God Bless America
The Year 2001 Review
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Partisanship lines are forming in Congress. It's anyone's guess how long Bush's popularity ratings will be in the stratosphere. A year that began with questions of Bush's legitimacy because of the hotly disputed recount, ended with a wartime president buttressed by historically high approval ratings. In 2002, it's Bush vs. Daschle. |
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IMAGINE 2002!
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September
9/11
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SUMMARY OF EVENTS IN 2001
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Happy New Year; Happy Kwanzaa,
and Happy Holidays, and Holy-Days
George W. Bush made a visit to Alan Greenspan his first priority upon arriving in Washington. The chairman of the Federal Reserve has a powerful influence on US economic policy, and establishing a good relationship with Greenspan is essential for the Republicans and Bush. The Bush team wants a huge $1,300 billion tax cut. The Fed is worried that an economic slowdown could reduce the size of the projected budget surplus - and has urged the administration to use any surpluses to reduce the size of the government's debts. Bush's chief economic advisor is Lawrence Lindsey, a former member of the Fed's policy making Open Market Committee - who often clashed with Alan Greenspan. Lindsey may aspire to replace Greenspan when his term of office expires in four years time. He will be 78 at that time. Bush will also appoint two new members of the Fed's board. Bush is expected to name individuals who are inclined towards interest rate cuts... something the Fed resorted towards more and more in 2001. 15 - The Martin Luther King, Jr. (January 15,1929 -April 4, 1968) celebrations and birthday are the same day this year. King entered the civil rights movement in 1955. A founder of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, King advocated non-violent action as a means of lifting racial oppression. On August 28, 1963, King participated in the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. From the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, he delivered his famous "I Have A Dream" speech, to a crowd of 250,000. An eloquent call to action, the speech emphasized his belief that the movement would create a society in which character, rather than color, prevailed (more MLK). 16 - Auberon Waugh's died, a writer, he made a living on political incorrectness working mostly at The Daily Telegraph. He was accused of being a snob, sexist and vicious. 18 - Civil rights leader Jesse Jackson reveals an extramarital affair that resulted in the birth of a daughter. 20
- Bush was sworn in as President after a dead-heat election in which he lost the popular vote. One Cabinet nominee, Linda Chavez, withdrew amid controversy; another, John Ashcroft, faced bitter confirmation hearings before gaining the job of attorney general. Bush's immediate policy concerns included tax cuts and stem cells. One challenge not on the agenda is that Bush should address the issues of racial profiling. On his final day in office, Bill Clinton struck a deal that gained him immunity from criminal liability in the Whitewater probe in exchange for admitting that he had given false testimony under oath during the investigation. His departure was further tarnished by a series of highly controversial last-minute pardons. 24 - Six Texas prison escapees are captured, 42 days after their breakout. A seventh commits suicide. George Rivas, the ringleader of Texas prison breakout, is sentenced to death seven months later in the slaying of a police officer during their flight. 26 - Disaster strikes India, in the state of Gujarat as an earthquake measuring 7.9 on the Richter scale kills 30,000 people, and leaves more than a million homeless.
One minute, the city of Ahmedabad was celebrating Republic Day along with the rest of the country. The next, its world was upside down, everything was shaking. Six days after a colossal earthquake ripped through the Indian state of Gujarat, there is an air of stunned normality in the town of Bhuj. Amazing everyone, Indian soldiers pulled two survivors out of the rubble of the town of Bhuj, 10 days after the earthquake. The town of Bacchau and many of the villages have been demolished – there is very little sign of life in large areas of the Gujarat region and especially hard hit are the salt-flats of the Gulf of Kutch to the small villages in the surrounding countryside. More on the earthquake including a number of crayon painted cards received from American children expressing their love and concern for those who have suffered in the earthquake in India. 31 - A Scottish court convicts one Libyan and acquits a second in the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland.
February to August.. the 2001 Missing Months |
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(9/11) Attack Hijacked Planes As Weapons
There
is a nationwide hold on all commercial flights, the first ever in history, until
at least midday Wednesday. Many airports open by the weekend.
