Operation Enduring Freedom - December 2001

• Day 86: Mon, 12/31/01 - Marines left the base at Kandahar's airport in helicopters just before sunset on an undisclosed mission, heading to the northwest.  Possibly joined up in Baghran area with anti-Taliban Afghan force pursuing Mullah Omar.  International peacekeeping force deal signed with Britain, to be approved by the other 17 nations who will send a total of about 5,000 peacekeepers having authority only in Kabul.  Pashtun soldiers, once loyal to Taliban, and Uzbeks continue fighting in and around Mazar-e-Sharif.  8 detainees, including Rat Boy, were moved from USS Peleliu to the USS Bataan in the northern Indian Ocean.
• Day 85: Sun, 12/30/01 - Afghanistan's Interior Minister Yunis Qanuni says the Pakistani ISI (Interservices Intelligence) aids bin Laden when he's in Pakistan.  An unmanned Global Hawk surveillance drone crashed as it returned from a mission.  North and south Afghanistan unite geographically now that the Hindu Kush mountain tunnel is being cleared.  UN-mandated multinational security force deal for Afghanistan not signed after weeks of talks.  Homefront:  The FBI is investigating more than 150 groups/ individuals living in the US with possible ties to bin Laden's al Qaeda network, with some under electronic surveillance and others being watched by undercover agents.
• Day 84: Sat, 12/29/01 - US forces wearing bulletproof vests, added more detainees to Kandahar facility.  Detainees are "bound, blindfolded, and separated from each other by concertina wire."  US bombs another suspected Taliban building in eastern Afghanistan.  Pakistan troops are leaving Afghanistan border and relocating to border with India because of tension over Kashmir.  Cuban officials don't want al Qaeda prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, and want the US Navy base closed.
• Day 83: Fri, 12/28/01 - Afghan satellite phone users threaten to call in the US to bomb those that won't give them what they want.  Afghan Defense Minister Mohammad Fahim says it's time for US to stop bombing in Afghanistan and go elsewhere.
• Day 82: Thur, 12/27/01 - 20 more al Qaeda prisoners, were brought from Pakistan to US detention facility in Kandahar, bringing total of detainees to 45 with 37 at Kandahar and 8 aboard the USS Peleliu.  Some say bin Laden is in Peshawar, Pakistan, but Pakistan still denies it.  Afghanistan's Interior Minister Yunus Qanooni said bin Laden's al Qaeda network lost "geography" but its leadership remains largely in place.  US plans to turn its 45-square mile Navy base at Guantanamo Bay in southeast Cuba into a detention center for al Qaeda/ Taliban militants within next few weeks.  US bombs Taliban leader compound near Ghazni, southwest of Kabul, killing the Taliban's intelligence chief, as well as 25 others, as he tried to flee on a motorcycle.  British authorities are investigating Mark Yates, a British firearms training expert, for offering two-week “live fire" weapons training in the US to aspiring holy warriors.  Yates, as operations and training director for Ground Zero firearms training camp outside Marion, Alabama, apparently provides the link to the "Ultimate Jihad Challenge" marketed by the Sakina Security Services, founded by Sulayman Bilal Zain-ul-abidin.  Zain-ul-abidin was taken into custody in Britain October 1st for terrorism charges.  Ground Zero is operated by Berkeley & Associates.  The US has become a favored training destination, because, as Bakri Mohammed, the Syrian-born founder of al-Muhajiroun movement in Britain states, "We use U.S.A. because whenever we go to Afghanistan, U.S.A. labels us terrorist.  OK, so let us go to America.  You call us tourists."
• Day 81: Wed, 12/26/01 - Armed Pakistan militia are stopping aid trucks trying to enter Pakistan, and requiring a $100 tax.  Al-Jazeera aired a newly released bin Laden tape in which he claims that the Sept. 11 terror attacks on the US were intended to stop US support for Israel.  US officials dismiss the tape as "terrorist propaganda".  Tape translation.  India and Pakistan are gearing up for war, with missiles that can be converted to deliver nuclear warheads, on alert.  No US bombing in Afghanistan.  Pakistan Coast Guard arrest 43 Afghan nationals with ties to bin Laden/Taliban.  Homefront:  US is freezing assets of another militant group - Jaish-e-Mohammed.
• Day 80: Tue, 12/25/01 (Christmas Day) - US military advised forces in Afghanistan to maintain vigilance for attacks timed to coincide with Christmas Day.  No US bombing in Afghanistan.
• Day 79: Mon, 12/24/01 - There are still isolated pockets of al Qaeda and Taliban fighters in Afghanistan's eastern Paktia province, making it unsafe for civilian travelers.  Bin Laden's whereabouts still unknown.  Afghan interim government head Karzai met with a survivor from the bombed convoy, who claims the 65 killed were not al Qaeda.  Local Pashtun chieftain Gulabdin said Karzai would face an armed uprising if there were more U.S. attacks in the area.  No US bombing in Afghanistan.
