THE
LATEST:
THE US IS RULING OUT IRAQ
AS A SPONSOR OF THE TUESDAY TERRORIST ATTACKS, according to US
intelligence sources, quoted in WorldTribune.com. This, despite
intelligence information from Israel saying, "All
the (terrorism) steps lead" to Osama bin Laden and of all the
countries, Iraq seems the most reasonable" candidate for
sponsoring Tuesday's attacks.
US OFFICIALS ARE INVESTIGATING
WHETHER A COALITION OF IRANIAN, PALESTINIAN AND LEBANESE TERRORISTS
WERE BEHIND TUESDAY'S TERRORIST ATTACKS. WorldTribune.com
reports officials believe the effort was coordinated and sponsored
by mass murderer Osama bin Laden.
TWO MEN HAVE BEEN DETAINED AT AN
AMTRAK STATION IN FORT WORTH, TEXAS. The men reportedly were
carrying knives and box cutters and boarded or attempted to board a
plane at Newark Airport Tuesday morning, at around the time of the
terrorist attacks.
THE PRESIDENT HAS SIGNED A
PRESIDENTIAL ORDER DECLARING A STATE OF NATIONAL EMERGENCY in
the wake of the terrorist attacks.
PRESIDENT BUSH ATTENDED MEMORIAL
CEREMONIES IN WASHINGTON Friday morning for those who
died in the terrorist acts. Also in attendance: all living former
Presidents (except Ronald Reagan, who's ill) and top US leaders.
Among the speakers: Rev. Billy Graham.
BUSH WAS IN NEW YORK SURVEYING THE
DESTRUCTION in the wake of the World Trade Center collapse and meeting
rescue workers, who broke into an impromptu chant of "USA, USA!"
Bush also met with New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani. The president is
set to return to Washington shortly.
THE PRESIDENT HAS OKAYED THE
CALLING UP OF 50-THOUSAND MILITARY AND NATIONAL GUARD RESERVISTS,
though that many won't be needed immediately, officials say.
A NEW WASHINGTON POST-ABC POLL
shows 86-percent
of those asked approve of the job Bush is doing as president.
PARTISAN
ATTACKS AGAINST PRESIDENT BUSH BY THOSE IN THE NEWS MEDIA CONTINUE
EVEN DURING THIS CRISIS. -- NewsMax.com
RESCUERS CONTINUE TO LOOK FOR
SURVIVORS AMONG THE RUBBLE OF THE WORLD TRADE CENTER; none have
been found since Wednesday morning.
ATLANTA WAS A TARGET OF TERRORISTS
TUESDAY, according to FBI officials who have identified those
close to the hijackers as reported by Fox News.
ABOUT 65-PERCENT OF THOSE ASKED IN
ANOTHER POLL SAID THEY DON'T WANT THE US TO ATTACK OSAMA BIN LADEN
because it could lead to a wide Middle East war. In
a new Time-CNN poll, 92-percent believe bin Laden was personally
involved in Tuesday's attacks, but only 10-percent think bin Laden
should be targeted.
THE FLIGHT RECORDERS FROM THE JET
THAT CRASHED INTO THE PENTAGON HAVE YIELDED NO INFORMATION. It
was destroyed by the intense heat of the fire that followed the
explosion, according
to the Washington Times. The flight data recorder from
United flight 93 was located Thursday and is now being examined in
Washington.
EXTREMISTS LINKED TO OSAMA BIN
LADEN PLANNED TO HIJACK A PLANE IN THE PHILIPPINES AND TAKE IT TO
THE US MAINLAND JUST MINUTES AFTER THE DISASTER AT THE WORLD TRADE
CENTER, the Philippine
Star reports. No word on where the terrorists were planning to
take the plane or what went wrong with the plan. Local and US
officers raided a Philippine hotel Thursday night; its unclear what
happened.
GERMAN POLICE CONFIRM THAT A MAN
CALLED THE US, WARNING OF TUESDAY'S TERRORIST ATTACKS,
according to The Drudge Report.
OFFICIALS IN INDIA SAY THEIR
INTELLIGENCE INTERCEPTED COMMUNICATION ABOUT AN UPCOMING TERRORIST
ATTACK ON THE US several days before the attacks Tuesday. They
say the communication mentioned that The White House would be
included in the attack.
TELEVANGELISTS PAT ROBERTSON AND
JERRY FALWELL say the terrorists' action and the resulting
devastation prove that America has angered God and lost
the protection of heaven.
MAYOR GIULIANI CALLED FOR NEWS
MEDIA ACCURACY after wide-ranging
Thursday reports that ten people were believed trapped alive under
the Trade Center debris. The sources of the reports were rescue
workers at the scene, not officials who, as TheLatest.Net
pointed out, denied the reports from the beginning.
ALSO: ALL
BUT ONE OF A DOZEN PEOPLE DETAINED AT NEW YORK AIRPORTS THURSDAY
HAVE BEEN CLEARED, authorities say. Senator Joseph Biden,
who called attention to the arrests by calling the suspects "a
second team" of terrorists, apologized for jumping the gun. The
one suspect still in custody may be released soon. One of those
detained was suspected of possessing a false pilots licence.
THE AIRLINE INDUSTRY COULD
BE DEVASTATED by Tuesday's terrorist acts; the
bankruptcy of some airlines could be forthcoming. This
week's airline cancellations alone are expected to cost the industry
ten-billion dollars.
THE JUSTICE DEPARTMENT HAS RELEASED
THE NAMES OF THE HIJACKERS in Tuesday's terrorism. They now
say there were 19 hijackers involved. And those hijackers are
reported to have frequented bars in Florida, guzzling alcohol and
buying rounds, one of them was reportedly even arrested for DUI --
hardly expected from what were believed to be Islamic
fundamentalists.
