Operation Enduring Freedom - June 2002

• Day 267: Sun, 6/30/02 - Turkey, the only Muslim NATO country, took command of Kabul airport from British forces.
• Day 266: Sat, 6/29/02 - Backed by helicopters and FBI intelligence, over 3,000 soldiers searched homes, mountains, and vehicles for al Qaeda fugitives along the Afghan/Pakistani border.  
• Day 265: Fri, 6/28/02 - Anywhere from 19 to 32 people have been killed so far in explosions caused by a rocket attack or possibly a time bomb in Spinboldak, Afghanistan.  It is unknown who is responsible for the explosions.  Charred body parts have also been found in the debris at the arms dump and up to 15 guards may have been killed.
• Day 264: Thur, 6/27/02 - California-based Titan Corporation, looking for foreign language translators, did some cold-calling from the Los Angeles phone book to find people to translate for detainees at Guantanomo Bay.
• Day 263: Wed, 6/26/02 - North of Jalalabad in the Kunar province along the Pakistan border, 100 US soldiers and 50 Afghan fighters are searching the mountains for possible bin Laden hideouts.  
• Day 262: Tue, 6/25/02 - A four hour firefight between Pakistani forces and militants at a suspected al Qaeda hideout resulted in the death of 10 Pakistanis and 2 enemy forces.  The troops were led to the location by US intelligence.  Afghanistan will apparently produce 75% of the world's opium this year.  The United Nations said that poppy production in Afghanistan can be stopped if the warlords permit it.  Editorial note:  If US forces can pinpoint a convoy of a few vehicles and bomb them, then they can pinpoint the poppy fields and annihilate them.
• Day 261: Mon, 6/24/02 - US officials admit they don't really know, but believe that Osama bin Laden is alive and living in the "lawless tribal areas of western Pakistan."  The cabinet for the new government of Afghanistan was sworn in.  India claims that Pakistan used Afghanistan as a "breeding ground for terrorism".  According to Dr Ved Pratap Vaidik, a member of advisory committees to the Government of India and Chairman of the Council for Indian Foreign Policy and Bhartiya Bhasha Sammelan, India could have tackled the terrorism borne of Afghanistan but after 9/11/01, "the war on terrorism launched by the U.S. solved India's problem."
• Day 260: Sun, 6/23/02 - A rocket was fired near US troops in southeastern Afghanistan shortly after British troops found the weapons cache Saturday night.  No injuries were reported.  Afghanistan's president Hamid Karzai wants Afghanistan to join the US and Pakistan in the hunt for Osama bin Laden.
• Day 259: Sat, 6/22/02 - British marines found a large weapons cache, believed to belong to al Qaeda/Taliban forces, in a suspicious village compound in southeast Afghanistan - five or six rooms stacked to the ceiling with hundreds of mortars, heavy weapons, and rockets.  They were tipped off when they spotted a large antenna on the compound's roof from a nearby hill.  As they moved in, a man peeking out from the compound's doorway piqued their suspicions when he ran back inside.  The troops had to smash through the stone wall of the compound, dubbed the "Alamo", and the men inside surrendered without a fight, although they had already destroyed two radios.  Several white vans were seen driving away from the far side of the village, but the marines were unable to stop them.
