October 10, 2001 Diary: America Strikes Back

click for more

Anti-terror team expands
Wednesday, October 10, 2001
Former Gen. Wayne A. Downing was retired in Colorado, spending his time trout fishing after a 34-year career in the Army. He told the government, "I'll never come back unless it's a national emergency." The Bush administration reminded him of his offer after the Sept. 11 attacks.

Allies control Afghan skies
Wednesday, October 10, 2001
The United States hit Afghanistan with a third day of airstrikes, crushing Taliban air defenses, radars and airports to the extent that American warplanes can fly virtually unchallenged night and day, the Pentagon said Tuesday. "The skies are now free," President Bush said.

President takes lesson from father's mistakes
Wednesday, October 10, 2001
George W. Bush may have studied history at Yale, but he learned it firsthand in his father's Oval Office classroom. Blessed with unprecedented approval from 89 percent of the American people during the Persian Gulf War in 1991, the elder Bush saw his political support collapse along with the U.S. economy and lost his 1992 bid for re-election.

Bush moves to plug leaks
Wednesday, October 10, 2001
President Bush accused members of Congress on Tuesday of leaking secrets to the news media and said, "It is unacceptable behavior to leak classified information when we have troops at risk." Bush decided Friday to restrict the number of lawmakers who get top-security briefings on the war against terrorism.

Taliban military, terrorist camps, leaders targeted
Wednesday, October 10, 2001
The U.S.-led assault on Afghanistan has rained bombs and missiles on the meager military forces of the Taliban, disabling all but one of their air bases, blinding their air defenses and pounding a pocket of ground troops and several suspected terrorist training camps, officials said Tuesday.

Bush forwarding new doctrine
Wednesday, October 10, 2001
By George Will
Washington Post Writers Group

If economics is a science of single instances, which means not a science, so, too, is war, particularly in an era characterized by both swiftly changing military technologies and the remarkable primitivism of some participants in war. We are at the predictable, almost traditional, beginning of a novel kind of war, one pitting the world's mightiest industrial nation against a cave dweller and, we are told, regimes that help supply his rudimentary needs and those of others like him.

Companies agree to state gasoline settlement
Wednesday, October 10, 2001
(Updated Wednesday at 5:30 p.m.) Thirty-nine of 40 companies named in a gasoline price gouging investigation after the terrorist attacks, including two in Lawrence and one in Eudora, have agreed to a settlement with the attorney general's office.

Airline flights purely routine
Wednesday, October 10, 2001
By Larry Eichel
The Philadelphia Inquirer

I've read and heard any number of first-person tales about the anxiety and horrors of commercial air travel in the post-Sept. 11 era. I thought I'd offer another perspective.

Arafat closes universities to quell Palestinian unrest
Wednesday, October 10, 2001
Embarrassed by anti-U.S. protests, Yasser Arafat's government took two unprecedented steps Tuesday: it closed Gaza City's universities to silence Islamic militants and barred foreign reporters from the Gaza Strip to prevent coverage of the events.

For families of victims, strikes add to disquiet
Wednesday, October 10, 2001
There was no rush of joy, not even a quiet sense of revenge. With U.S. forces finally targeting terrorists who killed her husband, Christie Coombs was more anxious than ever for herself and her children.

Austerity plan imposed on NYC
Wednesday, October 10, 2001
Mayor Rudolph Giuliani ordered a 15 percent cut in spending by most city departments Tuesday, predicting the World Trade Center attack will cost $1 billion in revenue this fiscal year and 100,000 jobs.

Halloween shaping up to be less gory
Wednesday, October 10, 2001
There's something missing from the white Ninja fighter costume Philip Levine chose for Halloween this year — the toy sword with fake drops of blood on it. "Mom said, 'No,"' the 6-year-old from suburban Chicago says, still a little dejected. "She said it would scare people who were younger."

Pakistan cracks down on dissent
Wednesday, October 10, 2001
Maneuvering to contain violent protests and protect his position as an American ally in the fight against terrorism, President Pervez Musharraf Tuesday cracked down on dissenters as Pakistani soldiers were reported to have clashed twice in two days with Taliban troops along the Afghan border.

Bush calls terrorism fight 'our calling'
Wednesday, October 10, 2001
(Updated Thursday at 2:41 a.m.) With American pilots poised to unleash "bunker-busting" bombs against the Taliban in Afghanistan, President Bush declared Wednesday that "our calling" is the eradication of terrorism around the globe. "Now is the time to draw the line in the sand against the evil ones," he said.

Thursday marks month since terrorist attacks
Wednesday, October 10, 2001
With prayers and flickering candles, to the sound of bagpipes and police sirens and patriotic hymns, Americans by the millions will break from their routines Thursday to mark the passage of one month since the Sept. 11 terror attacks.

Bush to announce list of terrorist fugitives
Wednesday, October 10, 2001
President Bush is expected this week to identify 19 terrorists wanted as fugitives by the FBI. The announcement could come as early as Wednesday, according to several senior U.S. officials who requested anonymity.

