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September 1-15 Stories

 

Paintings Capture First Moments of 9-11 Combat Air Patrols
Sept. 11 was a day when Americans rushed to the aid of each other.
     New York firefighters and policemen rushed into the World Trade Center, military and civilian personnel rushed into stricken offices of the Pentagon, medical personnel in New York and Washington rushed to their duty stations. (Full Story)

Peri Gilpin of NBC’s Frasier will lead 9/11 Moment of Silence in Los Angeles
LOS ANGELES – Mayor Jim Hahn announced that actress Peri Gilpin, who plays radio producer "Roz Doyle" on the NBC comedy series "Frasier", will lead L.A.’s Moment of Silence for September 11th victims and heroes. David Angell, who was Frasier’s executive producer, and his wife Lynn, who was a librarian, were aboard American Airlines flight 11–the aircraft terrorists used to strike the north tower of the World Trade Center in Manhattan at about 8:45 a.m.
     Among the Californians remembered are 3 of the "Let’s Roll" team: Tom Burnett, Jeremy Glick and Mark Bingham. Through phone calls made from UA Flight 93, it was revealed that in the flight’s final moments the men, together with Todd Beamer, who was overheard by a GTE airfone operator saying the now famous phrase, "Let’s Roll", stopped the terrorists from crashing the aircraft into their intended target. (Full Story)

Doing Nothing About Iraq Is Not An Option, Bush Says
Doing nothing about the serious threat Saddam Hussein poses to the world is not an option for the United States, President Bush said today.
     Speaking during a meeting with Democratic and Republican leaders of Congress, Bush said he looks forward to an open dialogue with Congress about the threat Iraq poses.
     He said the United States would work with the United Nations to counter the Iraqi threat. (Full Story)

US Defense Secretary Prefers Inspectors Have All Access to Iraq
The United States would like to see inspectors back in Iraq, but the inspections for weapons of mass destruction would be so intrusive that Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld doubts Saddam Hussein would agree.
     During a Pentagon briefing today, Rumsfeld said it would be preferable for inspectors to have "anytime-anyplace" access to sites in Iraq. This would give at least some additional knowledge about Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction programs. (Full Story)

Space Camp Honors 11 Year Old Boy Killed in 9-11 Attacks
His voice cracked and lips quivered as he fought back tears and tried to control his heartbroken emotions about the loss of his 11-year-old son in the Sept. 11 terrorist attack on the Pentagon.
     Struggling to speak recently to more than 350 attendees at the Military Child Education Coalition conference in San Antonio, Texas, Navy Chief Petty Officer Bernard Curtis Brown thanked the coalition for endowing the 2002 Bernard Curtis Brown II Memorial Space Camp Scholarship. (Full Story)

Karzai Escapes Assassination Attempt, Downtown Kabul Bombed
Afghan President Hamid Karzai survived an apparent assassination attempt in the city of Kandahar.
     Karzai was in a motorcade with Kandahar Province Gov. Shirzai at about 10:30 a.m. EDT on Thursday when an Afghan in uniform standing nearby fired shots into the president’s car. The would-be assassin missed Karzai, but hit Shirzai in the neck, according to Afghanistan’s foreign minister. (Full Story)

US to Invest $970 Million in Water for the Poor Initiative
This week US Secretary Colin Powell faced hecklers in South Africa who blame US for not doing enough for the environment. However, interestingly State Department spokesman Richard Broucher reveals details of programs that Powell actually has announced in Johannesburg that will cost the US millions and does more than help the environment. The programs involve what are called signature partnerships in four areas: water, energy, agriculture and forests. Broucher said that most prevalent of these is the Water for the Poor Initiative. "[It] expands access to clean water and sanitation services, improves watershed management, increases the efficiency of water in industrial and agricultural activities. Under this initiative, we will invest $970 million over three years, which can leverage private resources to generate more than 1.6 billion for these activities worldwide." (Full Story)