• Day 258: Fri, 6/21/02 - US officials say that Iran and Iraq have allowed al Qaeda fighters to pass through their countries traveling home to Arab nations from Afghanistan.  Pakistan has "significantly reduced infiltration" across its border.  US special forces found mortars and other weapons at a house near Gardez, and took five men into custody.  And near Kandahar, 5,000 mortar rounds were found in a six-cave complex.  A leader of Muslim guerrilla group Abu Sayyaf, Abu Sabaya, has been killed during fighting with Philippine troops.  India test fired two heat-seeking anti-tank missiles and claimed it had nothing to do with recent tensions with Pakistan.  Pakistan released 485 of their 627 Afghan detainees held on immigration violations.  Homefront: The FBI issued an advisory to law enforcement agencies via the National Law Enforcement Telecommunications System stating - "Law enforcement agencies are encouraged to make contact with appropriate Jewish community representatives and officials and trucking and fuel delivery facilities that operate fuel tanker trucks or commercial fueling stations and emphasize the need to report suspicious activities or persons."  Terrorists may be planning to use fuel trucks as weapons and any US property is a target, especially "Jewish neighborhoods, synagogues and fuel depots."  The FBI has also contacted hundreds of scuba diving shops after receiving information that al Qaeda operatives may be taking scuba training "in order to blow up ships at anchor, power plants, bridges, depots or other waterfront targets."  Also, a man, Michael Hamdan, a naturalized US citizen from Lebanon, reported to the FBI that he intercepted a cell phone conversation of people speaking in Arabic talking about bombing Las Vegas on the 4th of July.  The FBI said he is not credible.
• Day 257: Thur, 6/20/02 - Turkey, led by its Gen. Hilmi Akin Zorlu, took over command of the international peacekeeping force (ISAF) in Afghanistan.  Turkey agreed to take the reigns if the US provided them with billions of dollars in financial and military support.  In the darkness of the early morning, about 20 Israeli tanks and armored vehicles entered Ramallah from the south and the west to converge on Yasser Arafat's compound.
• Day 256: Wed, 6/19/02 - US hopes to wrap things up in Afghanistan within 12-18 months.  Currently, there are about 7,000 Americans deployed in the Afghan campaign, leading about 5,000 troops from other nations.  Hamid Karzai was sworn in as Afghanistan's new President for the next 18 months, and also announced 14 Cabinet ministers during this, the final day, of the loya jirga.  Israel's response to yesterday's bus-bombing is to capture "Palestinian Authority territory.  These areas will be held by Israel as long as terror continues.  ...Additional acts of terror will lead to taking of additional areas."  Another homicide bomber killed seven people and injured at least 35 when he got out of a red Audi, dashed past two policemen, and blew himself up at a bus shelter at a busy intersection in Jerusalem.  The Palestinian Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade claimed responsibility.  Israel continues to hold the Palestinian Authority and its leader, Yasser Arafat, responsible for all the bombing attacks.  In response, Israeli troops began firing from helicopters at targets in the Gaza Strip.  Homefront: An unresponsive plane (Cessna 182) circling in restricted air space nearby caused a partial evacuation of the White House.  In the restricted space, called Area P-56A, planes must fly above 18,000 feet.
• Day 255: Tue, 6/18/02 - American officials say Pakistan has replaced Afghanistan as the center for al Qaeda operations.  Delegates to Afghanistan's loya jirga are angry that they have not been allowed to make any decisions toward forming the new interim government.  Newly elected interim President Hamid Karzai says he'll select his own Cabinet.  He also states that he needs to be inaugurated into office tomorrow.  Britain will reduce it's troops in the International Security and Assistance Force in Afghanistan (ISAF) from about 1,400 to 400 as it hands over the leadership reins to Turkey this week.  Saudi Arabia announced they've arrested 13 al Qaeda suspects - 11 Saudis, one from Iraq, and a Sudanese who claims to have launched the SA-7 surface-to-air missile at a US military plane in Saudi Arabia.  Two rockets exploded about a block from the US Embassy in Kabul.  The 70th Palestinian homicide bombing within a two year period against Israelis took 20 lives and injured at least 55 on a crowded bus in Jerusalem.  The Palestinian Muslim extremist group, Hamas, claimed responsibility.  "Hours after the attack, Israeli tanks and troops invaded the West Bank city of Nablus and arrested three suspects, then withdrew.  Israeli tanks also rolled into Jenin and its refugee camp, and the town of Qalqiliya."  Homefront: South Carolina's Gov. Hodges was ordered by a federal judge to allow the plutonium shipments into his state, which he has been blocking since Friday.  The weapons-grade plutonium is being shipped from the government's Rocky Flats, CO site to the Savannah River Site.
