November 29, 2001 Diary: America Strikes Back

U.S. stocks up on vaccine for smallpox
Thursday, November 29, 2001
The Bush administration signed a contract Wednesday to buy 155 million doses of smallpox vaccine from a British firm, preparing for the possibility terrorists would try to spread the deadly virus.

Bloody uprising raises questions
Thursday, November 29, 2001
Corpses with bound hands, dust mixed with dried blood, spent mortar rounds littering fields where horses grazed: No part of this massive fortress was left unstained by death in one of the most ferocious battles of the war on the Taliban.

Former Taliban fighters stage strategic 'melt'
Thursday, November 29, 2001
By Jim Hoagland
Washington Post Writers Group

The Taliban fighters who abruptly put down weapons to embrace their long-lost "brothers" from Afghanistan's Northern Alliance have accomplished a strategic melt of legendary proportion.

Al-Qaida officials caught
Thursday, November 29, 2001
U.S. forces in Afghanistan have captured the first high-level members of Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida terrorist network and the prisoners might be flown to a U.S. air base for interrogation, senior administration officials said Wednesday.

Alliance forces reportedly moving into Kandahar
Thursday, November 29, 2001
(Updated Thursday at 11:52 a.m.) A top commander of the northern alliance said Thursday that his forces were moving into Kandahar, the only city the Taliban still control in Afghanistan. The Pentagon said opposition troops could be in the provincial district around the city.

WTC victim buried by wrong family
Thursday, November 29, 2001
A firefighter killed at the World Trade Center was mistakenly identified as one of his fallen comrades and buried by the wrong family because of a remarkable series of similarities between the two men.

Alliance rejects outside security force
Thursday, November 29, 2001
The northern alliance rejected the United Nations' proposal for an international security force for Afghanistan, insisting Wednesday that a security force — theirs — is already in place.

House approves anti-terror spending
Thursday, November 29, 2001
The House overwhelmingly approved a $20 billion anti-terrorism package Wednesday after derailing a Democratic drive to defy President Bush and add billions for domestic security, defense and aid to New York.

Poll: Majority endorse new rules
Thursday, November 29, 2001
Most Americans broadly endorse steps taken by the Bush administration to investigate and prosecute suspected terrorists and express little concern that these measures violate the rights of U.S. citizens or others caught up in the ongoing probes, according to a survey by The Washington Post and ABC News.

River City Weekly video: Joel Mathis speaks about New York City project
Thursday, November 29, 2001
Greg Hurd interviews Lawrence Journal-World reporter Joel Mathis about his recent trip across America to the Sept. 11 attack site at ground zero in New York City.

Fast-track citizenship program announced for terrorism informants
Thursday, November 29, 2001
(Updated Thursday at 10:54 a.m.) Seeking to gain improved cooperation, the Justice Department on Thursday offered foreigners a fast track to American citizenship if they give investigators useful information about terrorists.

Briefly
Thursday, November 29, 2001
• Washington, D.C.: Troop e-mail site set up
• Washington, D.C.: Afghan diplomats readied
• Virginia: Lottery winner to stay in U.S.
• Washington, D.C.: Anthrax mailed to Chile does not match U.S. strain

Pledge concerns
Thursday, November 29, 2001

Squishy approach
Thursday, November 29, 2001