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Overview of CIA Support of bin Laden during Russia-Afghan War “[T]he CIA, concerned about the factionalism of Afghanistan ... found that Arab zealots who flocked to aid the Afghans were easier to ‘read’ than the rivalry-ridden natives. While the Arab volunteers might well prove troublesome later, the agency reasoned, they at least were one-dimensionally anti-Soviet for now. So bin Laden, [and other] Islamic militants ... became the ‘reliable’ partners of the CIA in its war against Moscow.” Senator Orrin Hatch: “It was worth it ... Those were very important, pivotal matters that played an important role in the downfall of the Soviet Union.” Dated: Aug. 24, 1998
posted by raaka at 11:18 PM PST - 15 comments

WAR: Hub Terror Suspects ID'd - as found in the Boston Herald. Two brothers mentioned, as well as some more detailed information about calls from the airplanes.
posted by Bernreuther at 10:50 PM PST - 23 comments

WTC Editorial cartoons I don't know if they trivialize or symbolize, but they're often part of the artifacts we use to remember events like this.
posted by owillis at 10:46 PM PST - 14 comments

Google Current Events: Always the innovator, Google's brains make it easier to find news (and archives of news) about all of today's events.
posted by anildash at 10:16 PM PST - 1 comments

Remote Yemen May Be Key to Terrorist's Past and Future -- an old NYTimes article with some insight into Osama bin Laden, his homeland and culture. Also, Yemenis' traditions under fire.
posted by kliuless at 9:58 PM PST - 0 comments - Post a Comment

Canada: Spillover Nation Essentially every airport in Canada able to land a jumbo jet has done so. Halifax is packed to the walls with 44 planes; 24 at Pearson; 14 at Mirabel; two in Whitehorse, one of them, a KAL cargo plane, undergoing an escorted quasi-emergency landing because the pilot could not communicate in English with the control tower (!) to explain that the plane was low on fuel. Serious echoes of Swissair 111, where suddenly the small Atlantic airports showed themselves as invaluable and irreplaceable.
posted by joeclark at 9:30 PM PST - 4 comments

Not over yet. Police find a truck packed with enough explosives to blow up the George Washington bridge. When will it stop?
posted by kaefer at 8:32 PM PST - 30 comments

Search warrants issued. Survivors still in the rubble. And a van filled with explosives has been seized....
posted by mkn at 8:30 PM PST - 3 comments

Amazon's Red Cross donation page as pointed to by arielmeadow in the big thread. This deserves front page treatment.
posted by NortonDC at 8:23 PM PST - 15 comments

What happened? Plastic.com has been down all day. I know that the site has experienced server problems in the past, but usually they get fixed within hours. So this is unusual. Does anyone know if the site's server went down in connection with the World Trade Center thing?
posted by MAYORBOB at 7:51 PM PST - 18 comments

Are we sure it's over? I don't mean to play the role of doomsday prophet here, but as happy as I am to be alive (I watched the buildings fall from my office on 23rd St), I feel utterly trapped on Manhattan and completely vulnerable to an attack which would dwarf today's tragedy as much as today dwarfed the previous WTC attack. Anyone want to allay my fears?
posted by Sinner at 7:40 PM PST - 27 comments

newsnow.com search. here is a link to a search run through News Now (UK) for "terrorist" - lots of information streaming in from all over the globe.
posted by ryanshepard at 7:26 PM PST - 0 comments - Post a Comment

One of Malaysia’s Petronas Towers Being Evacuated. Great. Is this gonna happen everywhere?
posted by Davezilla at 6:53 PM PST - 16 comments

Paratroopers? Or cruise missiles? What will America's military response be if the Taliban are determined to be liable? The Russians certainly didn't too well with a conventional military attack on Afghanistan.
posted by MattD at 6:49 PM PST - 34 comments

Photos of tragedy - Warning, may be distressing to some. Tragedies like this always provide for very dramatic photos. What are some of the ones you've seen today that made you gasp? This one made me think "all these people are now dead." Any more?
posted by bondcliff at 6:16 PM PST - 39 comments

Are you drinking too much? Daniel Lieberman is a psychiatrist at George Washington University who has posted a clinically-tested questionnaire which measures personal relationships with the demon drink. Unlike the usual amateur "are you an alcoholic?" tests on the Net it seems methodologically sound and non-judgemental. I don't know about scientific - but it may actually be useful in a Socratic, "know yourself" sort of way. It does take about 10 minutes to fill out - enough for half a gin and tonic - but it's free, well set out, and will probably leave you feeling slightly less guilty about your drinking habits than before. So...chin-chin!
posted by MiguelCardoso at 6:13 PM PST - 9 comments

