The Pantagraph from Bloomington, Illinois • Page 2

A2 Sunday, September 1 6, 2001 THE PANTAGRAPH www.pantagraph.com Terror strikes America In a horrific sequence of destruction, terrorists brought down four airliners killing thousands. The attacks have brought the U.S. military to a state of "High Alert," with congress endorsing the use of force. These are the key events of the last few days. 7:58 a.m.-8:14 a.m.

Flights depart Boston's Logan International Airport, Newark Airport and Washington's Dulles International Airport heading to the west coast 9:06 a.m. Hijacked United Airlines Flight 175 with 65 people aboard crashes into the south tower of the World Trade Center. 9:49 a.m. FAA bars all aircraft takeoffs across U.S. International flights in progress are told to land in Canada.

10:10 a.m. Hijacked United Airlines Flight 93 with 45 people aboard crashes in a Pennsylvania field. 1:04 p.m. From Barksdale Air Force base in Louisiana, Bush announces that the US military is on "high alert." 8:30 p.m. Back at the White House, President Bush addresses the nation and vows to "find those responsible and bring them to justice." Vs 8:48 a.m.

Hijacked American Airlines Flight 11 with 92 people aboard crashes into the north tower of the World Trade Center. 9:43 a.m. Hijacked American Airlines Flight 77 with 64 people aboard crashes into the Pentagon. 9:55 a.m. South tower of the World Trade Center collapses.

10:29 a.m. North tower of the World Trade Center collapses. 5:25 p.m. Seven World Trade Center collapses. Tracking bin Laden not easy task Afghans leaving Kabul amid fears of U.S.

strike "The fact that we seem to have so little information about his recent activities suggests that they've made some important innovation in communications and is something we're going to have get up to speed on fast." Daniel Benjamin, a terrorism expert now with the Center for Strategic International Studies. "It is quite possible that they're doing most of their communications by face-to-face conversa- UUU. WASHINGTON, D.C. (AP) Osama bin Laden has survived despite spending much of his life opposing the great powers of the world. And while bin Laden, the West's chief suspect for Tuesday's slaughter, likely remains confined to a network of camps and caves in eastern Afghanistan, tracking him consistently has proved extraordinarily difficult for U.S.

intelligence agencies. In December, the Clinton administration prepared to strike bin Laden when officials believed they had solid information of his whereabouts. After a debate, they pulled back in part over concerns that the information outdated further driving home that intelligence on the man is hard to come by. It isn't for lack of trying. The full assets of the intelligence community from CIA spies, to National Security Agency wire and computer taps, to the military's satellites are used to track bin Laden's activities.

The United States and its allies TVint ollo Vrv human irttoln. gence U.S. agents able to observe those conversations. So leu iJilUillg liiuac naa piuvcu cu- most impossible for the CIA. also share information.

Intelligence officials, however, avoid discussing how successful those efforts are for fear of giving away U.S. capabilities. It's clear bin Laden knows U.S. spy methods and takes steps to avoid them. He moves fast and goes into hiding.

He stops using communications channels he learns are monitored such as his satellite phone. "The fact that we seem to have so little information about his recent activities suggests that they've made some important innovation in communications and is something we're going to have get up to speed on fast," said Daniel Benjamin, a former National Security Council staffer and terrorism expert Just as the United States does wiin its most serious secrets, kin nrlnn nVnvinn er ci i i fa 1M -'r miff' AP KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) Fearing a revenge attack by the United States for the hijackings in New York and Washington, Afghans began leaving their capital Saturday and stocking up on food and other supplies. "There is no pleasure in life anyway, so I don't care if the bombs come and I have to die along with my children," said Leilama, a 38-year-old mother of six in Kabul. "But the United States should know that the Afghan people are not their enemies." The Taliban leadership, which is under fire for harboring suspected terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden, called on the people to "stand proud" and threatened war on nations that aid in a U.S. assault on Afghanistan.

The Central Asian nation of 21 million people has already endured Soviet invasion, civil war, the rise of the radical Taliban regime, widespread hunger and most recently, a punishing drought. Beleaguered Afghans seemed resigned to adding American fury to their long list of woes. Residents of Kabul were spending their meager savings to stock up on food. Afghans lined up Saturday outside a barbed wire fence on the border at Torkham, trying to cross into Pakistan. Taliban fighters beat people formation with few people.

Despite his efforts, the working with its foreign counterparts, has managed some victories, thwarting attacks by bin Laden's network in Jordan, Egypt, Kenya and the Balkans in recent years. A burqa clad woman and her child leave Afghanistan at the border Saturday between Afghanistan and Pakistan in Torkham, Pakistan. Bin Laden's wish: To rid holy lands of infidels back with sticks. "I don't want my children to die in a war," said Sabira, who like many Afghans uses only one name. She waited at the fence with her two boys and two girls, ages 4 to 9.

A 9-year-old boy named Abdul escaped into Pakistan, but his mother, father and siblings were still stuck on the Afghan side. "I won't go back," he said. "I'll just wait and hope they will come, too." Pakistan and Iran each have about 2 million Afghan refugees already. Saying it cannot accommodate new arrivals, Iran on Saturday ordered its security forces to seal off its 560-mile border with Afghanistan, its interior ministry said. Pakistan has also agreed to close its borders, Pakistani officials said.

Fears of an impending U.S. military attack are rife throughout Afghanistan. Responsibility for Tuesday's terror attacks the worst in U.S. history has not been established, but the United States has pointed to bin Laden as the prime suspect. cold-blooded slaughter: the 1998 bombing of two U.S.

embassies in Africa in which 231 people died, most of them ordinary bystanders; and nearly 5,000 dead or missing from the World Trade Center and Pentagon attacks. "He clearly has declared war against the United States and has been carrying out systematic attacks against American facilities and Americans for the last several years," said Vincent Cannistraro, a former chief of counterterrorism operations for the CIA. "So clearly the one who has been the most violent opponent of the United States and has expressed that violence in destruction is bin Laden," added Cannistraro. "He is the most serious threat. This is clearly the big enemy." CAIRO, Egypt (AP) He is described as soft-spoken, a good listener and infused with the serenity of the deeply devout.

His favorite hobby is riding Arabian horses. He is said to enjoy playing traditional healer, dispensing honey and herbs to the sick. But beneath Osama bin Laden's benign exterior burns a desire to rid Jerusalem and Saudi Arabia home of Islam's holiest shrines of the Israeli and Americans he regards as infidels. "If the instigation for jihad (holy war) against the Jews and the Americans is considered a crime, then let history be a witness that I am a criminal," bin Laden told Time magazine in an interview published in January 1999. That holy war, in Western eyes, amounts to All Bleyle 50Off Slora tor Ladies DOWNTOWN PONTIAC 215 West Madison St I 3,175 Heart Surgeric Performed.

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