring 200, was most likely an accident, officials said.

Taliban digs in; Afghans flee
Saturday, September 22, 2001
Weary Afghans loaded belongings into trucks and carts Friday and left the capital, fearing U.S. airstrikes after their Taliban rulers rejected American demands to hand over alleged terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden.

Americans must try to cultivate an understanding of the world
Saturday, September 22, 2001
How good a job is Kansas University doing to provide its students a reasonable understanding of international affairs? Last week's terrorist attacks in New York City and Washington, D.C., hammered home the point that most Americans need to know far more about international matters, including the histories, the leaders and the religious and cultural environments of various nations and many other facets of today's world.

AG gets first look at ground zero
Saturday, September 22, 2001
Atty. Gen. John Ashcroft on Friday brought the Bush administration's defiant optimism to New York, vowing to rebuild after getting his first look at the ruins of the World Trade Center.

Talks begin for release of Americans
Saturday, September 22, 2001
Negotiations have begun for the release of an American couple being held by Muslim extremists in the southern Philippines, a radio station reported Friday. The family of Martin and Gracia Burnham of Wichita, Kan., has appointed a Filipino negotiator "close to the family," the Radio Mindanao Network said without identifying its source.

EU asserts its solidarity with U.S.
Saturday, September 22, 2001
Reaffirming their solidarity with the United States, European Union leaders on Friday gave their backing to "targeted" U.S. retaliation against countries harboring terrorists and said they were prepared to help.

Allies line behind Bush in war on terrorism
Saturday, September 22, 2001
America's allies on Friday applauded President Bush's carefully worded call to fight terrorism but worried about setting off an uncontrollable cycle of retaliation. Bush's message to the world during Thursday's address to Congress was clear — "Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists."

Officer memorialized by badge, remembered by family, co-workers
Saturday, September 22, 2001
When President Bush met with the families of fallen rescue workers amid the rubble of the World Trade Center last week, Arlene Howard pressed a police shield into his hand and asked him to remember all the people who died.

'God Bless America' finds renewed vigor
Saturday, September 22, 2001
The song of the moment is more than 80 years old. In the 11 days since the terror attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, Irving Berlin's "God Bless America" has been played and sung repeatedly throughout the United States — in the halls of Congress, after Broadway shows, at major-league baseball parks, in the Washington National Cathedral and, of course, on countless less formal occasions.

Growing number of Mideastern students leaving
Saturday, September 22, 2001
A small but growing number of Middle Eastern students are withdrawing from U.S. colleges and returning home — some to comfort worried parents on the far side of the globe, others to flee an environment they fear is turning hostile to young foreigners.

Students from Kuwait consider going home
Saturday, September 22, 2001
Two students from Kuwait may be leaving Kansas University in order to ease the worries of their parents, according to school officials. With tensions increasing after the terrorist attacks on the United States, a small number of Middle Eastern students are leaving schools nationwide to return to their homes.

Transportation chief working in crisis mode
Saturday, September 22, 2001
Until 8:46 a.m. on Sept. 11, the biggest problem on U.S. Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta's agenda was airport delays. But minutes after a hijacked airliner smashed through the first of two towers in the World Trade Center, Mineta hurriedly excused himself from breakfast with a visiting Belgian dignitary and rushed from his suite overlooking the Potomac River to a secure operations center in the White House complex.

Billions slated to help airlines
Saturday, September 22, 2001
Congress approved a $15 billion relief package for the airline industry Friday, taking swift action to restore vitality to a sector of the economy that has taken a direct hit from the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

United States gets more backing for anti-terrorism coalition
Saturday, September 22, 2001
(Web Posted Saturday at 9:04 a.m.) Moving ahead in its anti-terrorism campaign, the Bush administration is receiving promises of intelligence sharing from China and commitments of strengthened cooperation from Latin America and the Caribbean.

Stars turn out for disaster relief
Saturday, September 22, 2001
An impressive array of talent from the worlds of music, films and television mounted a low-keyed but inspirational celebration of the American spirit Friday in a history-making two-hour telethon to raise money for victims and their families in the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington and the crash of a hijacked plane in Pennsylvania.

Nation Briefs
Saturday, September 22, 2001
• Detroit: FBI: Federal agent's death not related to attacks
• New York: FAA grounded Rushdie ahead of terrorist attacks
• New York: Backstreet Boy backtracks
• Los Angeles: Attacks 'devastate' Hope

Business Briefcase
Saturday, September 22, 2001
• Goodwill store opens today
• Automaker: Slow sales cause GM to temporarily close plant
• Surveys say: Economists forecast recession in wake of attacks
• Earnings: GE remains optimistic
• Brokerage: Morgan Stanley announces drop in third quarter profits

6News report: Number missing in New York grows
Saturday, September 22, 2001
Josh Garber reports on the ongoing efforts at the site of the World Trade Center.

6News report: China joins in fight
Saturday, September 22, 2001
Josh Garber reports on the pledge of support by China for the U.S. led campaign against terrorism.

United we stand
Saturday, September 22, 2001

Ties to God
Saturday, September 22, 2001

Protect the flag
Saturday, September 22, 2001

Left and right
Saturday, September 22, 2001

View from Germany
Saturday, September 22, 2001

Timely performance
Saturday, September 22, 2001

A tough order
Saturday, September 22, 2001