November 5, 2001 Diary: America Strikes Back

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Pakistan-bound photographer fears passport, visa tainted with anthrax
Monday, November 5, 2001
By Mike Belt

On a window sill in Lawrence photographer Gary Smith's studio are two sealed plastic bags containing his passport and visa to Pakistan and the envelope he received them in.
Smith is headed next month to the world's latest battle zone, but a case of war jitters has hit him pre-departure.

Taliban crumbling, Rumsfeld asserts
Monday, November 5, 2001
As snow blocked an Afghan mountain pass and signaled the onset of winter, U.S. warplanes pounded Taliban front lines Sunday, and U.S. officials said the Afghan regime is beginning to crumble.
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said in Pakistan that the Taliban is no longer able to function as a government and is fast losing its military muscle. But other senior officials said that dismembering the Taliban regime and isolating Osama bin Laden still requires major military advances by opposition forces in northern Afghanistan, defections of key tribal leaders elsewhere in the country and progress toward assembling a broad-based government to succeed the Taliban.

Arab leaders snub bin Laden
Monday, November 5, 2001
Osama bin Laden is waging a war against the world and does not represent Arabs and Muslims, senior Arab officials said Sunday during a gathering of foreign ministers in the Syrian capital.
"I think there is a war between him (bin Laden) and the world," Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher told reporters before the meeting of Arab League foreign ministers.

How can civilized societies fight terrorism?
Monday, November 5, 2001
By Jim Hoagland
Washington Post Writers Group

President Bush's declaration of war accords Osama bin Laden's terror gang "a status and a dignity" it does not deserve, British historian Michael Howard observed in London this week. War is too good for this sick bunch. They must be hounded to earth by police methods, Howard suggested, and defeated in a contest for hearts and minds.

Suspected al-Qaida operative arrested
Monday, November 5, 2001
A suspected Al-Qaida operative observed meeting with hijacker Khalid Almihdhar in Malaysia in 2000 has been detained in the Middle East for questioning in connection with prior terrorist attacks, officials said Sunday.
The man was being questioned by intelligence agents about his possible contact with the hijacker, his suspected involvement in the USS Cole bombing and a foiled plot to bomb a hotel in Jordan filled with Americans during the millennium celebrations, officials said.

Smallpox a painful flashback
Monday, November 5, 2001
By Ellen Goodman
The Boston Globe

I am sitting here trying to parse the government's instructions. How do I go about my normal life but remain on heightened alert?
In front of me is my plane ticket to Newark. Does living normally now mean getting to the airport two dark and grim hours ahead of my 7 a.m. flight? Does being alert mean bagging the trip?

Anthrax found in postal boxes in Pentagon
Monday, November 5, 2001
(Updated Monday at 12:29 p.m.) Two postal boxes at a U.S. Post Office inside the Pentagon have tested positive for anthrax, officials said Monday. One of the boxes was rented by an unidentified Navy service member and the other was unassigned.

Investigators to examine Capitol Hill mail
Monday, November 5, 2001
Federal investigators working on the anthrax case are expected this week to begin examining truckloads of contaminated and decontaminated mail from Capitol Hill offices and from Washington's central mail processing center.

Past response may guide future
Monday, November 5, 2001
By Jane Eisner
Knight Ridder Newspapers

For a lesson on how to draw civic good from the continuing anthrax threat, we turn now to the yellow fever epidemic of 1793.

U.S. bombers hit Taliban hilltop positions
Monday, November 5, 2001
(Updated Monday at 10:23 a.m.) B-52s hammered away at Taliban positions outside a town near the northern border with Tajikistan and along the Kabul front Monday in hopes of helping the opposition gain ground before the advent of winter.

Islam in America dominated by South Asians, blacks
Monday, November 5, 2001
Arshad Majid's family came to America from India when he was 4, and they brought their religious devotion with them. Majid remembers waking up early, climbing onto his father's lap and watching him read the Quran.

Widows, single moms face added burdens
Monday, November 5, 2001
Jenna and Ariel Jacobs had been eagerly awaiting the birth of their first child, expected in September around the time of their first wedding anniversary.

Afghans say bin Laden overstaying his welcome
Monday, November 5, 2001
Four weeks after U.S. bombing began, Afghans interviewed in the capital say they wish Osama bin Laden, the man referred to as "the guest," would pack up and leave.

Detained aid worker celebrates birthday
Monday, November 5, 2001
Dayna Curry celebrated her 30th birthday Sunday — and marked her 93rd day in a jail in Afghanistan along with seven other foreigners accused of preaching Christianity in this devoutly Muslim country.

Bush administration cautiously optimistic
Monday, November 5, 2001
The Bush administration believes it can succeed where the Clinton administration failed in launching a new round of global trade talks.

Post-attack global economy examined
Monday, November 5, 2001
The World Trade Organization's long-awaited ministerial meeting this week has been scaled down because of the Sept. 11 terror attacks, but most countries are still sending top officials.

Court gains power in hunt for terrorists
Monday, November 5, 2001
It meets for a few days each month in a windowless room in the Justice Department basement, a highly secretive court that can shape how the government spies on some U.S. residents.

California officials correct Bay Bridge vulnerability
Monday, November 5, 2001
Weeks before Gov. Gray Davis announced a potential terrorist threat to California's most famous bridges, Lawrence Livermore scientists identified a dangerous vulnerability in the Bay Bridge.

Briefly
Monday, November 5, 2001
• Firefighters union president faces trespassing charge
• Giuliani racks up air miles
• CIA station confirmed lost

Briefly
Monday, November 5, 2001
• Bush to step up diplomacy efforts
• Historic church reopens amid trade center chaos
• CDC vaccinates workers for smallpox
• Airline passenger with weapons arrested

No respect for life
Monday, November 5, 2001