November 26, 2001 Diary: America Strikes Back

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U.S. Marines land in Afghanistan
Monday, November 26, 2001
In a decisive move to strike at the last Taliban stronghold, hundreds of U.S. Marines landed by helicopter early today near the southern Afghan city of Kandahar, a senior U.S. official said. As many as 1,000 troops could be on the ground there within days.
The deployment of the first large U.S. ground expeditionary force comes a day after the Taliban's last northern garrison, Kunduz, fell to troops of the northern alliance, and a bloody, chaotic jailhouse uprising by some of the foreign fighters captured in that siege.

Our new world
Monday, November 26, 2001
J-W Editorials

Our effort to overpower terrorism will involve a number of important long-range as well as short-term goals.
As for the American/Allied decision to continue military activity, including bombing of terrorists and their cells, during the Islamic holy period of Ramadan, cautious logic has been offered by Jim Wallis, editor of Sojourners magazine. Wallis has been covering issues of faith, culture and politics for 30 years.

Extremism's growth monitored
Monday, November 26, 2001
After decades of dormancy under the iron-fisted rule of former dictator Suharto, Islamic militancy is on the rise in Indonesia and U.S. officials fear its newfound democracy is threatened.
They warn that Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida network has taken advantage of lax security to infiltrate Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation.

U.S. Marine helicopters attack convoy
Monday, November 26, 2001
(Updated Monday at 1:49 p.m.) U.S. Marine helicopter gunships attacked an armored column Monday "in the vicinity of" the new base the Americans have created in the Afghan desert to press their war on terrorism, a Marine spokesman said.

'Security' a buzzword for lobbyists
Monday, November 26, 2001
The lobby for road-sign makers is using a new pitch for its traditional request for more federal highway safety money: Better traffic-routing devices would help motorists flee cities more quickly and safely during a terrorist attack.
Since Sept. 11, lobby groups as diverse as the American Traffic Safety Services Assn., farmers, the high-tech industry and energy producers have begun to promote long-standing proposals as suddenly vital to national security.

Blank check for war a terrible idea
Monday, November 26, 2001
By Sheldon Richman
Future of Freedom Foundation

In the aftermath of the horrors of Sept. 11 and in our wish for justice for the perpetrators, we seem to have forgotten another kind of violence that is ready to befall America: the self-inflicted violence of an open-ended and essentially secret global war conducted by the U.S. government against an amorphous enemy, "Terrorism."
It would be the ultimate tragedy if our rational desire for justice was transmogrified into a blank check. The violence that such a thing would inflict on American society would not be of the metaphorical variety. It would be real, and the costs would be incalculable.

Marines seize airstrip
Monday, November 26, 2001
(Updated Monday at 1:06 p.m.) An initial force of about 500 Marines seized an airstrip in southern Afghanistan, the Pentagon announced Monday. President Bush said the troops would assist in hunting down terrorists linked to the Sept. 11 attacks against the United States.

Businesses poised to aid Aghan recovery
Monday, November 26, 2001
Where others see desperate refugees and bombed-out roads and bridges, Islamudin Khorami sees factory jobs blossoming from Afghanistan's postwar ruins.

Marines vow to finish fight
Monday, November 26, 2001
(Updated Monday at 6:54 a.m.) It began with a prayer, last-minute firing practice and a reminder of why they were preparing to fight — U.S. Marines about to land in Afghanistan stenciled their vehicles and weapons systems with black silhouettes of the now-demolished World Trade Center and the numbers "9/11."

Bush mocks the Constitution
Monday, November 26, 2001
By Myriam Marquez
The Orlando Sentinel

The military trucks haven't started rolling through our cities, picking up Arabs and Muslims and shuttling them off to internment camps. But the xenophobia of 1940s America is uncomfortably evident today.

Battle rages anew for northern Afghan fortress
Monday, November 26, 2001
(Web Posted Monday at 7:17 a.m.) Dozens of captured fighters loyal to Osama bin Laden used rockets to battle anti-Taliban forces Monday from the tower of a mud-walled fortress where hundreds of their comrades were killed a day earlier, witnesses said.

Bush calls for economic stimulus plan
Monday, November 26, 2001
(Web Posted Monday at 1:11 p.m.) President Bush said the recession officially declared Monday should act as a clarion call for Congress to quickly approve an economic stimulus plan.

Briefly
Monday, November 26, 2001
• Freed aid workers in U.S.
• Leahy says anthrax letter could have killed 100,000
• Arab League plans campaign to boost image of Muslims
• NYSE bans lunch deliveries