• Day 254: Mon, 6/17/02 - Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld said the US war on terrorism in Afghanistan has forced al Qaeda to seek refuge in other countries which has increased terrorist activity in those countries.  It has also greatly disrupted their ability to put together another attack on the scale of 9/11, and attacks will most likely be new types which are hastily thrown together.  On the island of Basilan in the Philippines, two US Marines and Filipino troops guarding a Navy construction depot were attacked by hostile fire, apparently by the terrorist group Abu Sayyaf.  No injuries reported, but casualties were suspected among the enemy.  Pakistan has moved some of its troops from the Kashmir area back to the Afghanistan border to guard against al Qaeda crossings.  The delegates in the continuing loya jirga want the new Afghanistan to be a democracy that is guided by Islam, similar to Iran's government.  A delegate from Kabul stated, "We have done jihad (holy war) and are proud of it."  In response, the deputy chairman asked that the microphones be switched off, then said, "No one in this assembly is against the fundamental tenets of Islam.  But why do we keep repeating the same thing?  We talk about Islam as though there are infidels in this room.  This will only exacerbate the situation."  United Nations' funds for assisting Afghan refugees are drying up because of bogus claims.  Fake refugees take the monetary and food assistance, then stash the cash and sell the supplies.  Then they do it all again.  Homefront: The wings fell off a C-130 transport fighting a wildfire near Yosemite National Park, and then it crashed killing all three crew aboard. 
• Day 253: Sun, 6/16/02 - Iraq wants all United Nations sanctions against Baghdad lifted before it will consider allowing the weapons inspectors back in.  Talks between the two are set for July 3rd and 4th.  Israel is breaking ground on a 75 mile-long electronic security fence aimed to keep out Palestinian terrorists along a large part of the West Bank, Israeli border.  Homefront: Special "non-military units" have been entering Iraq via Turkey since early this year gathering intelligence in Baghdad and trying to form a resistance against him.  Now the Bush administration has decreed that Saddam Hussein must be removed from power and will allow the "CIA to use deadly force to topple the Iraqi leader."  Tens of millions of dollars has been budgeted for the operation.
• Day 252: Sat, 6/15/02 - Indian and Pakistani shelling in Kashmir resulted in the deaths and injuries of area civilians.  Pakistan has decided, as a goodwill statement to India, to pull back its warships and submarines, like India did, from their secret wartime locations.  Some Saudi broadcasts from Igraa Television, provided by Arab Radio and Television Network, show that young children are being taught to hate Jews.  A three-year old girl, when asked if she knew about Jews, said she didn't like them "because…they’re apes and pigs."  Audio cassette tapes containing a 15-minute recorded message from the leader of the ousted Taliban, Mullah Omar, were placed outside of homes, government buildings, and hotels in southeast Afghanistan, claiming that he lives.  Argentinian coastguard fired on a Russian fishing trawler, Odoyevsk, saying it violated its waters and had refused to show its catch.  Homefront: Federal officials broke ground on the new missile silos in Ft. Greely, Alaska, 100 miles southeast of Fairbanks.  Six of the silos, each 115 feet deep with a 24 foot circumference, should be ready for their 75 foot missile-intercepting missiles by 2004.  The Florida agent for Chicago-based Benevolence International Foundation, Adham A. Hassoun, was arrested for an expired visa, although he had been under investigation for possible al Qaeda ties.  The foundation had been providing funds for al Qaeda terrorists and had its assets frozen earlier in the year.  Hassoun was friends with Jose Padilla, the "dirty bomb planner" arrested May 8th, and they both attended Masjid Al-Iman, a mosque in Ft. Lauderdale.  Hassoun had also been the North American distributor for the Call of Islam magazine, which advocates jihad and is published by the Islamic Youth Movement.
• Day 251: Fri, 6/14/02 - In Karachi, Pakistan, a "student driver" car laden with explosives blew up next to a guard post outside the US Consulate, killing twelve people and injuring 50.  Authorities believe explosives had been stashed in the vehicle and detonated remotely as the vehicle passed the target.  No Americans were killed, although one US Marine guard was among the injured.  Pakistani newspapers received a fax from a previously unknown group, Al-Qanoon (the Law), claiming responsibility, with more to come.  Homefront: South Carolina Gov. Jim Hodges declared a state of emergency, ordering police to block shipments of plutonium from entering the state.
