October 5, 2001 Diary: America Responds

Hijack suspects' last day recorded
Friday, October 5, 2001
For two terrorists planning perhaps the most diabolical crime in history, Mohamed Atta and Abdulaziz Alomari had a rather routine day before their suicide flight into the World Trade Center.
They dined at a Portland, Maine, Pizza Hut, shopped at a Wal-Mart, gassed up a rental car and withdrew cash from two ATMs, according to a new FBI chronology of their activities on Sept. 10.

Don't let America drift into inaction
Friday, October 5, 2001
By Jim Hoagland
Washington Post Writers Group

Improvised in the horror and shock of the Sept. 11 terror attacks on America, the Bush administration's initial diplomatic strategy bought valuable time and space for the more serious and sustained response to come. So let us praise that strategy and prepare to bury it as soon as its limited utility is exhausted.
Napoleon warned that nothing lasts as long as the temporary. The first risk of building a broad strategic coalition is that the construction becomes an end in itself — that photos of parades of foreign ministers shaking hands and expressing sympathy get defined as success and overtake effective action as the ultimate goal.

Courts proceeding secretively on terror
Friday, October 5, 2001
The U.S. terror investigation that has hauled in hundreds of Middle Easterners is being conducted with closed court hearings and sealed documents on a scale legal experts say may be unprecedented.
As part of what Atty. Gen. John Ashcroft has called the biggest criminal investigation in U.S. history, federal authorities have detained more than 500 people without releasing the paperwork that usually accompanies nearly any type of court proceeding.

Afghans to receive aid; Pakistan backs U.S.
Friday, October 5, 2001
As his global coalition against terror firmed up Thursday, President Bush announced a $320 million plan to aid the suffering people of Afghanistan even as he prepared for war against their leaders.
Bush's efforts to rally the world against terror while reassuring Muslims that they are not the enemy seemed to be jelling. The government of Pakistan, a crucial Muslim neighbor to Afghanistan, said it was convinced by U.S. evidence that Osama bin Laden was behind the Sept. 11 attacks on America.

Florida man dies after contracting rare form of anthrax
Friday, October 5, 2001
(Web Posted Friday at 4:56 p.m.) A 63-year-old Florida man died of the inhaled form of anthrax Friday in the first such death in the United States in 25 years. Health officials said there is no evidence he was the victim of a terrorist attack, but the FBI and CDC are investigating.

Bush asks for $60 billion tax cut
Friday, October 5, 2001
(Web Posted Friday at 3:10 p.m.) President Bush urged Congress Friday to pass an additional $60 billion in tax relief for individuals and businesses to help revive an economy staggered by the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

Maybe we never left 'normal'
Friday, October 5, 2001
By Leonard Pitts Jr.
Miami Herald

"I'm so damn scared." — e-mail from a reader
It's been more than three weeks now. How are you doing with all this? Are you all right?

State department names list of terrorist organizations
Friday, October 5, 2001
(Updated Friday at 11:54 a.m.) The network headed by Osama bin Laden and several Palestinian groups were cited by the State Department Friday as terrorist organizations.

Volunteers return from NYC
Friday, October 5, 2001
By Mindie Paget

There are moments from the blurry week Jeff Ferguson spent in New York that he remembers clearly.

National Guard to secure nation's airports
Friday, October 5, 2001
Five thousand National Guardsmen are taking up posts at 422 airports nationwide in an effort to bolster security and restore travelers' confidence in the country's airways.

Israel could be Sept. 11 victim
Friday, October 5, 2001
By Cal Thomas
Tribune Media Services

The Bush administration appears ready to make a serious foreign policy mistake at the moment it is trying to stamp out the evil of terrorism as practiced by Osama bin Laden and his followers.

National Guardsmen begin providing added security at Boston's Logan Airport
Friday, October 5, 2001
(Updated Friday at 11:50 a.m.) National Guardsmen began fanning out to the state's airports early Friday, adding a layer of security prompted by the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. The largest contingent, at Boston's Logan Airport, began arriving before 4 a.m. Other airports slated to get guardsmen included Martha's Vineyard, Nantucket, Barnstable, Hanscom and Worcester.

Arab station releases what it says appears to be most recent tape of bin Laden
Friday, October 5, 2001
(Web Posted Friday at 8:54 a.m.) New images of Osama bin Laden appeared Friday on an Arab television station, showing the terror suspect somber and composed amid a celebration by his followers at an arid mountain base.

Bin Laden family known worldwide
Friday, October 5, 2001
One brother owns several condos with stunning views of the Boston Harbor. Another is Brazil's representative to Saudi Arabia. A third was a jet setter and business magnate with a penchant for blue jeans.

N.Y. stands to lose $105 billion
Friday, October 5, 2001
The World Trade Center disaster will cost New York's economy as much as $105 billion over the next two years, city officials said Thursday as they warned of budget woes even with a big federal bailout.

Middle East expert preaches caution in wake of attacks
Friday, October 5, 2001
By Mindie Paget

During these turbulent times in America and around the world, it's best to think rationally and humanistically instead of rashly and from behind imaginary lines that divide the West and Islam.

U.S bioterror treatment supplies assessed
Friday, October 5, 2001
Florida's anthrax case raised new questions about whether there would be enough medication for sick Americans if bioterrorists ever attack.

Oklahoma City sends comfort in form of teddy bears
Friday, October 5, 2001
In ordinary times, children hold them at night for security, to keep away bad dreams. But when a terrorist bomb made the bad dreams real six years ago, the children of Oklahoma City held them tighter and found even greater comfort in them.

Counselors see disaster through mind of a child
Friday, October 5, 2001
In the minds of the children, the buildings broke. The planes they saw on television kept hitting again and again. And there's a reasonable explanation why a parent hasn't come home.

1,000 U.S. infantry troops en route to former Soviet republic as buildup continues
Friday, October 5, 2001
(Web Posted Friday at 8:35 a.m.) The U.S. Army dispatched about a thousand infantry soldiers to this country bordering Afghanistan Friday, part of a massive buildup for a military response to the terrorist attacks on the United States.

Briefly
Friday, October 5, 2001
• Toll of missing set at 4,986
• More indicted in license scam
• Reagan airport reopens
• AAA finds travel patriotism

6News video report: Around the world
Friday, October 5, 2001
Kim Hall reports on news from around the world.

An old story
Friday, October 5, 2001