• Day 78: Sun, 12/23/01 - Evidence points to convoy attack as legitimate target.  Interim Afghan leader Hamid Karzai said US is welcome to stay in Afghanistan until all terrorists have been eliminated from his country.  Former Taliban Ambassador to Pakistan pleads for assylum in fear of persecution from new Afghan government.
• Day 77: Sat, 12/22/01 - US now has custody of 24 al Qaeda prisoners - 8 onboard the USS Peleliu and 16 in the jail at Kandahar.  New Afghan interim government assumes power for a 6-month term.  Hamid Karzai says first task is rebuilding Afghanistan from an economy of war to one of peace, and will require billions of dollars.  US is investigating its airstrike on the convoy.  An informant advised an Italian TV station that bin Laden fled to Kashmir 10 days ago.  Homefront:  Man carrying explosives in shoes on Miami-bound American Airlines Flight 63 is apprehended by passengers and flight attendants as he threatens to blow up plane.
• Day 76: Fri, 12/21/01 - US destroys a convoy of 14 vehicles believed to be carrying al Qaeda/Taliban leadership near Khost, southwest of Tora Bora region; turns out, the 65 dead "included tribal elders and former mujahideen commanders going to Kabul to attend Saturday's inauguration" of the new interim government.  Local informants  had advised they were al Qaeda and local people also diverted the convoy from the main road onto a bypass.  A witness claims these locals were opposed to Karzai's assuming Afghan leadership the next day.  US plans to send a bomb to Afghanistan that uses a high-pressure explosion that will suck the air out of caves and tunnels.  Homefront:  Bush condemns two more groups that financed Bin Laden's operations - UTN and LAT.  Bin Laden apparently met with Pakistani nuclear scientist Sultan Bashiruddin Mahmood weeks before 9/11 attacks.  Mahmood, a member of Umnah Tameer E-nau (UTN), provided detailed information on how to make nuclear weapons and the effects of a nuclear blast.  Kashmir-based Lashkar-i-Taiba (LAT) is intent on destroying relations between Pakistan and India.
• Day 75: Thur, 12/20/01 - Troops are searching in Yemen for bin Laden's militants.  Somalia is another possible al Qaeda regrouping area.  In post-Taliban days: over 1,000 weapons have been turned in in Kandahar, according to the new governor; the newly finished blue domed Eid mosque commissioned by Omar is being used; music is filling the streets.  Kabul civilians ordered by the new defense minister not to carry weapons into the streets; "only mujahedin fighters from the Kabul garrison, police from the interior ministry and secret police from the intelligence services would be allowed to carry weapons."  159 people injured in a blast in an outdoor Mazar-e-Sharif market; fear al Qaeda/Taliban are operating as underground rebels.  Officials claim it was an "accident" - that a grenade fell off a soldier accidentally.
• Day 74: Wed, 12/19/01 - US shifts focus from aerial bombings to cave-to-cave manhunt in Afghanistan, to find Mullah Omar, the Talibaner who harbored bin Laden for over 5 years.  Also, FBI interrogating detainees and searching for other information that can lead troops to bin Laden.  US warns countries considering harboring bin Laden to think again.  More video tapes found in former al Qaeda hideouts in Afghanistan.  Captured bin Laden loyalists, mostly Arabs/Yemenis opened fire on Pakistani guards enroute to prison; at least 12 people killed.  Homefront:  Rat Boy is considered a "battlefield detainee" governed by the Geneva convention - not decided how he'll be tried.
• Day 73: Tue, 12/18/01 - 2nd US soldier injured at Bagram Airport near Kabul clearing land mines.  USS Peleliu, in the Arabian Sea, is holding 5 al Qaeda prisoners, including Rat Boy and an Australian Talibaner.  Afghan fighters pulled out of White Mountains, saying al Qaeda is gone, but US special forces remain in place.  Eastern Alliance officials claim hundreds of al Qaeda and families, including top leaders, escaped to Pakistan aided by senior Afghan tribal leaders.
• Day 72: Mon, 12/17/01 - US Embassy reopens in Afghanistan.  Documents discovered at Tarnak Farms, near Kandahar, indicate bin Laden's fighters may have been developing weapons of mass destruction.  US officials still do not know where bin Laden is.