• Day 250: Thur, 6/13/02 - Mullah Omar, Taliban leader on-the-run, said Osama bin Laden is still alive and will not abandon their cause.  The US Air Force is sending a team to Afghanistan to find out what caused yesterday's plane crash that killed three US troops.  Hamid Karzai was elected to continue as Afghanistan's leader for another 18 months by 1,295 delegates out of 1,575.
• Day 249: Wed, 6/12/02 - Three US troops were killed when their MC-130 crashed during takeoff at a base 35 miles southwest of Gardez in eastern Afghanistan.  German peacekeepers fought with a Loya Jirga delegate's bodyguards for  pointing their guns at them, then Afghan police and security officials joined in for a while.  Two Pakistanis and three North Africans were taken into custody in Paris while police were working leads on ties to the shoe-bomber Richard Reid.  A Sudanese national who may have tried to shoot down a US military plane with shoulder-fired missiles at Prince Sultan air base in Saudi Arabia last month was detained in Sudan.  The second day of Loya Jirga in Afghanistan allowed delegates to take the floor.  Some asked questions, some made statements, some complained.  One person commented that "there were so many warlords at the assembly that he did not know if he was at a Loya Jirga or a military council."  Another complained that "some of the invited guests were consuming too much food."  Homefront: The Bush administration is in the process of updating its list of 200+ individuals with al Qaeda/Taliban ties, which will lift UN sanctions from those removed.
• Day 248: Tue, 6/11/02 - With the arrival of 25 more al Qaeda terrorist-suspects, there are now 434 detainees at Camp Delta at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base.  Former Afghan president Burhanuddin Rabbani withdrew his candidacy from the new Afghan interim-leader race and Hamid Karzai said the Loya Jirga voted him in as the new president of Afghanistan.  Turned out the crowd was only applauding.  Homefront: A defense attorney for the dirty bomb suspect, Jose Padilla also known as Abdullah al Muhajir, arrested May 8th, filed a petition saying the government is violating Padilla's rights.  Donna Newman claims he is being illegally detained.  President Bush is promoting a cabinet-level Homeland Security Department which would "command more than 100 different agencies and 170,000 people", making government security function more efficiently.  The INS has advised border agents to inspect luggage of all Yemeni citizens entering or leaving the US, and to watch for thermos bottles (containing wires and batteries), large sums of money, and night-vision goggles.  31 liberal Congressmen filed suit against President Bush, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Secretary of State Colin Powell to prevent withdrawal from the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, which Bush announced the termination of six months.  The Senate approved increasing the national debt ceiling from $5.95 trillion by another $450 billion.  This would allow enough room for government borrowing through December.
• Day 247: Mon, 6/10/02 - US troops blew up more weapons found in caves in southeastern Afghanistan, about ten miles from the Pakistani border.  Afghanistan's Loya Jirga, or grand council, was to convene today, but was postponed until tomorrow because so many delegates showed up and there was suddenly lots of support for former Afghan king Zahir Shah.  Israeli troops move into Ramallah again and surround Yasser Arafat's city-block sized compound.
• Day 246: Sun, 6/9/02 - Al Qaeda spokesman Sulaiman bu Ghaith again claims the Jihad against the US is only beginning.  He states "Americans have not yet suffered from us what we have suffered from them.  We have the right to kill four million Americans, including one million children, displace double that figure and injure and cripple hundreds of thousands.  We have the right to fight them by chemical and biological weapons so that they catch the fatal and unusual diseases that Muslims have caught due to their chemical and biological weapons."  The 2,000 US soldiers stationed at Camp Doha in Kuwait "stand between freedom and fear," according to Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, referring to Iraq, its border 35 miles away.  Shelling continues between Pakistan and India across their shared border.  India is arresting terrorists under their new anti-terror legislation and Pakistan says this shows a blatant disregard for civil rights of those living in Kashmir.  Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat appointed Abdel Razak Al-Yahya to take over his position as Interior Minister, and said there would be a presidential election within nine months.  Homefront: In Colorado City, Texas, at 5:30 AM, a tractor-trailer pulled slowly out from the shoulder onto I20 whereupon a Greyhound bus crashed into it, killing four passengers and injuring two dozen others.  Another 18-wheeler had just dodged it.
