December 2, 2001 Diary: America Strikes Back

Ashcroft's terror war drawing new fire
Sunday, December 2, 2001
Atty. Gen. John Ashcroft, who weathered stormy confirmation hearings to join President Bush's Cabinet, is again a magnet for controversy as a pointman in the war against terrorism.

City suffers major assault
Sunday, December 2, 2001

Democrats will try to change the subject
Sunday, December 2, 2001
By David Broder
Washington Post Writers Group

The latest fund-raising letter from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is a fascinating piece. The appeal for help, signed by House Minority Leader Dick Gephardt, contains not one but two American flag cutouts and features a "Spirit of America" survey.

Ashcroft says religious groups could be monitored
Sunday, December 2, 2001
(Updated Sunday at 1:21 p.m.) Attorney General John Ashcroft warned Sunday that religious or political groups normally free from government intrusion could be monitored by agents if they are suspected of engaging in terrorism.

Islamic militants unleash wave of terror against Israel
Sunday, December 2, 2001
(Updated Sunday at 1:27 p.m.) Islamic militants unleashed a terror assault against Israel on Sunday, killing 26 civilians--pub goers, pedestrians, bus passengers--and wounding nearly 200 in a midnight-to-noon spree of suicide bombings and shootings.

Bush condemns bombing attacks in Israel as 'acts of murder
Sunday, December 2, 2001
President George W. Bush on Sunday condemned suicide bomber attacks in Israel as "horrific acts of murder" and held an emergency meeting at the White House with Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.

Afghan talks find accord in U.N. plan
Sunday, December 2, 2001
Talks on Afghanistan's political future moved into a decisive phase Saturday after the northern alliance said it was prepared to transfer power to a U.N.-backed interim council and allow an international security force, clearing the way for an agreement.

Another expansion of police powers sought
Sunday, December 2, 2001
The Bush administration is asking Congress for a second major expansion of federal surveillance powers that legal experts say would radically change laws that have long protected the rights of Americans.

Economy is always bad news
Sunday, December 2, 2001
By George Will
Washington Post Writers Group

The official certifiers have certified that since March the economy, after a 10-year expansion, the longest in U.S. history, has been in a recession, the 10th since 1945. So let us relearn the two laws that make economic news intelligible.

Bush appeal to children produces $1.5 million
Sunday, December 2, 2001
President Bush asked them to give a dollar each. America's children have responded with nearly $1.5 million for young people in Afghanistan. The total is sure to climb. Because of the anthrax scare, donations have piled up in unopened envelopes.

FBI search casts pall on trio
Sunday, December 2, 2001
Dr. Irshad Shaikh has replaced the shattered remnants of his front door, smashed in more than two weeks ago by an FBI battering ram, but it could take longer to repair his reputation.

Cleanup effort begins at Senate building
Sunday, December 2, 2001
Workers wearing protective suits and air tanks pumped poisonous gas into a Senate building contaminated with anthrax in a cleanup Saturday intended to make it possible to reopen shuttered offices.

High-tech security gadgets take flight after Sept. 11
Sunday, December 2, 2001
One device can fire a microwave signal through the wine bottle you're carrying onboard, just to make sure it really contains cabernet sauvignon, not nitroglycerine.

Briefly
Sunday, December 2, 2001
• WASHINGTON: Bush calls on Arafat to fight terrorism with action
• NEW YORK: Wrongfully ID'd firefighter reburied by rightful family
• New Jersey: Members of Arab enclaves draw interest of FBI agents
• NEW YORK: Drop in tourists forces layoffs at famed art museum