• Day 71: Sun, 12/16/01 - Eastern Alliance claims they have taken Tora Bora, but bombing continues and officials warn the fighting is far from over.  US soldiers at Tora Bora front wear flat-topped Afghan caps and flowing shalwar kameezes.  From a distance only one detail gives them away as Americans: Afghan alliance fighters walk upright, making themselves easy targets; Americans shimmy up a hill on their bellies.  3 US Marines from Task Force 58 were injured, with 1 losing his foot, when one stepped on a mine by Kandahar airport.  Four armed Arab prisoners escape from a Kandahar hospital.  Marines plan a POW site in Kandahar for al Qaeda prisoners taken from Tora Bora.  Rumsfeld is in Afghanistan.  Festive gunfire fills Kandahar for Eid al-Fitr.  Homefront:  1st US food shipment since 1963 delivered to Cuba.
• Day 70: Sat, 12/15/01 (29th day/last day of Ramadan - began last night at sunset; tonight begins big holiday of 1st day of Eid al-Fitr) - Intensive bombing raids continue on Tora Bora throughout the night.  US military officials still believe bin Laden is trapped in a cave in Tora Bora, along with up to 1,000 other al Qaeda militants, after intercepting bin Laden's voice over short-range radio.  Streets of Kabul erupt in gunfire as Eid al-Fitr celebration begins.  Homefront:  Bush condemns the "Smoking Gun" bin Laden video doubters.
• Day 69: Fri, 12/14/01 - Allied forces making steady progress in Tora Bora area.  "Americans good for bombing, Afghans good for guerrilla warfare."  Removing mines and booby traps is the first job for US Marines as they enter Kandahar airport.  2 US special forces, in Afghan dress, were wounded by machine gun fire.  Rat Boy is moved to the USS Peleliu in the Arabian Sea.  Homefront:  Citing narcotics trafficking as a source of funding for terrorism, President Bush called on Americans to join the Sept. 11 war effort by giving up illegal drugs.
• Day 68: Thur, 12/13/01 - Al Qaeda at Tora Bora chose not to surrender.  Rumsfeld believes bin Laden is in Afghanistan, and that his position is surrounded.  Marines move into Kandahar to begin securing the airport for military operations. Pakistani helicopters hover above its Afghan border to prevent bin Laden and other al Qaeda fighters from entering Pakistan.  Homefront:  Bin Laden video tape was played on national news stations, and the Arab world is suspicious of the translation.  Immigration finally starts searching for and arresting people in US with expired student visas, beginning with those from Middle East.  Putin tells US it's a mistake to pull out of Russia's ABM treaty.
• Day 67: Wed, 12/12/01 (27th day of Ramadan - "Night of Power") - Al Qaeda fighters to go free if they hand over leaders - new deadline for their surrender extended by 24 hours (0330 GMT/Thursday).  Bin Laden escaped Tora Bora 10 days ago (sent his 19 yr old son, Salah Uddin, to take the bullet for him), and is in Pakistan.  US B-1 bomber crashes in Indian Ocean, crew rescued.  Taliban John aka Rat Boy (as radio talk shows call him) is being held at Camp Rhino.  He claims "terrorists are planning two more attacks on America: an imminent attack using biological weapons (which will happen at the end of Ramadan) and another attack that will destroy the country..."  Homefront: The FBI has warned Texas of a "vague" and "unsubstantiated" threat issued against the state's public schools, Texas Gov. Rick Perry said. The threats came "in response to the bombings that are going on in Afghanistan," said Perry.
• Day 66: Tue, 12/11/01 - Al Qaeda fighters at Tora Bora had an 03:30 GMT deadline to surrender or suffer annihilation - did not meet deadline, so bombing began again.  Pentagon is building a detention center at Camp Rhino in Afghanistan and planning how prisoners will be handled.  Homefront: The bin Laden tape is being translated and may be shown to the public.  US will withdraw from Russia's 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty.  Firefighters and clean-up workers at the World Trade Center site are getting sick from toxic fumes.  Israelis and Arabs bring their warring to US soil.  60 Israelis have been arrested or detained as suspects in US espionage ring - have been gathering  information including intelligence about the 9/11 attacks and did not share the info.  Over 140 other Israelis were arrested/detained prior to 9/11 in relation to surveillance of US. 3 months after 9/11, WTC site still smoldering and locals trying to recover.  Interest rates cut today, for 11th time this year - lowest rate in 40 yrs.
• Day 65: Mon, 12/10/01 - Pounding of Tora Bora continues.  Anti-Taliban says most of Tora Bora has been captured.
• Day 64: Sun, 12/9/01 - Bombing and ground fighting continues in manhunt for bin Laden and Omar, US officials feel are still in Afghanistan.  Another "daisy cutter" bomb dropped, this time on a cave in Tora Bora complex.  Prominent Muslim cleric said Mullah Omar should be hanged for supporting terrorism and for bringing shame upon Islam.  Homefront: Interest rates expected to drop this week.
