October 15, 2001 Diary: America Strikes Back

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Statehouse ups security measures in terrorism aftermath
Monday, October 15, 2001
By Dave Ranney

For almost 100 years, Kansans have been free to ride their horses or drive their cars beneath the limestone archways on the north and south sides of the State Capitol.
Not anymore. Last week, state officials installed concrete barricades under both arches, making it more difficult for would-be terrorists to park a carload of explosives next to the building.

Bush rejects Taliban offer to negotiate
Monday, October 15, 2001
President Bush sternly rejected a Taliban offer to discuss handing over Osama bin Laden to a third country as U.S. jets began a second week of bombing. "They must have not heard. There's no negotiations," the president said Sunday.
The number of people exposed to anthrax grew to 12 with the addition of a police officer and two lab technicians in New York. Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson declared that attempts to transmit the deadly bacteria through the mail "is an act of terrorism."

Patriotic tunes a hit in wake of attacks
Monday, October 15, 2001
By Matt Merkel-Hess

When the calls came to donate blood to the Red Cross after the Sept. 11 tragedy, Lesley Hughes knew she couldn't help.
Hughes, a Kansas University senior from Tucson, Ariz., had passed out twice trying to give blood in the past and couldn't face another needle.

A whining press
Monday, October 15, 2001
J-W Editorials

Media people need to be reminded that "we're all in this together."
Increasingly at issue will be the American media, the war against terrorism and complaints that the Bush administration is making it difficult to cover events.

Letter in Senate majority leader's office contained anthrax
Monday, October 15, 2001
(Updated Monday at 2:52 p.m.)A letter opened Monday in the office of Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle tested positive for anthrax, prompting a criminal investigation into a bioterrorism scare that has now spread to Capitol Hill.

'Vietnam with snow' awaits troops
Monday, October 15, 2001
The fierce Afghan winter and the fabled Afghan warriors who seem to thrive in its extremes are very much on the Pentagon's mind.
If U.S. forces go to battle on the ground, Americans could experience the worst winter fighting they ever have faced — "Vietnam with snow" is how one military analyst describes it.

2nd week of attacks begins in Afghanistan
Monday, October 15, 2001
U.S. jets began bombing Kabul early today as the U.S. air campaign to force the handover of Osama bin Laden entered its second week.
Aboard the USS Enterprise, the launching pad for raids on Afghanistan, U.S. officers described Sunday's attacks on the capital and other Afghan cities as "cleanup" missions to hit targets pilots had missed in earlier raids.

Balancing rights against security
Monday, October 15, 2001
By George Will
Washington Post Writers Group

FBI director Robert Mueller had been on the job one week when the job changed. These days Mueller, 57, works in shirtsleeves in an office near the Strategic Information and Operations Center. Counterterrorism funds were used to expand the SIOC in 1998 from 4,000 to 40,000 square feet. The FBI's post-Sept. 11 mission depends on information systems that will not be overwhelmed by big cases, as they were by the Oklahoma City terrorism.

Explosions shake Kabul in U.S. raids
Monday, October 15, 2001
(Updated Monday at 3:19 p.m.)Huge explosions shook the Afghan capital day and night Monday, sending terrified residents scurrying for shelter, as U.S. jets pounded suspected weapons storage sites in Kabul and across the country.

Pakistan Protester shot, killed near U.S. air base
Monday, October 15, 2001
Pockets of frustrated demonstrators, unable to get at an air base where American troops were believed to be. Tense police and soldiers, ordered to protect the facility and public property at all costs. It was a combustible situation Sunday, and in an instant it exploded.
There was a trash fire in the street. Then a sudden rat-tat-tat of automatic weapons fire — a few short bursts. Then a series of sharp reports — perhaps a demonstrator shooting back with a handgun. People were running, screaming for ambulances, loading one wounded man onto the back of a donkey cart, and racing toward the hospital.

U.S. adds leaflets to bombing campaign
Monday, October 15, 2001
(Updated Monday at 3:19 p.m.) American warplanes launched daylight and nighttime attacks over Afghanistan Monday and the Pentagon said it began dropping leaflets to assure Afghans that the bombing is aimed at ridding their country of terrorists.

What's after the Taliban?
Monday, October 15, 2001
By Trudy Rubin
Knight Ridder Newspapers

This is not the Gulf War. Nor is it the Kosovo war.

Precision bombs only as good as human programmers, military learns
Monday, October 15, 2001
The precision bombs and missiles with complex targeting technology are only as fail-safe as the humans who create and program them.
A guided bomb dropped on Afghanistan missed its target by a mile Saturday.

Powell off to Asia to build alliance
Monday, October 15, 2001
Secretary of State Colin Powell headed to Asia Sunday on a diplomatic mission intended to keep tensions between Pakistan and India from further complicating the U.S. anti-terror campaign in neighboring Afghanistan.

Anthrax cases called work of terrorists
Monday, October 15, 2001
A New York City police detective and two lab scientists were exposed to anthrax when they handled a contaminated envelope mailed to NBC News, but they are not in danger of contracting the disease, New York authorities said Sunday as the anthrax scare continued around the globe.

Taliban-guided tour includes civilian areas hit by explosions
Monday, October 15, 2001
Waving shovels and sticks, enraged villagers surged toward foreign journalists brought here Sunday by Afghanistan's ruling Taliban militia to see what officials say was the devastation of a U.S. air attack.

Military escorts now standard for troubled flights
Monday, October 15, 2001
Travelers who have returned to the nation's airports since last month's terrorist attacks have noticed some immediate changes on the ground: longer lines, more restrictions and a greater police presence.

Number of people exposed to anthrax jumps to a dozen amid fears of bioterrorism
Monday, October 15, 2001
(Updated Monday at 12:32 p.m.) Three new cases--a police officer and two lab technicians involved in an investigation at NBC's New York headquarters--tested positive for exposure to the bacteria, Mayor Rudolph Giuliani said Sunday. Nevada officials said four people who may have come into contact with a contaminated letter at a Microsoft office tested negative, while results weren't known for two others.

Powell opens visit to Pakistan
Monday, October 15, 2001
(Web Posted Monday at 3:14 p.m.) Secretary of State Colin Powell arrived in Pakistan Monday just as tensions with India flared up again over Kashmir. President Bush worried that fighting there "could create issues" for the U.S.-led war next door in Afghanistan.

Panic response
Monday, October 15, 2001

Washington starting to say no to post-terror aid requests
Monday, October 15, 2001
After an initial burst of federal aid, the Bush administration and some lawmakers are tapping the brakes on taxpayer assistance to groups seeking help after the terrorist attacks.

Strike called to protest Pakistan support of U.S.-led attacks
Monday, October 15, 2001
(Web Posted Monday at 6:51 a.m.) Merchants by the thousands kept shops shuttered across Pakistan on Monday after Muslim leaders called for a national strike against government support of U.S.-led military strikes on Afghanistan.

Britain honors New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani with knighthood
Monday, October 15, 2001
(Updated Monday at 12:25 p.m.) Mayor Rudolph Giuliani received an honorary knighthood Monday from Queen Elizabeth II for his "outstanding help and support to the bereaved British families in New York."