THE STRING of events Boston’s Logan Airport at 7:45 a.m. American Flight 11, a 767 with 92 on board, is supposed to fly from Boston to Los Angeles, but over New York state it was diverted and forced to fly south — directly into the north tower of the World Trade Center. Boston, United Flight 175, another 767 with 65 aboard, was already in the air, also bound for Los Angeles. It was 15 minutes behind the first flight when it, too, was hijacked. As news cameras rolled, the plane hit the south tower of the World Trade Center. Washington Dulles Airport, 8:10 a.m., American Flight 77, a 757 with 64 aboard, had taken off bound for Los Angeles. It, too, was taken over and looped back into the Pentagon. It sliced in at an angle, leaving a deadly and ugly gash in the Pentagon. Newark Airport at 8 a.m., United Flight 93, a 757 with 45 people aboard, was bound to San Francisco when it was hijacked as well — it crashed short of whatever its intended target might have been, coming down in rural western Pennsylvania. Video
records First Impact at the World Trade Center US Planned for Terror but Failed Action! According to the NY Times, dozens of interviews with current and former officials demonstrate that even as the threat of terrorism mounted through eight years of the Clinton administration and eight months of President Bush, the government failed to act.
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- MSNBC 14 - Speculation Who Did This? Home-grown true believers preaching their own version of God and Country, like recently-executed Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh? Guerrillas and drug lords of Colombia, where U.S. troops and covert operatives are ever more deeply embroiled? First guess by many intelligence officials in the Middle East, Europe and the United States was the “jihadists” who have congregated in Afghanistan around Saudi dissident Osama bin Laden. He publicly declared “holy war” on all Americans in 1998 and called for attacks on US citizens anywhere in the world. 20
- MSNBC
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MSNBC Video: The First Attacks on the Taliban and Terrorist Training Camps.
10 to 12 - ANTHRAX MSNBC
Video: Understanding
Anthrax Nuclear Threat, war, and nuclear waste became a new household boogie-man as American's began to get news that bin Laden and al Qaida terrorist may have plans for nuclear disaster. CNN create the above interactive that covers how a nuclear bomb can destroy, what effect radiation has on the human body, where nuclear sites are located in the US and what you can do to protect yourself. 17 - Palestinian militants declaring that they would seek bloody revenge strike at the Israeli government. The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine assassinated right-wing Israeli cabinet minister Rehavam Zeevi. The attack was itself retaliation for the killing of the leader of the Popular Front for the liberation of Palestine, Abu Ali Mustapha. Yassar Arafat’s Palestinian Authority condemned the killing of Zeevi, as well as Israel’s own policy of political assassinations in the year-old intifada or uprising. When Israel moved on Palestine after the gunning down of Cabinet minister Zeevi, the State Department demanded that Israel withdraw. Congress questioned US 'hypocrisy' for demanding Israel to withdraw and negotiate with Arafat after saying we would not negotiate with the Taliban. 23 - The 26 - Hard-line Pakistani Islamic groups called for a “million man march” in Karachi to protest US raids on Afghanistan failed to materialize on Friday as about 15,000 supporters showed up. But the show of support was the latest sign of growing unease from a vocal minority vehemently opposed to Pakistan’s offering of logistical support to U.S. forces in their Afghan campaign. Banners read “We are not afraid to die” and “We are ready for martyrdom,” while a sign was erected renaming the location as “Osama bin Laden Chowk,” as riot police and paramilitary rangers armed with staves or rifles looked on. The defense council has organized regular protests in Karachi, a teeming port city of 12 million, but turnout has been low with just 5,000 people hitting the streets last Friday and only about 25,000 for the biggest to date, two weeks ago. Pakistani President Musharraf has been walking a political tightrope as he offers support to the U.S. war on terrorism and grapples with unrest, especially among radical pro-Taliban Islamic groups. 30 - We learned that al Qaida may attempt to use radioactive bombs that have an explosive core that is encased in radioactive material. The CIA had intelligence reports from senior Arab intelligence officials alleging that in October 1998 bin Laden had obtained one or two nuclear suitcase weapons. 31 - Israel killed Hamas military wing leader Jamil Jadalah, a member of Izzadin Kassam. Jadalah's is responsible for staging the suicide bombing of Tel Aviv's Dolphinariam disco and for a pizza restaurant bombing. Most of the victims were children and teenagers. Israeli intelligence says he was working on sending out a suicide bomber when he was killed by an Israeli air-to-surface missile. The US took a step toward limits for immigration if a background check turns up an affiliation to any of 46 terrorist organizations that were named for the State Department. US Secretary of State Colin Powell and British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw say that Iraq could be a target if evidence was found linking it to specific acts of terrorism but insisted their current campaign was focused solely on Afghanistan.
