October 18, 2001 Diary: America Strikes Back

Answers to questions about anthrax
Thursday, October 18, 2001
What is anthrax? Anthrax is a potentially fatal hemorrhagic disease, which means it can result in internal bleeding. It is caused by Bacillus anthracis, a hardy rod-shaped bacterium. It gets its name from the Greek word for coal because of the black scab it causes in the skin form of the disease.

Frightened residents keep authorities busy
Thursday, October 18, 2001
By Mindie Paget

The anthrax letter scare has some Douglas County residents so frightened that even bird droppings have been reported as "suspicious." Emergency personnel Tuesday night called a hazardous materials team to a rural Douglas County residence, where a woman feared anthrax had been dropped on her car from an airplane.

Anthrax threat shuts down House
Thursday, October 18, 2001
Thirty-one Senate employees tested positive for anthrax exposure, officials said Wednesday as the threat of bioterrorism rattled Capitol Hill. Hundreds more lined up nervously to be tested, and leaders ordered the shutdown of the House and three Senate office buildings.

$1 million bounty set for anthrax terrorists
Thursday, October 18, 2001
(Updated Thursday at 3:35 p.m.) The FBI and U.S. Postal Service on Thursday offered a reward of up to $1 million for information leading to the arrest of those who sent anthrax through the mail. Investigators continued to link the various incidents through evidence.

6News video report: Student visas might be harder to get
Thursday, October 18, 2001
Tina Terry reports on the possibility of tougher regulations for International Students.

U.S. strikes in Afghan capital hit homes
Thursday, October 18, 2001
(Web Posted Thursday at 4:04 p.m.) American jets bombarded the center of the Afghan capital Thursday, and residents said a strike that hit homes killed at least five civilians — including a 16-year-old girl and four in one family who lived near a Taliban tank unit.

Shame could weaken U.S. resolve
Thursday, October 18, 2001
By Jim Hoagland
Washington Post Writers Group

George Orwell saw beyond 1984. The British author might as well have been thinking of the challenges the United States faces today as it bombs Afghanistan when he wrote the opening sentence of his 1936 essay "Shooting an Elephant":

CBS News employee tests positive for anthrax
Thursday, October 18, 2001
(Updated Thursday at 1:02 p.m.) An employee in CBS anchor Dan Rather's office has the skin form of anthrax and is expected to fully recover, officials said Thursday. It's the third confirmed case in New York City and is the same, less lethal type of infection contracted by an aide to NBC anchor Tom Brokaw and the infant son of an ABC producer.

State halts governor's Capitol mail
Thursday, October 18, 2001
The state has stopped forwarding mail to the Capitol for Gov. Bill Graves and his staff indefinitely in response to anthrax scares across the nation. Joyce Glasscock, secretary of administration, said Wednesday that she had ordered the mail held in a central mailroom in the nearby Docking State Office Building.

U.S. jets pound heart of Kabul
Thursday, October 18, 2001
(Updated Thursday at 7:25 a.m.) U.S. jets attacked targets in the heart of Afghanistan's capital Thursday. Residents said at least five civilians - including four members of one family - were killed when bombs crashed into residential areas.

Patriotism in schools stirs debate
Thursday, October 18, 2001
Before the terrorist attacks, 7-year-old Jacqueline Zobel wasn't sure what it meant to be patriotic. Since then, she's been wearing red, white and blue to school, learning to sing "God Bless America," raising relief money at her lemonade stand — and starting to grasp the concept.

Pakistan's jihad recruiters finding plenty of volunteers
Thursday, October 18, 2001
Just like his American counterparts, the polite, clean-cut young recruiter said he's having no problem signing up volunteers to go fight in Afghanistan. He said he's turned away boys too young and men too old to fight — even a one-legged man who begged to be sent to the front.

Powell highlights common causes in India
Thursday, October 18, 2001
Secretary of State Colin Powell said Wednesday recent terrorist attacks in India prove that the world's terrorism problems extend well beyond Osama bin Laden and his al-Qaida network.

Crisis obscures 'normal' events
Thursday, October 18, 2001
By Claude Lewis
Philadelphia Inquirer

In ordinary times, several news stories rendered relatively unimportant in the last month, might have dominated the news. Events and announcements that once excited the nation are being lost to the turmoil stemming from the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

Special forces aboard U.S. carrier, ready for action
Thursday, October 18, 2001
Special operations troops capable of clandestine warfare are poised aboard a U.S. aircraft carrier in the Indian Ocean, ready to launch search-and-destroy missions against the terrorists in Afghanistan and their Taliban supporters, military officials said Wednesday.

Bush confident in leaving the country
Thursday, October 18, 2001
President Bush assured the nation on Wednesday "we will do whatever it takes to protect our country," whether investigating the anthrax attacks at home or rooting out terrorists abroad.

Round-the-clock attacks pummel Kabul
Thursday, October 18, 2001
U.S. jets intensified attacks Wednesday on Kabul and the Taliban stronghold of Kandahar, striking an oil depot in the capital and sending a huge plume of smoke into the cloudless sky.

Film review - 'Collateral Damage'
Thursday, October 18, 2001
By George Will
Washington Post Writers Group

Like a rock almost submerged in a river, the gubernatorial candidate stands at 7:30 a.m. amid a torrent of rail commuters. Some shake hands, some wish him well, some vent as he nods to suggest interest, even empathy.

6News video report: Around the world
Thursday, October 18, 2001
Kim Hall reports on news from around the world.

6News video report: Anthrax scare reaches Lawrence schools
Thursday, October 18, 2001
Josh Garber reports on the preparedness of the Lawrence School districts in case of anthrax breakout.

Despite anthrax threat, Senate returns to work
Thursday, October 18, 2001
(Web Posted Thursday at 9:23 a.m.) Senators filtered back to work Thursday in the face of an anthrax threat that prompted closure of the House for a sweep by teams hunting for the potentially fatal germ.

Osama bin Laden followers receive life sentences
Thursday, October 18, 2001
(Web Posted Thursday at 10:38 a.m.) Three of four Osama bin Laden disciples convicted in the 1998 bombings of two U.S. embassies in Africa received life without parole Thursday in a city where terrorism is no longer a distant reality.

Briefly
Thursday, October 18, 2001
• Afghanistan: Taliban seize relief food
• Miami: Two suspected hijackers had abandoned rented plane
• New York City: Bin Laden on novelty items

Bigger picture
Thursday, October 18, 2001

'Family' response
Thursday, October 18, 2001

Campaign success
Thursday, October 18, 2001

Redistricting revives partisanship
Wednesday, October 17, 2001
By David Broder
Washington Post Writers Group

Out of sight but not out of mind is the apt description for politics in America at this moment. The focus on terrorism has made partisanship unfashionable.