• Day 245: Sat, 6/8/02 - US Troops stationed at Karshi Khanabad air base in Uzbekistan were moved out of three areas because traces of mustard gas and nerve agents were found during a routine inspection.  Officials feel the chemicals are leftover from former Soviet occupation and that, with the warmer weather, vapors are being released from chemicals that had soaked into the ground.  The specialized chemical-detecting team will go to US-occupied bases in Afghanistan next.  Philippines President Gloria Arroyo said their troops can pursue Abu Sayyaf full force now that there are no more hostages, but fears the leaders may flee to other Muslim nations, like Indonesia or Malaysia, for refuge.  Pakistan and India resumed fighting again along their shared border and Pakistan jets shot down an Indian spy plane.  Both countries have massed 1 million troops along the Line of Control, the "the cease-fire line dividing Kashmir between India and Pakistan."  Palestinians continue attacks on Israeli civilians, killing their own in the process as well.  Israeli troops hold Palestinian Jenin, hometown of Wednesday's suicide bomber, to a curfew.  Homefront: The US Coast Guard issued a "credible threat" warning for the Puget Sound area in Washington to watch for suspicious swimmers and divers.  More remains found at Ground Zero at WTC site, now nine months after the attacks.
• Day 244: Fri, 6/7/02 - The last of Abu Sayyaf's hostages (Kansas missionaries Martin & Gracia Burnham and a Filipina nurse) in the Philippines were freed by US-trained Philippine commandos equipped with silencers and night vision equipment in "Operation Daybreak".  Martin and the nurse were killed during the gun battle and Gracia took a bullet through the thigh.  Because of its links to al Qaeda, the aim is to destroy the guerrilla organization, which numbers only about 100 members, down from 1,000 a year ago.  Currently there are about 1,200 US troops in the Philippines, the largest contingent outside of Afghanistan conducting the War on Terrorism.  There are about 7,000 US troops in Afghanistan.  Tensions have cooled a bit between India and Pakistan, but if they go to war, US troops stationed along the Pakistani/Afghan border will be repositioned.  There are no plans to offer US troops' assistance in the Kashmir conflict.  20 Israeli tanks continue to patrol Jenin, declaring a curfew in it and several neighboring villages.  Homefront: Status of the $27.1 billion Anti-Terror bill proposed by the Bush administration in March - the House okayed a $29 billion version two weeks ago and this morning, the Senate approved a $31.5 billion version.  A suspicious package in the men's bathroom at NY's Kennedy Int'l Airport caused the evacuation of a terminal.  The package contained electrical circuit breakers.
• Day 243: Thur, 6/6/02 - Following intelligence of another possible attack on US interests, the FBI is "dispatching special surveillance teams to monitor terror suspects on the ground, by air or with court-approved wiretaps."  An al Qaeda weapons cache was found in a barn in Alatay, 50 miles northwest of Kandahar.  The cache's guard was apparently spooked from his bed and fled when he heard the approaching Chinook helicopters.  An outbreak of Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever has been discovered in Afghanistan along its Iranian border.  Israeli forces assaulted Yasser Arafat's Ramallah compound, blowing up three buildings and shelling his bedroom.
• Day 242: Wed, 6/5/02 - Internet scams, run by a gang of West African criminals, are using global terrorism issues as a cover to get millions of dollars by pushing "good samaritan" and "greed" buttons from unsuspecting victims.  A car carrying explosives, detonated by a teenage bomber, blew up behind a bus just north of the West Bank in Galilee, killing at least 16.  The bus, after leaving Tel Aviv, was filled with Israeli soldiers returning to posts in northern Israel.  The Islamic Jihad group claimed responsibility.  In response, Israeli tanks entered Jenin, West Bank (an extremist stronghold) and attack helicopters shelled the area.