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1 - There is emerging evidence that extremist domestic organizations may be performing copycat crimes. There are a large number of groups that preach violence in the US (http://www.milnet.com/milnet/domestic/dtgmain.htm). The first reports that the Anthrax letters are domestic terror began to float in October. 2 - We learned today that the United States shed a staggering 415,000 jobs in October, the most in two decades. This came on top of 213,000 lost in September and 54,000 in August. Over 1 million would be lost by year-end. 4 - According to reports from the World Tribune, there are Islamic extremists now operating in the United States under forged Israeli passports. The Director of International Atomic Energy Agency told reporters that the willingness of the terrorists to die in exchange for inflicting massive casualties means the possibility of a nuclear related attack are much more likely now. 5 - Officials warn that the anthrax attacks will cost the post office billions of dollars as fears emerge that the spores may be spreading in the mail. 10 - World leaders reacted generally positively to Bush's call in a speech at the United Nations for all nations and faiths to join forces against those responsible for the Sept. 11 carnage at the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Many UN leaders expressed uneasiness about the toll the US strikes were taking on the shattered Afghan people. 12 - An American Airlines jetliner bound for the Dominican Republic crashed moments after takeoff from John F. Kennedy Airport in New York, setting houses ablaze in a residential area of Queens. Flight 587, an Airbus A300 twin-engine plane, had 251 passengers – including five small children sitting on parents' laps – and nine crew members aboard, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. All of the jetliner's 260 passengers, including crew, are dead. 16
- Federal prosecutors issued a grand jury subpoena to Gary A. Condit as part of
their investigation into the disappearance of Chandra Levy. Several concerns are
on the possible agenda for exploration.
Condit got recognition from Time magazine in July as person of the week. The reason stated in the magazine is "For standing mute at the center of a twisting media storm, Gary Condit is our Person of the Week." The Chandra Levy story was a media frenzy story in late June and July.
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A senior Hamas official said that the hardliner Palestinian movement was calling a halt to its devastating suicide bombings against Israel. 16 - Plans for a major bomb attack on London have been discovered in a terrorist base in Afghanistan. 18 - US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld told NATO allies to prepare themselves for the threat of devastating nuclear, chemical and biological attacks by terrorists on their biggest cities. 19 - Afghanistan's interim government agreed to a 3,000-strong UN peacekeeping force for six months as its leader warned the international community not to abandon the country. Differences emerged between Britain and Germany about the structure of an international force for Afghanistan as a German official said it must not come under the command of US forces fighting there. UN chief war crimes prosecutor Carla Del Ponte attended a campaign in Rome to spare the life of Osama bin Laden and said it should be possible for the world's most wanted man to face an international court. The British government using the new terror law for the first time arrested at least eight foreign nationals in London. 20 NEW YORK, After 100 days since terrorists brought down the World Trade Center's twin towers in a horrifying maelstrom of fire and debris, the blaze at Ground Zero has stopped burning. New Yorkers' nagging wounds are not healed. ARGENTINA, President Fernando de la Rua resigned as opposition Peronist leaders rejected his call for a national unity government amid growing unrest over economic austerity policies aimed at staving off financial collapse. GENEVA, The UN called for inquiries into alleged violations of international norms on the treatment of prisoners in the country, notably during the massacre at the Qila-i-Jangi last month. 21 - MOSCOW, Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov said he is counting on the United States to stick to a promise to withdraw its forces from Central Asia once it wraps up the campaign in Afghanistan. 