December 1, 2001 Diary: America Strikes Back

Alliance closes in on Kandahar; Rumsfeld warns of dangers
Saturday, December 1, 2001
Anti-Taliban tribesmen said they seized tanks and heavy weapons Friday from Taliban militiamen who gave up without a fight near the airport outside Kandahar. An American general said the battle will go on until the Taliban stronghold is a "free city."

Afghan talks hit critical impasse
Saturday, December 1, 2001
Talks on Afghanistan's political future deadlocked Friday after the northern alliance leader in Kabul insisted an interim administration be elected and objected to plans for international peacekeepers.

Youth choir cancels tour
Saturday, December 1, 2001
By Mindie Paget

Concerns about international travel in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks will keep the Lawrence Children's Choir from taking a planned tour to England. The choir, made up of 74 boys and girls in grades five through nine, was planning to perform during March at St. Paul's Cathedral and St. Martin-in-the-Fields, both in London.

Connecticut anthrax mystery may be solved
Saturday, December 1, 2001
Traces of anthrax were found on a letter in Connecticut for the first time Friday, prompting the governor to suggest the 94-year-old woman who died mysteriously of the disease last week might have gotten it from her mail after all.

Abridging liberties calls for caution
Saturday, December 1, 2001
By Leonard Pitts Jr.
Miami Herald

Apparently, everybody's worried about George Bush except you. "You" in the second-person plural sense of the word, that is. You, the American electorate. Media folks have pronounced themselves worried, as have civil libertarians and members of Congress from both parties. But you? You can barely stifle a yawn.

Italy arrests Egyptian considered major European link to al-Qaida
Saturday, December 1, 2001
(Updated Saturday at 1:12 p.m.) Italian authorities have arrested an Egyptian man said to be a key member of a European Islamic network that helped militants reach Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida training camps, officials said Saturday.

Focus on terror detracts from other prosecutions
Saturday, December 1, 2001
Federal agents recommended 76 percent fewer criminal cases for prosecution in the weeks after the Sept. 11 attacks, a computer analysis of Justice Department records shows, in a sign of one cost of the war on terrorism.

Food at risk from terrorists, senator warns
Saturday, December 1, 2001
Some terrorists involved in the Sept. 11 attacks had agricultural backgrounds, so it is likely their interest in crop dusters was aimed at destroying U.S. crops rather than infecting people, U.S. Sen. Pat Roberts said Friday.

Rebuilding countries helps win war on terrorism, speakers say
Saturday, December 1, 2001
By Chad Lawhorn

If the United States wants to improve relations with the Islamic world, it could start by becoming more committed to rebuilding countries and less committed to Israel, local experts opined Friday.

Ex-Axis powers recast roles
Saturday, December 1, 2001
Flying the Rising Sun flag, a destroyer, a minesweeper and a supply ship left Japanese naval bases Sunday headed for the Indian Ocean. Twenty-four hours later, a German reconnaissance unit left its home base to help plan patrols that German warships will conduct on seas between the Arabian Peninsula and East Africa.

Preventing terrorism is key
Saturday, December 1, 2001
By David Shribman
The Boston Globe

The autumn war now enters a new phase. With Marines on the ground in Afghanistan, with the Taliban in flight and with al-Qaida in range if not exactly in America's crosshairs, the war on terrorism has reached a perilous intersection.

Bush officials exploring ways to make extradition more palatable for European nations
Saturday, December 1, 2001
(Web Posted Saturday at 1:09 p.m.) In select cases, the Bush administration is considering making concessions on both the death penalty and the use of military tribunals to gain custody of suspected terrorists held in Europe, a senior U.S. official said.

Briefly
Saturday, December 1, 2001
• Washington: Cheney: Military tribunal possible for al-Qaida Captive
• Washington: Supreme Court makes special exception for anthrax delays
• Oregon: Statestands alone in refusal to question foreign visitors