Threat-Level High – Clear Skies II Op is Deployed
Clear Skies II, an ongoing air defense exercise here, is now a deployment — and troops are being issued live weapons, Marine Gen. Peter Pace told reporters on Tuesday.
     Pace, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, spoke at the Foreign Press Center here about the heightened threat levels as the anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attack approaches.
     "The decision to change the threat level is a result of the fusion … of all intelligence available through our own means and that other nations have provided," he said. (Full Story)

Mexican Railroad Bandits Ambush FBI at Border
(AP) About a dozen railroad bandits ambushed two FBI agents during a sting, kicking them and beating them with rocks, authorities said.
     The agents were hospitalized in critical condition with head injuries and were in induced comas Friday, said agent-in-charge Hardrick Crawford Jr. (Full Story)

Blair Turns Up the Heat
The Iraqi "threat is real… [and] deal with it we must," said British Prime Minister Tony Blair to reporters that had been awaiting his arrival for talks with US President Bush.
     As to the impending danger to the world posed by Saddam Hussein’s activities with weapons of mass destruction, Blair said, "We only need to look at the report from the International Atomic Agency… showing what has been going on at the former nuclear weapons sites to realize that."
     In the case against Iraq, Bush pointed out that Saddam Hussein has spent over 11 years making the case himself through his own actions: "…This man has defied every U.N. resolution — 16 U.S. resolutions he’s ignored. A lot of people understand he holds weapons of mass destruction. A lot of people understand he has invaded two countries. A lot of people understand he’s gassed his own people. A lot of people understand he is unstable. So we’ve got a lot of support. A lot of people understand the danger." (Full Story)

 

September 16-30 Stories

 

France Orders Release of Nazi Aid
(AP) A French appeals court ordered the release Wednesday of Maurice Papon, a former police chief imprisoned for his role in deporting Jews to Nazi death camps during World War II, his lawyer said.
     Lawyer Jean-Marc Varaut said his client "would be freed by the end of the day." (Full Story)

Powell Working to Put Teeth in U.N. Iraq Resolution
President Bush and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld have said time and again that the war on terrorism will be fought on many fronts. Now, it is diplomacy’s chance to lead the charge.
     Secretary of State Colin Powell is in New York negotiating with U.N. Security Council partners for a U.N. resolution condemning Iraq for failing to live up to agreements and setting a timetable for compliance. (Full Story)

The Physics of a Nuclear Showdown
In a letter to the UN this week, Iraq has stated that UN weapons inspectors may come back to Iraq "without condition". For a man, who, according to his former mistress, idolizes Adolf Hitler and has reportedly created a double of himself for security reasons, it will be an incredible feat if weapons inspectors don’t succumb to a smoke and mirror show, especially after Iraqi defectors told reporters in December of 2001 and March of 2002 of the existence of mobile germ laboratories disguised as milk delivery trucks and a network of underground bunkers for biological and chemical weapons production.
     The White House believes that sending out another inspection expedition is a waste of time for a government that has continued to be deceptive and duplicitous on the issue. Press Secretary Ari Fleicher said on Tuesday, "If Saddam Hussein’s word had meaning, he would have disarmed a long time ago. And this is where — the Western world likes to accept people’s word at face value. History has shown that Saddam Hussein’s word cannot be taken at face value. He has a history of playing rope-a-dope with the world, all the while he develops a more powerful punch." The White House later on Tuesday backed up their statement with a timeline of broken promises of unconditional inspections that plays out like a broken record. (Full Story)

New York, New Jersey, D.C. Health Care Facilities to Receive Help for 9-11 costs
U.S. HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson announced Tuesday that the Bush Administration is awarding $140 million in grants to reimburse hospitals, clinics and other health care organizations for costs they incurred while responding to the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
     "The dedicated health care professionals who responded on September 11, 2001, and the days following showed not just great expertise but great compassion," said Secretary Thompson. "We all know they deserve our thanks. And the organizations where they serve need our help. America can do no less for those who, with courage and ability, treated those injured in the attacks." (Full Story)

Mass Weapons Danger Real, Iraq not Only Country of Concern
While Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction program poses the most immediate danger, other countries are also of concern, said a senior defense official Sept. 13.
     Iran, North Korea, Syria, Libya, Sudan and Cuba have active WMD programs, said the official.
     But what is of more concern is the nexus between such states and terrorist organizations. (Full Story)