22 - A flight instructor at the Pan Am International Flight Academy in Eagan, Minnesota had repeatedly contacted his local FBI bureau to alert them to the suspicious behavior of Moroccan-born Frenchman Zacarias Moussaoui, who wished to learn to fly a Boeing 747 despite his visible lack of pilot training. Minnesota Representative James Oberstar told the Minneapolis Star Tribune that the warnings from the instructor were very clear. He told them, "Do you realize that a 747 loaded with fuel can be used as a bomb?" Moussaoui was identified to authorities on Aug 13 and arrested three days later on immigration violations for remaining in the United States on an expired visa. 23 - Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, whose composure and compassion rallied New York and America after the Sep. 11 attacks, was named Time Magazine's Person of the Year. 24 - Uranium 238 and other material that could be used to make a radiological bomb has been found in an underground Al Qaida base near Kandahar. Japan said on Monday it sank a suspected North Korean spy ship that had fired rockets at its patrol boats over the weekend in the most dangerous mission the Japanese coast guard had ever faced. 26 - The eyes of the world turned again on Osama bin Laden, who accused the West of waging war on Islam in a videotape that raised new questions about whether he is alive - and where he might be hiding. The United States is planning to turn its naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, into a detention center for Al Qaida and Taliban. Bin Laden's five-year sojourn in Afghanistan is still veiled in mystery. A portrait of his organization is beginning to emerge from clues left scattered during al Qaida's retreat. 30 - MOSCOW, Russia responded firmly to US criticism of its military intervention in Chechnya, saying that Western powers should not set double-standards in the pursuit of alleged terrorists. Russia has branded its two-year war in Chechnya as an "anti-terror campaign", which was started after a 1999 wave of apartment block bombings blamed on guerillas. The United States and other Western powers eased off in their criticism of the war after the launch of the US-led assault on Afghanistan. However, in a rare public attack, US Ambassador Alexander Vershbow told Echo Moscow radio that Russia and the rebels needed to open political talks and halt the conflict. 31
- New York bids Farewell to 2001 The countdown crystal ball, weighing more than 485 kilos (1,000 pounds) and measuring two meters (6 feet) in diameter, was decorated with "crystals of hope and recovery" and was illuminated by 600 lights with 83,000 watts of electricity. The Waterford crystal ball, which began its 60-second descent at one minute before midnight, was covered with 504 panels bearing the names of each police precinct, firehouse, airline, emergency unit and country that suffered losses in the 9/11 attacks. Security in Times Square was much tighter than during the millennium celebration as 7,000 police officers, 20 percent of New York's police force, patrolled the surrounding areas, and all entrances to Times Square were monitored by officers who searched each partygoer with handheld metal and radiation detectors. Handbags and packages were prohibited, and no parking was allowed within a 15-block radius surrounding Times Square to prevent car-bombing attempts. CARACAS, More than 400 people, most of them children, have been burned in several incidents involving the use of fireworks to mark the end of the year, local media reported Sunday citing fire department estimates.
As the New Year begins, several thousand Afghan refugees are once again amassing at the Chaman border, fleeing US-led coalition bombardments and food insecurity in western, northern and southern Afghanistan. Editorial runner up: Let Them Eat Teddy Bears |
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| February to August.. the 2001
Missing Months
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Despite
a cold, almost icy rain, hundreds of thousands of Americans turned out to see
the inauguration of George W. Bush as the United States' 43rd president.
Gujarat
is one of India's most prosperous states. The quake, damage, human losses... its
devastating in nightmarish twisting techno color. Pictures cannot convey the
depth of this injury for India and the world.
11
- Four airliners were turned into deadly weapons.
from the Washington Post, BBC and MSNBC
7
- American War Planes Strike
