October 1, 2001 Diary: America Responds

Terrorists found way to Kansas
Monday, October 1, 2001
Eyad Ismoil came to the United States in 1989 to attend Wichita State University. Four years later, he drove a truck bomb into the underground garage of the World Trade Center in New York, killing six people.
Nasser Hidmi studied English at Kansas State University in 1990 and 1991. In 1992, he was arrested by Israeli authorities in an attempted terrorist bombing. He told investigators he had learned revolutionary theory and war craft in clandestine meetings held in conjunction with religious conventions in Kansas City and weekend retreats outside Chicago.

Afghanistan opposition cites advances
Monday, October 1, 2001
Afghanistan's opposition claimed Sunday that hundreds of Taliban soldiers had defected during three days of fierce fighting in the country's northern mountains that have seen the opposition score major territorial gains.
Fighting is raging on several fronts and "20 percent of the Afghan territory is now controlled by the Northern Alliance," an opposition spokesman, who goes by the single name Abdullah, told a news conference in the Tajik capital Dushanbe.

More strikes on U.S. 'likely'
Monday, October 1, 2001
The Taliban government confirmed Sunday that Osama bin Laden still is in Afghanistan, but the White House flatly rejected an overture to negotiate his fate.
Meantime, Atty. Gen. John Ashcroft warned of a "very serious threat" of new terrorism against Americans that may increase if the United States retaliates for the Sept. 11 attacks.

America draws on inner strengths
Monday, October 1, 2001
By Geneva Overholser
Washington Post Writers Group

Perhaps it's time to see, amid our nation's enormous grief, the potential for growth and hopeful change. Consider some examples:
Our understanding of what has meaning in life has deepened. Not only have loved ones been in contact, and long-unattended friendships been rekindled. Our heroes, at the moment, are neither the celebrities nor the tycoons whose work is so lavishly rewarded, but rather the people whose work has been taken for granted and modestly compensated — the firefighters and law enforcement officers who risked and lost their lives to save others in the World Trade Center towers.

Military action may unleash new flood of Afghan refugees
Monday, October 1, 2001
If the United States attacks terrorist targets in Afghanistan, soldiers will have to deal with not only armed resistance but also with cascades of starving, desperate and fearful refugees.
Military officials must plan how the armed forces will help ease the humanitarian crisis and avoid killing civilians. Failure on either point could turn public opinion against the war on terrorism, not only in the United States but throughout the region and around the world.

KCI on high alert following attacks
Monday, October 1, 2001
Security remained heavy at Kansas City International airport on Sunday, bringing praise from some travelers but causing three musicians from India to miss a flight to Syracuse, N.Y.

Drunken stupor
Monday, October 1, 2001
J-W Editorials

Comparative figures regarding the terrorist atrocities and alcohol-related deaths are horribly sobering.
Numbers often can be manipulated in both positive and negative ways, and don't always tell the full story about a given subject. But two figures that appeared in recent news stories are a grim testimonial to the devastating ways people can interact.

Unknown elements make war on terrorism hard to calculate
Monday, October 1, 2001
Like the opening shot in billiards that sends the balls ricocheting in directions unknown, America's war on terrorism could have unintended consequences far and wide.

Stocks slip lower ahead of Fed meeting
Monday, October 1, 2001
(Web Posted Monday at 4:23 p.m.) Wall Street took a respite Monday after two weeks of volatile trading, dipping lower as investors absorbed an unsurprising purchasing managers' report and awaited a Federal Reserve meeting on interest rates.

Several people arrested in Bosnia on suspicion of being linked to global terrorism
Monday, October 1, 2001
(Web Posted Monday at 8:28 a.m.) Several people suspected of having links to global terrorism were arrested over the past few days, including two who were found with box cutters near Sarajevo's airport, Bosnian authorities said Monday.

Stock losses take toll on Freedom Forum
Monday, October 1, 2001
Stock market losses amounting to about 30 percent of its $1 billion endowment have forced the Freedom Forum to close four international offices — a move that will hinder the foundation's efforts to encourage world press freedoms.

Study finds hate crimes just fraction of all offenses
Monday, October 1, 2001
Crimes motivated by hatred for a person's race, religion or other characteristics remain a tiny percentage of all offenses, the government reported Sunday, based on samples from several states.

Politicians stump for New York
Monday, October 1, 2001
Maryland Gov. Parris Glendening and District of Columbia Mayor Anthony Williams took time off to play in the Big Apple Sunday, hoping to show Americans that terrorists have failed to shut down the country with a whirlwind day of eating, shopping and taking in a Broadway show.

Terrorist plot evolved from trials and errors
Monday, October 1, 2001
After the 1993 attack on the World Trade Center, investigators discovered that conspirator Nidal Ayyad had left behind a chilling computer message: "Next time, it will be very precise."

Pakistan says bin Laden handover prospects dim
Monday, October 1, 2001
(Web Posted Monday at 4:50 a.m.) Pakistan's president said it was unlikely the Taliban would hand over Osama bin Laden, despite the fact that the hard-line Islamic militia admitted knowing the location of the No. 1 suspect in the Sept. 11 terror attacks in the United States.

`Tough job even tougher' for Trade Center workers as temperature drops
Monday, October 1, 2001
(Updated Monday at 11:24 a.m.) Rain and wind chill into the 30s on Monday numbed the hands of rescue workers picking through more than a million tons of rubble at the World Trade Center site. "It's turned pretty miserable. It's making a tough job even tougher," said Luis Montero, a 38-year-old laborer.

Freedom of expression
Monday, October 1, 2001

Teach your children well
Monday, October 1, 2001