• Day 63: Sat, 12/8/01 - Mullah Omar is apparently being held captive in a  Taliban-friendly environment.  A 40-minute video found in a private home in Jalalabad shows bin Laden explaining that "he expected only the top of the Trade Center towers to collapse down to the level where the airliners struck.  The total collapse of both towers was totally unexpected."  Karzai asks Afghans to seize bin Laden and Mullah Omar. British journalist was attacked and beaten by Afghan refugees after his car broke down in Pakistan.  Homefront: Senate approves $318 billion defense bill and a $20 billion package for the Pentagon and home security.
• Day 62: Fri, 12/7/01 - Bin Laden loyalists rain mortar shells, rockets and bullets from high in the mountains as tribal fighters attack them from below and American warplanes bomb them from above.  US tries to entomb al Qaeda and Taliban forces by using precision-guided weapons.  The 3,000 lb AGM-142 "Have Nap," developed jointly by the US and Israel, can be fired from more than 50 miles away and uses its television seeker to navigate through rugged terrain to its target.  Taliban surrender Kandahar after bloody siege - no sign of Omar.  There was street fighting and looting in Kandahar, because too many commanders and mujahideen.  Taliban "forgot" to hand over weapons upon surrender before fleeing the city.  A final Tora Bora base is said to have been captured, with no sign of bin Laden, who may now be in Pakistan.  Fighting there is bayonet to bayonet.  1 more US special forces soldier killed because a B-52 bomb landed too close.
• Day 61: Thur, 12/6/01 - US warplanes providing close-air support for Afghan opposition troops fighting al Qaeda forces near cave complexes.  No bombing in Kandahar.  Karzai offers amnesty to Taliban fighters who surrender,  Mullah Omar would be afforded protection if he renounced terrorism, and bin Laden's foreign fighters would have to leave the country.  (Isn't that cozy!)  3,000 Taliban fighters,  holed up in Char Dara since they lost Kunduz 6 miles east, surrendered to General Dostum.  US expects other countries to pay for the rebuilding of Afghanistan.  Homefront:  House Democrat wants to spend $1.6 billion over next 4 years in aid to Afghanistan people and help rebuild the country once the U.S. military campaign ends.
• Day 60: Wed, 12/5/01 - Attacks continue on Tora Bora and pushing to take Kandahar.  There may be 1200-2000 al Qaeda troops holed up in Tora Bora.  3 US soldiers killed by stray B-52 bomb.  Mullah Omar is constantly on the move in a variety of different vehicles and traveling with only 1 bodyguard to hide from US forces.  Afghan groups, in the 9th day of meeting with the UN, agreed to allow Pashtun tribal leader, Hamid Karzai, to head the new interim government, which is scheduled to take power in Kabul on December 22.  Promises of billions of dollars in aid accelerated their decision.  Karzai had scrapes and bruises "by dust and debris" today by the same bomb that killed the 3 soldiers.  Homefront:  Roving reporter Bob-on-the-Spot heard on KSEV radio's Ed Hindy Show that the National Guard providing security at airports are armed with empty M-16 rifles.
• Day 59: Tue, 12/4/01 - 12 al Qaeda militants killed in US attacks on Tora Bora.  Rival Afghan groups agree to share power in the post-Taliban government.  Ariana Afghan Airline plans to return to skies.  Homefront:  Texas-based Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development, which funds the Palestinian group Hamas, was shut down today.  The foundation raised $13 million last year for Hamas.
• Day 58: Mon, 12/3/01 - Taliban forces assault Kandahar airport and hide in civilian homes as US planes continue to target possible Taliban hideouts.  Fighting erupts between N. Alliance factions in Northern Afghanistan.  Australian troops arrive in Afghanistan.  British will take part in cave assault of the Tora Bora caves in the White Mountains, south of Jalalabad.  Much of the cave complex was built with CIA money during Afghanistan's war against the Russians.  7th day of UN meeting - "talks could end soon without a new government".  Homefront:  Enron stock down to $.25/share.
• Day 57: Sun, 12/2/01 - British, German and Australian liaison officers are working with the US Marines at their base in Afghanistan.  US citizen was one of about 80 Taliban fighters removed from the prison/fort in Mazar-e-Sharif, after the uprising - 20 yr old John Walker aka Abdul Hamid from California.  Walker was apparently born Catholic, mother raised him as Buddhist, then he studied Islamic fundamentalism in a madrassa in Pakistan.  He took combat training at a camp in Northern Afghanistan.  His father is supportive of him and his studies.  6th day of "Rebuilding Afghanistan" UN meeting - on "brink of a peaceful power-sharing deal".
• Day 56: Sat, 12/1/01 - Anti-Taliban forces close-in at Kandahar.  About 1,000 US Marines are in place at a close desert airfield.  US bombing is also continuing on the Tora Bora caves, believed to include a "fortress complex 1,150 feet beneath the mountains, guarded by hundreds of fighters ready to fight to the death".  Bin Laden and Mullah Omar may be in these caves.  Tora Bora means "black dust".