Homeland events this month:

Operation Enduring Freedom - November 2001

• Day 55: Fri, 11/30/01 - US bombing continues at Kandahar, aiding the Pashtuns at eradicating the Taliban.  Chinese are keeping a close eye at getting reconstruction jobs in Afghanistan.  4th day of UN meeting - a prominent Pashtun delegate walked out saying not enough Pashtun representation in new proposed government.  The FBI informed the Diplomatic Security Service that "an employee of the U.S. Embassy in Doha, Qatar, was involved in issuing U.S. visas to Jordanian nationals upon payment of a $10,000 bribe."  This information-gathering Operation Eagle Strike included reviewing "visa applications received from April 2000 through July 2001."  It was determined that "71 people for whom the proper documentation was not on file had managed to obtain visas.  Further checks found no cash receipts covering payment from any of these people, nor did the embassy's guard logs show they had been on the embassy premises (as required)."  (This information was not released to the public until 6/9/02.)
• Day 54: Thur, 11/29/01 - Battle is raging for Kandahar, Taliban's last stronghold, with US planes continuing to bomb.  2 men shot while cleaning up the Mazar-e-Sharif prison-massacre site.  Taliban authorities believed to have executed an Afghan man accused of spying for US. 3rd day of "Rebuilding Afghanistan" UN meeting - close to some results.
• Day 53: Wed, 11/28/01 - US troops establishing a secret Marine base in Southern Afghanistan.  Uzbekistan keeps bridge closed to keep out possible escaping Taliban militants.  United Nations orders its members to freeze assets of  everyone who held a government post on behalf of the Taliban.  Russians are first foreign troops seen in Kabul since the Taliban left the city.  2nd day of "Rebuilding Afghanistan" meeting - N. Alliance rejects bringing in an outside security force.  Homefront: Enron, worth $85/share last year dropped to $.61/share.
• Day 52: Tue, 11/27/01 - 40+ WMD (weapons of mass destruction) sites have been found in Afghanistan, prompting the Bush administration to say that "claims by bin Laden and his Al Qaeda organization regarding nuclear, chemical and biological weapons development should be taken seriously".  Third day of suicidal prison uprising in Mazar-e-Sharif.  "Rebuilding Afghanistan" meeting begins in Koenigswinter, (outside Bonn) Germany to discuss it's new government - UN and four groups from Afghanistan: Northern Alliance (largest), Rome group (2nd largest - followers of former Afghan king Mohammad Zaher Shah), and the Peshawar and  Cyprus groups. The latter three are made up of Pashtuns who want a constitutional government.  Opening statements warned not to "allow the mistakes of the past to be repeated, particularly those of 1992".  Iraq says "no" to UN inspections.
• Day 51: Mon, 11/26/01 - Marines enter combat attacking tanks and armored personnel carriers.  Kunduz finally falls to N. Alliance.  Prison uprising continues in  Mazar-e-Sharif - 5 US soldiers injured by a not-so-smart bomb.  US readies for major assault on Kandahar by bombing within the city, and cutting off communications with other provinces.  Bin Laden and Mullah Omar are both expected to be in Kandahar.  US dropped bomb in a no-fly zone in Iraq.  Homefront:  Bush demands resumption of Iraq arms inspections; also needing inspection are other makers of biological weapons - N. Korea, Libya, Sudan, Iran, Somalia.  Also, if bin Laden is captured or killed, the FBI has warned that US gas lines may become a terrorist target.
• Day 50: Sun, 11/25/01 - US Marines land on airstrip near Kandahar.  Taliban prisoners at the Qala-e-Jangi fort in Mazar-e-Sharif (mostly foreign fighters) initiate suicide grenade attacks, killing N. Alliance guards as well.  Remaining Taliban take over.  There are about 40 US ground troops at this location.  1 American, a CIA operative, killed.  US tanks and warplanes quell the attack.  Homefront:  Cruise ships, which were on Security Alert level 1, have now moved to higher security level 3.  Thorough inspections are mandatory, including divers checking the ship hulls.
