December 7, 2001 Diary: America Strikes Back

Misguided youth?
Friday, December 7, 2001
Journal-World Editorial

The term "traitor" quickly and appropriately comes to mind in the John Philip Walker Lindh case. Get ready for those sad songs and heart-rending violins for John Philip Walker Lindh, originally of California.

U.S. pans Kandahar surrender terms
Friday, December 7, 2001
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said Thursday that the United States would not accept a negotiated surrender between Afghanistan's new interim government and besieged Taliban forces in Kandahar that granted amnesty to Taliban leader Mohammad Omar.

Ashcroft defends policies
Friday, December 7, 2001
Atty. Gen. John Ashcroft resolutely defended the Justice Department's aggressive anti-terrorism tactics Thursday, telling a Senate committee the measures are necessary to prevent future attacks and suggesting that criticism of them aids the terrorist cause.

U.S. soldiers mourned
Friday, December 7, 2001
The note on William and Linda Davis' convenience store said there's been a death in the family. The sign on City Hall reads "Our prayers are with you, Davis family." Dozens of little American flags on the family's front yard flutter in the breeze.

U.S. can't afford 'sideshow' in Mideast
Friday, December 7, 2001
By David Shribman
The Boston Globe

The latest round of Palestinian suicide bombings and Israeli retaliations raises new perils in the Middle East, raises new questions about how to battle terrorism worldwide, and raises the stakes for all of the principals in the conflict — including, ominously, President Bush, who is commanding a separate terrorism war.

U.S. jet fighters bomb mountain hide-outs, seeking bin Laden
Friday, December 7, 2001
(Web Posted Friday at 1:23 p.m.) American jets made repeated runs over the forested mountains of eastern Afghanistan on Friday, bombing hide-outs of Osama bin Laden loyalists and filling the valleys with smoke and dust.

Taliban flee Kandahar
Friday, December 7, 2001
(Updated Friday at 11:22 a.m.) Taking their weapons with them, Taliban forces abandoned their last bastion Kandahar on Friday, and witnesses said joyous residents poured into the streets and tore down the Taliban white flag. Afghanistan's interim prime minister said Taliban supreme leader Mullah Mohammed Omar was missing and would be arrested if found.

Bush encouraged by Hollywood's stance on terror war
Friday, December 7, 2001
While some entertainment industry members remain uneasy about their role in the war on terrorism, a White House adviser said President Bush is encouraged by Hollywood's contributions so far.

Armed citizen arrested near White House gates
Friday, December 7, 2001
The U.S. Secret Service Thursday arrested a man outside the White House gates who authorities say was carrying a footlong hunting knife and had an assault rifle, a rifle with a telescopic lens, gunpowder, a handgun, a bulletproof vest and a helmet in his pickup truck parked nearby.

Defense bill showdown nears
Friday, December 7, 2001
Republicans Thursday night demonstrated the votes to scuttle a Democratic plan to increase proposed spending on homeland security and recovery by $15 billion, as the Senate headed toward a showdown vote as early as today on a smaller GOP initiative.

House passes trade bill
Friday, December 7, 2001
The Republican leadership's last-minute arm-twisting of wavering House GOP members produced a dramatic one-vote victory Thursday for a bill to strengthen President Bush's hand in negotiating a new world trade agreement.

Newly opened Leahy letter identical to one sent to Daschle
Friday, December 7, 2001
A letter to Sen. Patrick Leahy contained suspected anthrax and handwriting that appear identical to an earlier letter to Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, the FBI disclosed Thursday.

Arafat's crackdown sparks resistance
Friday, December 7, 2001
Yasser Arafat's intensified crackdown on Islamic militants met angry resistance on his own territory Thursday, as 1,500 Hamas supporters battled Palestinian riot police for hours outside the home of the group's leader. One Hamas supporter died in an exchange of fire.

Poll finds improved view of U.S. Muslims
Friday, December 7, 2001
The image of U.S. Muslims improved significantly in the eyes of their fellow Americans after the terrorist attacks, despite fears that the opposite would occur, according to a survey released Thursday.

Media must be 'observers'
Friday, December 7, 2001
By Ellen Goodman
The Boston Globe

At the end of the 19th century, when African Americans were strung like "strange fruit" from Southern trees, The New York Times required every story about lynching to include a quote from a segregationist justifying the hanging.

Taliban forces abandoning Kandahar
Friday, December 7, 2001
(Web Posted Friday at 7:11 a.m.) Taliban forces abandoned their last bastion Friday, fleeing the southern city of Kandahar and leaving chaos in their wake. Afghanistan's interim leader said Taliban supreme leader Mullah Mohammed Omar is missing and will be arrested if found.

Briefly
Friday, December 7, 2001
• Washington: U.N. Security Council endorses interim government
• Washington: Civil rights official sworn in
• Washington: Ports pressed to up security

Action on Iraq opposed
Friday, December 7, 2001