October 7, 2001 Diary: America Responds

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Hijackers' trail wound through Europe
Sunday, October 7, 2001
Two months before flying a jetliner into the World Trade Center, Mohamed Atta went on a European road trip. He flew from Miami to Spain, rented a car and drove 1,190 miles in 12 days, including a brief visit to Switzerland.

Taliban vows war, offers deal
Sunday, October 7, 2001
Taliban gunners in Afghanistan's capital unleashed a thunderous barrage at a plane cruising high over Kabul on Saturday as President Bush delivered a stern warning that "time is running out" for the regime to hand over Osama bin Laden.

Last WTC rescue teams leave
Sunday, October 7, 2001
The last federal rescue crew left the World Trade Center on Saturday, leaving New York officials to continue the nearly month-old effort to locate nearly 5,000 bodies buried in the rubble.

Algerian thought to be second suicide bomber in Paris plot
Sunday, October 7, 2001
An Algerian arrested in Spain 11 days ago may have been one of two suicide bombers who had planned to blow up the U.S. Embassy and another American target in Paris in March.

Patriotic energy could turn to service
Sunday, October 7, 2001
By David Broder
Washington Post Writers Group

The great feat of statesmanship is to turn catastrophe into opportunity. That is what John McCain and Evan Bayh hope to do, by converting the surge of patriotic energy unleashed by the terrorist attacks of last month into a greatly expanded program of national service for young Americans.

Cheers, coupled with caution, greet news of U.S. strikes in Afghanistan
Sunday, October 7, 2001
(Updated Sunday at 3:24 p.m.) Cheers of "USA! USA!" echoed through the Atlanta Falcons' football stadium at news that U.S. forces had launched strikes in Afghanistan. In Denver, a woman who fled as a child from Vietnam ruefully wished that war could be avoided.

Attack led by sea-launched cruise missiles, long-range bombers
Sunday, October 7, 2001
(Updated Sunday at 4:30 p.m.) Forty U.S. and British warplanes and an armada of warships pummeled strongholds of the al-Qaida network and the Taliban regime in Afghanistan on Sunday with Tomahawk cruise missiles, 500-pound gravity bombs and computer-guided bombs.

Explosions rock Afghanistan as U.S. and Britain launch military strike
Sunday, October 7, 2001
(Web Posted Sunday at 5:03 p.m.) Missiles and warplanes streaked through the Afghan night and rocked at least three cities in a U.S.-British attack on Osama bin Laden and his Taliban backers Sunday. Bin Laden and the Taliban's leader both survived, officials said.

Transcript of Bush's speech announcing military strikes
Sunday, October 7, 2001
(Updated Sunday at 9:05 p.m.) The following is a transcript of President Bush's address to the nation Sunday, announcing military strikes in Afghanistan.

President Bush: A prayer for wisdom, an order to attack
Sunday, October 7, 2001
(Web Posted Sunday at 5:30 p.m.) Bundled against Sunday's unseasonable cold, President Bush bowed his head in prayer for wisdom, for the salvation of firefighters killed in the crumble of the World Trade Center. He had already, in secret the night before, ordered retaliation for their deaths.

Workers at World Trade Center ruins hail military action against Afghanistan
Sunday, October 7, 2001
(Web Posted Sunday at 8:20 p.m.) Workers helping clear the rubble of the World Trade Center learned of Sunday's military strikes against Afghanistan by word of mouth and from a television that had been set up in a makeshift washroom.

Afghanistan's Taliban vows 'fight to the last'
Sunday, October 7, 2001
(Updated Sunday at 5:04 p.m.) Taliban rulers, vowing to "fight to the last" against those who side with the United States, say they have sent thousands of troops to the border with Uzbekistan, whose president has allowed U.S. troops use an air base for the anti-terrorism campaign.

Traveling Americans urged to take precautions
Sunday, October 7, 2001
(Web Posted Sunday at 2:03 p.m.) As the United States began military action Sunday against targets in Afghanistan, the State Department warned of the possibility of "strong anti-American sentiment and retaliatory actions against U.S. citizens and interests throughout the world."

Tajik president orders military to be on high alert
Sunday, October 7, 2001
(Web Posted Sunday at 2:01 p.m.) Tajik President Emomali Rakhmonov ordered all his country's armed forces on high alert Sunday following the U.S-led military attack against neighboring Afghanistan, where the ruling Taliban militia is sheltering Osama bin Laden, the main suspect in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the presidential press service said.

Arab allies unconvinced by evidence against bin Laden
Sunday, October 7, 2001
(Web Posted Sunday at 4:52 p.m.) Washington's NATO partners listened to the evidence and responded by lending military hardware. British Prime Minister Tony Blair listened and declared unequivocally that America had identified those responsible for the Sept. 11 terror attacks.

Trees spur feeling of human kinship
Sunday, October 7, 2001
By George Gurley

The old elm in downtown Lawrence that has provoked so much compassion reminds me of the stately elms that once shaded the street in Kansas City where I grew up.

Across Muslim world, many see retaliatory strikes as war on Islam
Sunday, October 7, 2001
(Web Posted Sunday at 4:44 p.m.) Moderate Arab countries were slow to comment on the U.S. and British strikes on Afghanistan, but in the streets across the Muslim world, many denounced it as a war against Arabs and Muslims.