THE FBI SAYS IT'S RECEIVED
36-thousand leads from US citizens who want to aid the capturing of
terrorists and head off further terrorism.
RUSSIA'S
FORMER MILITARY BASES MAY SERVE AS STAGING AREAS FOR UPCOMING US
ATTACKS, The New York Post reports.
THERE WERE PRAYER VIGILS ACROSS
THE NATION, BRITAIN AND EUROPE FRIDAY, called by President Bush
a National Day of Prayer in remembrance of those killed in the
terrorist attacks.
PAKISTAN SAYS IT WANTS MORE TIME
TO CONSIDER US PROPOSALS that the US use Pakistani airspace in
the event of nearby military action and that Pakistan close its
borders with Afghanistan to prevent terrorists from crossing that
border if they haven't already. Pakistan's government has close ties
to the Taliban government that controls most of Afghanistan. Taliban
leaders claim mass murder Osama bin Laden is under "house
arrest" somewhere.
THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Friday approve 40-billion dollars to aid the cleanup effort at the
World Trade Center and the Pentagon as well as funding the upcoming
military effort. The Senate has already approved the funding. This
money is in addition to the rest of the budget for the fiscal year
that ends September 20th.
CONGRESS IS EXPECTED TO PASS A
BILL BY MONDAY AUTHORIZING THE PRESIDENT TO USE ALL NECESSARY FORCE
in capturing terrorists in other nations.
THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION HAS BEEN
BRIEFING SENATORS on terrorist investigations, but
the briefings may not go on much longer, since some Congressmen
have been leaking secret information to the news media.
THE TUESDAY TERRORIST ATTACKS MAY
HAVE BEEN IN THE WORKS FOR FIVE YEARS, according to the Boston
Globe. Investigators are reported to have evidence that some
of the terrorists took advantage of the special relationship between
Saudi Arabia and the US by posing as students who are routinely
allowed into the US. One of the terrorists had links to a 1986
bombing in Israel.
THE ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN AIRPORT
WAS CLOSED FOR TWO HOURS EARLY FRIDAY MORNING for what officials
there call movement of military equipment. No further details
reported. The US has been negotiating with the Pakistani government
to close off borders with Afghanistan to keep terrorists from
crossing over, and so that the US may use Pakistani airspace during
an attack on terrorists.
THREE
AIRLINE EMPLOYEES INTENTIONALLY BREACHED SECURITY at Phoenix's
Sky Harbor Airport to prove a point: that there are still gaps
in security even after renewed efforts to secure air flights just a
few days after the Trade Center attacks.
THE US MILITARY HAS STEPPED DOWN from
its highest level of alert to "Charlie," the
second-highest alert level.
THE US CAPITAL REMAINS
on high security status.
GAS
MASKS ARE SELLING WELL among a terrorism-jittery Los Angeles
public.
THERE IS A LARGE INCREASE in
the amount of asbestos and dioxyn in the New York City air,
officials say, but Mayor Rudy Giuliani said Thursday there is no
cause for alarm. -- TheDrudgeReport
AMERICAN TRAVELERS WERE BACK IN
THE SKIES Thursday for the first time since the Tuesday
terrorist attacks, but flights were severely limited. Federal agents
were present as airports reopened, as were elite
Delta Force commandoes.
REAGAN NATIONAL AIRPORT in
Washington is closed
indefinitely on concerns about future terrorism. Boston's Logan
Airport also remains closed.
AN AFGHAN PILOT, along with a
retired Pakistani general, trained
Muslim radicals to fly civilian planes.
THE MAJORITY, if not all the
terrrorists who launched Tuesday's assault on the World Trade Center
and the Pentagon lived
in comfort in the US, immigrating by posing as businessmen and
students, US officials say.
WHITE HOUSE OFFICIALS WARN
that plans for retaliation against terrorists and the nations that
harbor them include many long-range actions, some of which may not
begin for days, weeks and even months. In addition, Americans must
be prepared to see foreign civilian casualties in news reports about
the US military effort. "We're
building a global assault against terrorism," Secretary of
State Colin Powell said Thursday.
THERE
WERE AS MANY AS 50 FOREIGN NATIONALS in
America who were involved in the explosions that destroyed the
World Trade Center. The FBI says almost all of them have been
identified. Ten of those suspects are still on the loose.
CONSUMERS HAVE BEEN ON A BUYING
SPREE since the Trade Center attack, stocking
up on essentials and luxury items, anticipating a shortage when
the US launches airstrikes or should there be more terrorist
attacks.
THE FBI IS SEARCHING TEXAS for
an Islamic man, described
as a "spiritual leader" with connections to terrorist
Osama bin Laden.
AT LEAST ONE HIJACKER ON EACH
PLANE HAD A RAMP PASS, according to reports, allowing total
access for the hijacker to smuggle practically anything onto the
jet.
IN UNION CITY, NEW JERSEY,
five people are said to have trained a video camera on the World
Trade Center just before the explosions, taped it, the howled at the
explosions and congratulated each other. No world on how authorities
know this.
FOR ANALYSIS ON THE WAYS THE
CLINTON ADMINISTRATION MAY HAVE HELPED OSAMA BIN LADEN and his
accomplices accomplish the Trade Center disaster, see
WorldNet.com.
THREE PASSENGERS ABOARD A FLIGHT
THAT CRASHED IN PENNSYLVANIA Tuesday morning may have
overwhelmed hijackers and crashed the plane rather than allow
it to destroy the White House, a plan which terrorists announced
aboard the plane. If so, those passengers are being hailed as
heroes. The passenger who called in the report of the airborne
insurgency: Jeremy
Glick.
THE NEW YORK STOCK EXCHANGE
will reopen Monday.
-- Mike Shiloh |