October 29, 2001 Diary: America Strikes Back

click for more

Tech vs. terrorism
Monday, October 29, 2001
In the wake of the deadly Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, some high-tech firms are likely to keep busy in the coming years as federal authorities call on them to help patch security holes at the nation's airports.
Whether the technology involves sophisticated scanning machines that can see through clothing or biometric devices that can identify suspected terrorists by the patterns in their eye, analysts say these firms should play a key role in helping make the skies safer.

Big-rig 'weapons' worry truckers
Monday, October 29, 2001
Waitress Gail Sanders keeps photos of suspected terrorists beneath the counter and scrutinizes every customer who enters her busy south Georgia truck stop.
"We look for these folks," said Sanders, pulling out her printout of the FBI's 22 most-wanted terrorists. "You keep your eyes open and listen."

Call to sacrifice
Monday, October 29, 2001
J-W Editorials

Franklin Roosevelt's message of 1942 is as appropriate now as it was then.
Many American souls were being tried after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor late in 1941and many were inclined to feel hopeless and unable to assist a nation in crisis. Whatever one's political leanings or proclivities, the fact is that President Franklin Roosevelt time and again rose verbally to the occasion and set the tone for what had to be done. He was our Winston Churchill.

KC postal employees urged to take anthrax tests
Monday, October 29, 2001
Workers at two stamp distribution centers in Kansas City have been advised to take antibiotics as a precaution against anthrax, and about 50 workers have opted to have nasal swabs to test for the disease.
The postal distribution centers received mail and stamps from the Brentwood postal facility in Washington, which distributed anthrax-contaminated mail.

KU students may come under closer scrutiny
Monday, October 29, 2001
By Terry Rombeck

Students and administrators involved in international programs at Kansas University and Baker University are keeping a wary eye on congressional proposals that would allow the government a tighter rein on foreign students.
But it's unclear what affect the proposals — which range from check-ins with Immigration and Naturalization Service to fingerprinting students — will have at the universities.

Families gather at site of devastation
Monday, October 29, 2001
With the smoldering gray rubble of the World Trade Center a sorrowful backdrop, the families of people killed in the Sept. 11 terrorist attack gathered Sunday for a memorial service of prayer and song.
Thousands of mourners, some holding photographs of their loved ones, rose from their plastic chairs as Police Officer Daniel Rodriguez opened the service with "The Star-Spangled Banner." Cardinal Edward Egan delivered the invocation, standing at a podium draped in black.

Police chief studies biological threats
Monday, October 29, 2001
By Mike Belt

Somewhere in the world there are several hundred former Soviet scientists who know how to make the equipment needed to launch a bioterrorist attack.
Nobody knows where most of those scientists are, and that's what scares Lawrence Police Chief Ron Olin.

Bush moves to tighten restrictions on foreign student visas
Monday, October 29, 2001
(Web Posted Monday at 3:49 p.m.) President Bush moved to tighten restrictions on foreign student visas Monday, part of an effort to bar the entry of immigrants who commit or support terrorism.

New inhalation anthrax case confirmed
Monday, October 29, 2001
The Centers for Disease Control and prevention confirmed Sunday that a female New Jersey postal worker has inhalation anthrax, and the Justice Department said the microbe has been discovered at an offsite facility that processes its mail.
CDC spokesman Tom Skinner stressed that the incident in New Jersey, involving the most serious form of the disease, was not a new case but rather one that had been listed as suspected. Lab tests confirmed the diagnosis, he said. Three people have died from inhaled anthrax.

Rumsfeld: Some al-Qaida leaders killed in U.S. strikes
Monday, October 29, 2001
(Updated Monday at 12:25 p.m.) U.S. military strikes in Afghanistan have killed some leaders of the al-Qaida terrorist network but not the most senior ones, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said Monday.

U.S. finds courage at home
Monday, October 29, 2001
By Jim Hoagland
Washington Post Writers Group

Panic is one available response to the double terrorist assaults on American life, and many members of this country's political and social elite have availed themselves of it. In contrast, working-class Americans have by and large shown steadiness and endurance in the face of provocation or danger.

Misdirected air strikes kill more Afghan civilians
Monday, October 29, 2001
American airstrikes meant to punish the Taliban spilled over Sunday into residential neighborhoods of the Afghan capital, killing 13 civilians, witnesses said. It was the second time in as many days that missiles have accidentally hit homes and killed residents.
Later Sunday, U.S. jets were back over the skies of the beleaguered Afghan capital, and strong explosions could be heard in the direction of the main road from Kabul to the opposition-controlled Bagram air base.

Briefly
Monday, October 29, 2001
• Homeland security briefings to be given 3 times a week
• Border restrictions eased
• More food rations dropped
• USS Cole suspect in custody

Anthrax spores found in Supreme Court
Monday, October 29, 2001
(Updated Monday at 12:34 p.m.) The threat of anthrax sent the Supreme Court justices packing off to an alternative courtroom on Monday and evidence of fresh contamination turned up at the State Department and at least two more government buildings.

Lloyd's members see terror attacks as profit opportunity
Monday, October 29, 2001
A trade group for members of the Lloyd's of London insurance market aroused criticism Monday for describing last month's terrorist attacks as a "historic opportunity" to make money.

Gunmen kill 16 at Pakistan church
Monday, October 29, 2001
Gunmen with "bags of guns and bullets" stormed into a Christian church in Pakistan during Sunday services and sprayed the congregation with gunfire, killing the minister and 15 others, police and survivors said.

Winning at war; losing at peace
Monday, October 29, 2001
By Jack Anderson and Douglas Cohn
United Feature Syndicate

At the conclusion of the Gulf War in 1991, we wrote the following, which seems pertinent today.

New guidelines for bioterrorism to take effect
Monday, October 29, 2001
Years before anthrax in the mail became a national phobia, a man told his sister he was developing a bacteria to send in envelopes filled with razor blades. Other relatives said he had talked about killing family and friends.

Senators say ground troops should play bigger role
Monday, October 29, 2001
Sen. John McCain said Sunday that America must unleash "all the might of United States military power," including large numbers of ground troops, to prevail in Afghanistan. Bush administration officials said the Taliban is being weakened, but warned Americans must be prepared for a drawn-out conflict.

U.S. planes drop 34,000 more food packets over Afghanistan
Monday, October 29, 2001
(Web Posted Monday at 8:47 a.m.) American cargo jets dropped 34,000 more packets of food over Afghanistan overnight in the U.S. aid effort that has accompanied strikes on military targets, an Air Force spokesman said Monday.