November 11, 2001 Diary: America Strikes Back

• Veterans Day observances • Postcards of Change Read the dispatches and post your own thoughts. • Afghan opposition says another major northern city has fallen • Today's stories • Download the U.S. flag

Rumsfeld says U.S. has bombed suspected weapons of mass destruction sites in Afghanistan
Sunday, November 11, 2001
(Updated Sunday at 2:18 p.m.) Osama bin Laden likely has some chemical or biological weapons, and U.S. forces have bombed some sites in Afghanistan that could have been involved in producing them, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said Sunday.

Holiday's meaning runs deep this year
Sunday, November 11, 2001
By Joy Ludwig

Therman Wolfe is itching for the fight. The Perry resident and retired Army master sergeant said he and many other veterans would be more than willing to suit up again for the war against terrorism, if only they could.

Pakistan orders emergency redeployment of nuclear arms
Sunday, November 11, 2001
Pakistan President Gen. Pervez Musharraf ordered an emergency redeployment of the country's nuclear arsenal to at least six new secret locations and has reorganized military oversight of the nuclear forces in the weeks since Pakistan joined the U.S. campaign against terrorism, according to senior officials here.

Bush pledges aid to Pakistan
Sunday, November 11, 2001
In their first meeting, President Bush promised Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf a massive new aid package of about $900 million Saturday to help bolster his nation's military regime as it faces growing public dissent and economic hardships due to the U.S.-led war in neighboring Afghanistan.

'Limited-response' team in effect to address increasing anthrax concerns
Sunday, November 11, 2001
By Mike Belt

Fire department hazardous-materials units around the country have been on the run since mid-October, when anthrax-laced letters began showing up in Capitol Hill offices. Lawrence is no exception. Since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the hazardous-materials investigative unit for Lawrence-Douglas County Fire & Medical has handled 83 anthrax-scare calls, records show. None resulted in a confirmed case of anthrax.

Decisive battles put Taliban on run
Sunday, November 11, 2001
After abandoning a key northern city, Taliban forces retreated south Saturday toward the capital, Kabul, where the opposition threatened to launch a major attack within days.

Bush urges all nations to take stand
Sunday, November 11, 2001
President Bush, in a warning to world leaders, said Saturday all nations are possible targets of terrorism and must join with the United States in a campaign to prevent more attacks. "Each of us must answer for what we have done or what we have left undone," he said.

Honored holiday
Sunday, November 11, 2001
The principles we honor on Veterans Day have become more real to Americans this year. During the last generation or two, the meaning and importance of Veterans Day has faded. Veterans organizations commemorated the holiday, and families may have used the occasion to honor a relative who died in war

Additional traces of anthrax found in Capitol offices
Sunday, November 11, 2001
Trace amounts of anthrax were discovered in the offices of three more senators and another House member in congressional buildings where it had earlier been found. The health threat was deemed minimal.

Bush use of 'Palestine' deliberate, Powell says, marking new policy
Sunday, November 11, 2001
(Web Posted Sunday at 2:16 p.m.) "Palestine" entered the U.S. government lexicon with President Bush's speech to the United Nations. Secretary of State Colin Powell said Sunday that it reflected the administration's vision of two states, Israel and Palestine, side by side.

Saudi Arabia, U.S. walking a fine line
Sunday, November 11, 2001
By Jim Hoagland
Washington Post Writers Group

Saudi Arabia and the United States have danced a minuet of strategic yin and yang for half a century as each has simultaneously protected and threatened the other's vital interests. Now both the desert kingdom and the world's only superpower realize they have danced onto the edge of a precipice that could crumble beneath them.

Developments, Day 35
Sunday, November 11, 2001

Afghan opposition says another major northern city has fallen
Sunday, November 11, 2001
(Updated Sunday at 11:22 a.m.) Two days after a major victory in a key northern city, opposition forces claimed Sunday they captured their former headquarters of Taloqan. A Taliban official denied the northeastern city had been overrun.

Israeli leader, key aide discuss peace initiative
Sunday, November 11, 2001
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon met Saturday with his foreign minister, Shimon Peres, to discuss Peres' latest peace initiative. Sharon was likely to oppose key elements of it. The plan reportedly calls for the establishment of a Palestinian state in the areas already under Palestinian control as a first phase.

On summit's eve, Putin warms to United States
Sunday, November 11, 2001
Russian President Vladimir Putin said Saturday that he was "very optimistic" that a compromise could be found with the United States on missile defense and that he was bringing new proposals to his meetings with President Bush this week.

Bin Laden claims to have nuclear, chemical weapons
Sunday, November 11, 2001
Osama bin Laden says he has nuclear and chemical weapons that he could use to retaliate against the United States if such weapons are used against him, a Pakistani newspaper reported Saturday.

Terrorist threat of nuclear attack real, experts say
Sunday, November 11, 2001
The guards who oversee the vast, remaining nuclear stockpile of the former Soviet Union have gone months at a time without pay. Highly enriched uranium — usable for a nuclear bomb — has disappeared. Among the buyers-in-waiting: Osama bin Laden.

USS Enterprise back stateside after combat duty
Sunday, November 11, 2001
Kinte Horton stepped off the USS Enterprise Saturday after nearly seven months at sea, and greeted his 6-month-old son for the first time. Zechariah was born two weeks after Horton and his 5,000 shipmates left in April aboard what became the first U.S. aircraft carrier to report for combat duty in the war on terrorism.

NY back in business amid tragic reminder
Sunday, November 11, 2001
By Joel Mathis

You can't escape the odor in Lower Manhattan. If you're walking near Ground Zero of the World Trade Center catastrophe, a gust of wind eventually will rise up and deliver that smell to your nostrils. "It's a combination of smoke and death," said Lauren Martinez, a resident of the Bronx.

Afghan ground troops are key to success
Sunday, November 11, 2001
By Trudy Rubin
The Philadelphia Inquirer

Suddenly the call is coming forth from many quarters to send tens of thousands of ground troops to Afghanistan. American ground troops.

Federal force may not boost airport safety
Sunday, November 11, 2001
By Philip Terzian
Providence Journal

Since Sept. 11, it is said, and usually with a snicker, conservatives have discovered the virtues of government. When terrorists struck at New York and Washington, or war was declared on Osama bin Laden, did the country turn to the private sector for relief? Of course not.

Resident's name a reminder of history, patriotism
Sunday, November 11, 2001
By Mindie Paget

These days, she goes by Misty. But Lawrence resident Armistice Albert says the name her parents gave her 77 years ago today shows just how patriotic people were back in 1924. "Years ago, when the war was quite a thing, my family was all very patriotic," Albert says.

Briefly
Sunday, November 11, 2001
• Washington: Report: Red Cross destroyed thousands of pints of blood
• VATICAN CITY: Pope receives firefighters in audience at St. Peters
• NEW YORK: Charges to be dropped against firefighter protesters