Bush 'resolute' as he watches military strike, honors fallen firefighters
Sunday, October 7, 2001
(Web Posted Sunday at 4:05 p.m.) President Bush spent Sunday watching military developments in Afghanistan, shuttling between his White House residence and the Oval Office and meeting with top aides after his midday address informing the nation of the U.S. operation.

Arafat criticizes Palestinian gunmen
Sunday, October 7, 2001
In a rare public criticism of Palestinian militants, Yasser Arafat's Cabinet has demanded gunmen stop attacking Israel, saying they have violated the Mideast truce and damaged Palestinian interests.

Fatal anthrax case puzzles investigators
Sunday, October 7, 2001
Relatives of a Florida man who contracted a fatal case of anthrax are being given antibiotics as a precaution and his co-workers have been tested and cleared, health authorities said Saturday.

'God bless America' irks ACLU
Sunday, October 7, 2001
Some parents, students and administrators are defending the school district's decision to keep a "God Bless America" sign up. The school district posted the message on a sign outside Breen Elementary School after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

Reporters get potentially lethal weapons on flights
Sunday, October 7, 2001
Despite a nationwide security crackdown, two New York Daily News reporters were able to slip potentially deadly carry-on items such as knives, razor blades and scissors past checkpoints at 10 major airports last week as part of an investigation by the paper.

CIA under pressure to rely more on spies
Sunday, October 7, 2001
After being surprised by the deadliest attack ever on the United States, the nation's $30 billion-a-year intelligence community is under increasing pressure to reduce its dependence on high-tech surveillance and electronic eavesdropping, improve its analysis and hire more spies, even if they're not the most pristine moral characters.

Changes may ultimately benefit U.S.
Sunday, October 7, 2001
By David Shribman
The Boston Globe

Across the nation and across the globe, huge changes in domestic politics and geopolitics are beginning to unfold.

U.S. officials leave south Philippines
Sunday, October 7, 2001
The U.S. government has withdrawn officials and contractors from the southern Mindanao region of the Philippines and advised American citizens not to travel there because of increasing terrorist threats.

National Guard posted in Missouri airports
Sunday, October 7, 2001
Armed and in camouflage, Missouri National Guard troops newly trained by the Federal Aviation Administration began watchdogging checkpoints at the state's commercial airports Saturday, hoping to reassure air travelers jittery since the terrorist attacks.

U.S. sketches plan to rebuild Afghanistan
Sunday, October 7, 2001
The United States on Saturday tightened its noose around the Taliban regime in Afghanistan Saturday, laying the groundwork for a massive international effort to rebuild the battle-scarred nation after the fighting stops.

Afghans' royal sentiments revived
Sunday, October 7, 2001
The days of the king were so different, Afghans say. They remember happy school days, weekend picnics, nights spent watching "Gone with the Wind" or listening to Tom Jones records. And they remember what it was like to live in peace.

Substance stops spread of germs
Sunday, October 7, 2001
The white liquid resembling skim milk that fills bottles in the back of an Ann Arbor laboratory doesn't look like a potentially powerful tool in the war against bioterrorism. But looks can be deceiving.

Finance ministers pledge to aggressively root out terrorists' assets
Sunday, October 7, 2001
(Updated Sunday at 9:09 a.m.) The world's leading industrialized nations said they would vigorously pursue the financial assets of terrorists. They also pledged to work together to stimulate their economies that were already in a slump before the Sept. 11 attacks.

Bush: U.S. and British military action begins against Afghanistan
Sunday, October 7, 2001
(Updated Sunday at 9:15 p.m.) American and British forces unleashed missile attacks Sunday against military targets and Osama bin Laden's training camps inside Afghanistan, broadening the war against terrorists blamed for the attacks that murdered thousands in New York and Washington.

Bin Laden praises attacks on U.S.
Sunday, October 7, 2001
(Web Posted Sunday at 1:56 p.m.) Osama bin Laden, the No. 1 suspect in the terror attacks for which America retaliated with a missile assault on Afghanistan Sunday, praised God for the Sept. 11 strikes that toppled New York's World Trade Center.

Military strategy coming into focus
Sunday, October 7, 2001
Intelligence from Pakistan. Air strikes from Oman or from aircraft carriers. Troops on the ground in Uzbekistan to back up special forces operating inside Afghanistan. And perhaps a command center inside Saudi Arabia.

Northern Alliance spokesman says U.S. attacks against Afghanistan to start soon
Sunday, October 7, 2001
(Updated Monday at 3:05 a.m.) The anti-Taliban alliance in northern Afghanistan expects the United States to launch attacks against Afghanistan where the ruling Islamic militia is sheltering Osama bin Laden, the prime suspect in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the United States, an opposition spokesman said.

Nation Briefs
Sunday, October 7, 2001
• PHILADELPHIA: Amtrak changes ticket policy
• Oregon: Bogus marshal ticketed
• Saudi Arabia: Deadly bombing called unrelated to U.S. attacks
• New York: Afghan filmmaker killed

Terrorism not new
Sunday, October 7, 2001

ACLU reign
Sunday, October 7, 2001