• Day 241: Tue, 6/4/02 - Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, a bin Laden lieutenant from Kuwait, is believed to be the mastermind behind the 9/11 attacks.  A $25 million reward is offered toward his capture.  He's believed to be in Afghanistan or the surrounding area.  Four rockets were fired at the US-led coalition military base in Kandahar, but no injuries or damage.  200+ Turkish troops arrived in Kabul in preparation to head the peacekeeping force at the end of the month.  Homefront: Attorney General John Ashcroft would like to "expand a 1998 rule that requires visitors from Libya, Iraq, Sudan, and Iran to register with the government and be fingerprinted and photographed."  This is currently required of foreigners seeking to live in the States, but not required of all visitors.  Over 1,500 personnel from the US and Canada took part in a twin hijacking drill, using a Delta 757 headed to Elmendorf AFB in Anchorage from SLC and a Navy C-9 airlifter traveling from Whidbey Island Naval Air Station in WA to Vancouver.  The "rogue" aircraft were "shot down" by fighter pilots.  It's been five months since Charles Bishop crashed a plane into the Bank of America building in Tampa, now two more attempts at destruction.  Michael P. Antinori survived crashing his helicopter into the roof of a private home in Tampa, leaving a hospital a few hours later with only minor injuries.  Shortly after, someone looking like Antinori was seen back at the Vandenberg airport taking off in Antinori's Cessna 172.  The plane circled Hillsborough County for about an hour and would not respond to calls from Tampa Airport's control tower.  It then plunged to the ground, killing the pilot on impact.  Dental records will be used to confirm if it was Antinori.
• Day 240: Mon, 6/3/02 - An Afghan minister of its interim government stated that Mullah Omar is alive and spends most of his time outside of Afghanistan, coming and going from mountainous hideouts along the border.  Homefront: Stocks hit a low equal to October '01 believed to be caused by buyer distrust of big corporate finances and top management.  So many are following Enron's path after its fall pretty much coincided with the freezing of terrorist assets after 9/11.  Just a coincidence?
• Day 239: Sun, 6/2/02 - 3,000 tons of opium are expected to be harvested in Afghanistan this season.  An article in Al-Hayat quoted Sulaiman Abu Gaith, former teacher of islam, "We confirm our continuation in working to attack Americans and Jews, and targeting them, both people and buildings."  Because of his speaking for Usama bin Laden on television after 9/11 attacks, Abu Gaith was stripped of his citizenship in Kuwait.  Homefront: Four INS stamps were stolen from the Tacoma, Washington office - used to approve visas and visa extensions, grant shore leave to ships' crews, and approve temporary green cards.  E-bay was selling F-16 fighter jet and SR-71 Blackbird spy plane spare parts until the Air Force got wind of it.  The concern was that now-unfriendly nations would buy parts for their American made aircraft.  The FBI now allows monitoring a mosque's activities, and will hire Muslims to do the job.  It, the Secret Service, INS, and the New Jersey Police Dept. did some recruiting today at the Islamic Center of Passaic County.
• Day 238: Sat, 6/1/02 - An Indian Defense Research Development staffer was arrested for spying.  He had classified and sensitive military documents on a floppy that he took to a cyber cafe to print out.  Israeli troops continue their sweep of West Bank cities, rounding up 50 suspected Palestinian militants.  Homefront: American Airlines CEO Donald J. Carty said another attack on commercial airlines is unlikely and that stringent airport security measures put in place because of 9/11 should be dropped.  Most US airports don't require passengers on private chartered flights to be screened, opening a huge hole in air security.  There are thousands of these flights every day ranging from twin seat prop-jobs to 737 jumbo jets.  Currently in North America there are 1,453 charter operators flying 7,102 aircraft.  The Transportation Security Administration may rule shortly that planes over 95,000 pounds require passenger screening.