• Day 49: Sat, 11/24/01 - US bombing continues; 15,000 lb Daisy Cutter dropped near Kandahar - 3rd dropped in Afghanistan.  1000+ Taliban forces surrender to N. Alliance in Kunduz - foreign fighters fighting to death.  US searches abandoned sites for evidence, but most  have been picked clean.  Pakistan wants Taliban presence in new Afghan government.  Earthquake shook northeastern Afghanistan.  As members of al Qaeda are arrested in Afghanistan, they may be locked up on Guam.  Homefront:  Human embryo cloned successfully for the first time by a biological research lab in Worcester, MA - Bush administration not supportive.
• Day 48: Fri, 11/23/01 - US B-52s bombing by Kunduz in aid to N. Alliance takeover attempt of the city.  160 Taliban fighters are executed.  Afghans say new multi-national force in Afghanistan must be Islamic, and does not want to include Islamic countries that sided with the US coalition.
• Day 47: Thur, 11/22/01 (Thanksgiving Day) - Cooked turkeys were air-dropped to US special ground forces in Afghanistan.  Allied forces working hard to cut-off bin Laden's escape routes, including the long, sparsely populated Pakistani coast where small boats can easily pick up passengers. The major port, Karachi, is home to several hardline Islamic parties that support the Taliban and bin Laden, and the towns of Omara and Pasni have harbors for small boats.  Pakistan closes the Taliban embassy in Islamabad.
• Day 46: Wed, 11/21/01 - Taliban in Kunduz say they'll surrender but foreign fighters will not.  Taliban refuse to give up Kandahar.  Taliban spokesman said they no longer know where bin Laden is.  The Pentagon wants to move low-flying, deadly AC-130 gunships closer to N. Afghanistan to support anti-Taliban forces in their battle for control of Kunduz.
• Day 45: Tue, 11/20/01 - N. Alliance demands Taliban surrender Kunduz.  N. Alliance head Rabbani says decision-making on post-Taliban government must be in Afghanistan.  Pashtun warlords with strong ties to CIA are now holding Afghan provinces and may surprise the N. Alliance, holding Kabul, if they choose not to accommodate a UN-backed broad-based government.  US helicopter crash lands in southern Afghanistan injuring 4 crew.
• Day 44: Mon, 11/19/01 - 4 Western journalists, traveling in a convoy from Jalalabad to Kabul, were removed from their vehicle by armed men and shot to death.  US forces are closing up Afghan tunnels and caves.  Quetta Council says Taliban, and Mullah Omar are welcome in new Afghan government - they don't trust N. Alliance.  Bin Laden is traveling between a network of caves and bunkers with his 3 wives, children, and bodyguards.  US troops have also been in the Philippines for several weeks, searching out terrorist groups linked to al Qaeda.  Homefront:  FBI upped reward to $25 million for bin Laden.  At Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH) in Houston, several illegal aliens being sent back to their country escaped this morning.
• Day 43: Sun, 11/18/01 - US bombs near Kunduz - Taliban offers to surrender, at least 85 commit suicide.  Kandahar is really in Taliban hands.  US also strikes Shamshad, 8 km from Pakistan border.  N. Alliance refuses to allow aid workers back into Afghanistan, and wants peace talks to be in Kabul.
• Day 42: Sat, 11/17/01 - Hundreds of US special forces troops have engaged in ground combat in Afghanistan, "killing Taliban and al Qaeda that won't surrender".  Fall of Taliban fuels drug problem.  Pashtuns, who took over Kandahar from Taliban, warn N. Alliance to stay away.  US led strikes on Taliban-held Kunduz.
• Day 41: Fri, 11/16/01 - N. Alliance rejects UN peace force and insists "it will act responsibly and does not need to be told what to do by outsiders in its moment of triumph".  Sudden retreat of Taliban forces prompts US to focus more intensely on rooting out Taliban and al Qaida leaders.  Ramadan begins at sundown for most of Muslim world.