Al-Qaida renews call for holy war
Wednesday, October 10, 2001
Osama bin Laden's spokesman issued a strident, televised appeal Tuesday, for Muslims around the world to rise in a global holy war against the United States and its interests everywhere.

Special forces teams ready for next phase of attack
Wednesday, October 10, 2001
(Updated Thursday at 2:41 a.m.) As U.S. war planes shift from fixed targets in Afghanistan to bombing more mobile targets such as troop convoys, military special forces teams are poised for what is likely to be a prominent role in the next phase of attacks.

Bush unveils new 'most wanted' list
Wednesday, October 10, 2001
(Updated Thursday at 2:40 a.m.) President Bush issued a new "Most Wanted" list on Wednesday, stepping up the worldwide pressure on 22 suspected terrorists, some of whom have been at large for years. "Terrorism has a face and today we expose it for the world to see," Bush said.

Airliner diverted after onboard disturbance
Wednesday, October 10, 2001
(Updated Thursday at 2:59 a.m.) A Delta airliner bound for California was diverted to Shreveport and landed under escort from two fighter planes Wednesday after the pilot reported a disturbance in the cabin.

Bush offers truce over flap about congressional leaks
Wednesday, October 10, 2001
(Updated Thursday at 2:40 a.m.) President Bush, in a breakfast meeting with chastened lawmakers on Wednesday, backed off his decision severely restricting congressional briefings on the war against terrorists.

6News video report: News from around the world
Wednesday, October 10, 2001
Kim Hall reports on news from around the world.

Missile defense
Tuesday, October 9, 2001
J-W Editorials

The Sept. 11 terrorist attacks may renew interest in further development of a missile defense shield for the United States.
Chances are those in charge of our nation's defense are going to be giving increased study to the possibility of building a "shield" around the United States to protect this country and its people from missile attacks.

Afghan assault continues
Tuesday, October 9, 2001
Jets bombed the stronghold of Afghanistan's ruling Taliban militia in southern Kandahar hours after dawn Tuesday, Taliban officials said.
Taliban soliders replied with heavy anit-aircraft fire as the planes streaked over Kandahar about 8:15 a.m.

Anti-terror bombing campaign going 'around the clock'
Tuesday, October 9, 2001
(Updated Tuesday at 4:11 p.m.) American pilots bombed targets in Afghanistan day and night Tuesday, and President Bush refused to say whether ground troops would be added to the campaign against terrorism. The United Nations listed four security guards as civilian casualties of the military bombardment.

U.S. tries to maintain diplomacy with Muslim states
Tuesday, October 9, 2001
The Bush administration is struggling to maintain the backing of Arab and other Muslim states even as it warns that it may take its war against terrorism beyond Afghanistan.

Parade lifts New Yorkers' spirits
Tuesday, October 9, 2001
Urging people not "to let terrorism hinder us," Mayor Rudolph Giuliani refused to bow to fear Monday, marching in a Columbus Day Parade that combined a traditional celebration of Italian-American heritage with a patriotic theme.

Americans show resilience even in shadows of hatred, fear
Tuesday, October 9, 2001
America listened with dread Monday for echoes of explosions it had unleashed a world away.

Bin Laden camps teach terror
Tuesday, October 9, 2001
Osama bin Laden's training camps, prime targets of the U.S.-British military strikes, mix religious instruction with terrorist disciplines, from guns and explosives to hijacking and assassination.

High-tech videophones capture front-line action
Tuesday, October 9, 2001
CNN's images from the air war over Afghanistan are being made possible by a new high-tech device — even though viewers may complain the pictures are of low quality.

6News Video: Reports from around the world
Tuesday, October 9, 2001
The B-2 stealth bombers from Whiteman AFB figure prominently in the Afghanistan bombings. Also, the CDC are still investigating the anthrax outbreaks in Florida. The Russian submarine lost at sea last year has been raised. Finally, Hurricane Iris has reached Category 4 and will make landfall in Belize.

New restrictions on top-secret briefings get mixed reviews in Congress
Tuesday, October 9, 2001
(Web Posted Tuesday at 1:08 p.m.) President Bush's decision to severely limit the members of Congress who get top security briefings on the war against terrorism got a mixed review from lawmakers who returned to work Tuesday after the Columbus Day holiday.

Rumsfeld: Airstrikes knocking out Taliban's air defenses
Tuesday, October 9, 2001
(Updated Tuesday at 12:58 p.m.) Three days of airstrikes by U.S. and British warplanes have taken a toll on the al-Qaida terrorist network and the Taliban militia in Afghanistan that supports it, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said Tuesday.

FBI terrorism probe detains 614
Tuesday, October 9, 2001
(Updated Tuesday at 1:00 p.m.) The number of people arrested in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks rose to more than 600 people as the FBI investigated an anthrax contamination at a building in Florida that housed several tabloid newspapers.