Myers: Terrorists Not Interested in the Diversity That Makes U.S. Great
Air Force Gen. Richard Myers said international terrorists killed more than 3,000 people on Sept. 11, 2001, and if they had their way, they’d gladly kill more innocents — "10,000 or tens of thousands."
     "Their goal is to destroy our way of life and the things we hold dear, such as freedom," the general said. "Freedom means a lot of other things too. It means that we’re a tolerant people, contrasted to the terrorists who aren’t very tolerant. We think diversity helps make us great. Terrorists are not interested in much diversity. (Full Story)

Coalition No-Fly Zone Tactics Changed
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Marine Gen. Peter Pace said Iraqi provocations are being met by bomb strikes on higher-value targets more worth the risk to coalition pilots.
     "I directed it, because it seemed right," Rumsfeld said during a Pentagon press conference Sept. 16. "I don’t like the idea of our planes being shot at. We’re there implementing U.N. resolutions, and the idea that our planes go out and get shot at with impunity bothers me." (Full Story)

Outlook Improving for Afghan Women
The plight of women in Afghanistan under the Taliban regime ranked among the worst endured by any group of humans in modern history. But international aid organizations and the U.S. government are working hard to help these women learn to help themselves.
     "Women, who just one year ago were prisoners in their own homes, are now free," Secretary of State Colin Powell said this morning. "They are judges and educators, broadcasters, economists, business women, (and) government ministers."
     The secretary was speaking to the Afghanistan Reconstruction Steering Group meeting at the World Bank headquarters here. "Afghanistan under the Taliban gave the world a sobering example of a country where women were denied their rights and their place in society," first lady Laura Bush said in March. (Full Story)

Powell Urges Donors to ‘Continue Commitment’ to Afghanistan
With nearly two million refugees returning to Afghanistan, the country’s fledgling government needs continuing help from the international community, Secretary of State Colin Powell said.
     "The gains made in just one year have indeed been dramatic, but we all know they are still fragile," Powell told representatives from 60 countries attending meetings at the World Bank headquarters. (Full Story)

‘Connecting the Dots’ Before the Next Tragedy
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said that while people are concerned about "connecting the dots" on what happened Sept. 11, 2001, he is more interested in connecting the dots before the next attack.
     At a Pentagon press conference Sept. 16, Rumsfeld said he is "attempting to connect the dots before a tragedy happens, not after." He said that’s not simple.
     "There isn’t a single smoking gun that everyone nods and says ‘Aha! That’s it!’" he said. "If we wait for a smoking gun in this instance, it obviously would be after the fact. You’d find it after lethal weapons were used against the United States, our friends and allies." (Full Story)

Iraq the Silent Force Behind al Qaeda Terror Network
Washington: – Evidence continues to emerge that Iraq, a self -declared enemy to the safety of the civilized world, is a core generator behind global terrorist plots and sudden attacks of terror. Members of the US Senate and Congress have released findings and say they don’t want to wait for another attack like September 11th. Monday, President Bush outlined information uncovered to the American people, and recently British Prime Minister Blair disclosed to the public a startling, yet comprehensive dossier on the Iraqi threat under Saddam Hussein which had been compiled from evidence gathered by British Intelligence.
     A mountain of evidence revealed more about Saddam’s reign of terror among his own people, including photographs of murdered Iraqi children, the leader’s non-stop obsession with amassing biological, gas and nuclear type weapons and perfecting ways to destroy multitudes of human life at one time.
     A former uranium enrichment facility which was made non-operational during the Gulf War was found to be as a chemical production complex and the British Intelligence reveals that Iraq has attempted to modify the L- 29 jet trainer to allow it to be used as an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), which "is potentially capable of delivering chemical and biological agents over a large area". The British dossier says: "Many of these [Saddam’s] so-called ‘palaces’ are in fact large compounds which are an integral part of Iraqi counter-measures designed to hide weapons material." (Full Story)