• Day 40: Thur, 11/15/01 - US led coalition continues to bomb in southern and northeast Afghanistan.  Ground hunt for bin Laden is on.  Talks begin on new Afghan government.  Close to 100 Taliban and al Qaida memebers killed, including Mohammed Atef, military planner of 9/11/01 attacks and of US Embassy bombings in Africa - done by remote control before 1:00AM.  Kabul men play soccer, assassination-free.
• Day 39: Wed, 11/14/01 - Taliban not stopping in Kandahar, but heads for the hills.  8 Aid Workers rescued by Allied forces.  Pakistan, who has long been hostile with N. Alliance, warns of urgent need for new government to be established.
• Day 38: Tue, 11/13/01 - N. Alliance takes Kabul.  Hundreds killed in Mazar-e-sharif.  UN calls for 2 yr transitional government.  US warplanes keep up aerial assault.  Key al Qaida safehouse bombed - inside found many dead bodies, including some Taliban/al Qaida leadership, and nuclear bomb plans.
• Day 37: Mon, 11/12/01 (Veterans Day) - Reports of executions and adbuctions in Mazar-e-sharif at hands of N. Alliance.  UNICEF's offices and aid supply warehouse looted - not known by who.  Taliban fleeing from Kabul, head to Kandahar stronghold, taking the 8 imprisoned aid workers with them.  N. Alliance captured cities of Kunduz and Herat.  In Mazar-e-Sharif, men lined up at barber shops to have their Taliban-mandated beards shaved off.  Women were discarding the burqas, and music - banned by the Taliban - could be heard coming from shops.  Homefront:  AA Flt 587 crashes in Queens, NY.

• Day 36: Sun, 11/11/01 - N. Alliance captured 4 more northern provinces Samagan, Sara-i-Pol, Faryab and Jowzjan.  Want to enter Kabul, but Bush wants to wait until new broad-based government is established.
• Day 35: Sat, 11/10/01 - US led coalition begin battle for Taliban-controlled Kolkata Hill, which is near 2 Taliban-held towns, east of Mazar-e-Sharif.  Sailor who fell overboard the USS Kitty Hawk declared dead.
• Day 34: Fri, 11/9/01 - Major victory as US led Northern Alliance enter Mazar-e-Sharif.  Possession of this city opens up land bridge to Uzbekistan by which aid can be brought into Afghanistan.  There's also an airport there for bringing in troops and supplies. 
• Day 33: Thur, 11/8/01 - Ongoing gun battle in Mazar-e-Sharif.  About 7000 Pakistanis have entered Afghanistan since 11/1/01 to aid the Taliban.  US leads worldwide crackdown on bin Laden's finances.
• Day 32: Wed, 11/7/01 - US sailor falls overboard from the USS Kitty Hawk; not rescued yet.  Captured nephew of slain Taliban-opposition leader Haq was executed by Taliban.
• Day 31: Tue, 11/6/01 - US unleashes 15,000 lb. "daisy cutter" bomb, which creates a huge fireball and incinerates everything within 600 yards.  Kabul fuel from Iran is down to a trickle.
• Day 30: Mon, 11/5/01 - Massive bombing on Taliban front lines.  The Northern Alliance still has not done anything major.
• Day 29: Sun, 11/4/01 - Taliban tanks and hilltop headquarters north of Kabul hit.
• Day 28: Sat, 11/3/01 - US bombers return to Afghan skies.  US dropping leaflets to advise Afghan people to listen to the radio for the latest information, and to depict images of the cruelty of the Taliban on Afghan citizens.
• Day 27: Fri, 11/2/01 - US chopper crash lands in Taliban territory; injured crew of 4 rescued by partner helicopter and chopper was destroyed.  Also lost, due to bad weather, was an unarmed Predator spy plane.  Thousands of armed Pakistani tribesmen are crossing the border into Afghanistan to join Taliban forces.  US about to launch "Radio Free Afghanistan" in its propaganda war.
• Day 26: Thur, 11/1/01 - Lots of bombing; US planes attack major hydroelectric dam north of Kandahar that provides power and irrigation throughout the region.  Taliban says they have arrested several US citizens.  Winter is arriving as heavy rains are welcomed in drought-stricken Afghanistan; 1st snows leave white mountaintops.