Bush addresses the nation What did you think? "A silent, unyielding anger"? I was generally impressed, but would like to hear others' reactions.
posted by jewishbuddha at 6:06 PM PST - 116 comments

The Latest:

• An in-depth story on the methodology the attackers used to hijack the plane (flight-attendants stabbed)
• A third World Trade Center building has collapsed

posted by bloggboy at 6:01 PM PST - 1 comments

Reflections on a Mote of Dust "We succeeded in taking that picture [from deep space], and, if you look at it, you see a dot. That's here. That's home. That's us. On it, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever lived, lived out their lives. The aggregate of all our joys and sufferings, thousands of confident religions, ideologies and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilizations, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every hopeful child, every mother and father, every inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every superstar, every supreme leader, every saint and sinner in the history of our species, lived there on a mote of dust, suspended in a sunbeam." Carl Sagan "Pale Blue Dot"
posted by crasspastor at 6:00 PM PST - 15 comments

X10 redirects site traffic to blood donation info. I understand all of their popups have been changed as well. (Figures I can't find one, now that I actually want to see it.)
posted by danwalker at 5:20 PM PST - 22 comments

Gas prices did in fact spike to $5.00 a gallon in some areas of St. Louis, Kansas City and Oklahoma. All Conoco stations that have spiked their prices will have their licenses immediately revoked. Avis still hasn't responded to their price gouging around midwest airports.
posted by geoff. at 4:38 PM PST - 36 comments

Is the DFLP responsible? The Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP) has reportedly claimed responsibility for the attacks on the World Trade Center. This report, from a television station in Abu Dhabi, is unconfirmed. The attacks differ significantly from the DFLP's previous methods of operation. Likewise, the resources and infrastructure necessary for such attacks are far beyond the group's traditional means. Either the DFLP's claims are spurious, or it has joined forces with other groups.
posted by Davezilla at 4:36 PM PST - 18 comments

Caution: This links might be inflamatory
A friend runs a site that is a portal dealing with middle-eastern news (for his safety, I will not link to it). He often receives hate-filled emails urging him to act out against various ethnic groups. This link was sent to him a couple of months ago; it is Islamic Resistance Support Association and is loaded with anti-american propaganda. [view at your own risk]
posted by hotdoughnutsnow at 4:28 PM PST - 4 comments

Index of Afghanistan Attack Reports Here is a list of stories run by the major U.S. news sources on the attack. Still not sure who is responsible, or able to find any coverage from their end.
posted by ryanshepard at 3:52 PM PST - 2 comments

"In the City of God there will be a great thunder, Two brothers torn apart by Chaos, while the fortress endures, the great leader will succumb", "The third big war will begin when the big city is burning"

- Nostradamus, 1654
posted by Nick Finck at 3:37 PM PST - 44 comments

Explosions in Kabul. There are missles coming in Afghanastan. (Saving front page bandwidth, more inside)
posted by geoff. at 3:03 PM PST - 23 comments

There were more than 4 Crashes Today as the world markets were hammered. Percentage-wise, Germany is down 10, Paris down 7, London down almost 6, and similar catastrophic drops in the Americas forced nearly all of the world's markets to close for the day early. I'm worried about the Hang Seng and Nikkei which open very soon. Hopefully the NYSE and Nasdaq will not open for a week or so to let cooler heads prevail.
posted by Kevs at 2:50 PM PST - 16 comments

Hunting Bin Laden "Who is Bin Laden & what does he want?" Uh huh, what about what we want? That storm coming across the mountains toward your "remote mountaintop camp" doesn't have any clouds in it, Binny.That is, if you are the one to blame for today's attacks.
posted by BarneyFifesBullet at 2:47 PM PST - 8 comments

Arab Americans, like all Americans, are shocked and angered by such brutality... American Arab Anti Discrimination Committee posts press release about the attacks. Have you witnessed increased racism towards Arab appearing folks today? What have you done about it?
posted by daver at 1:55 PM PST - 21 comments

The Invent your own language site is a cool and fascinating example of creativity in this day in age. Flame me if you wish, for posting at such a critical time.
posted by HoldenCaulfield at 1:54 PM PST - 9 comments

Donate blood Fellow Canadians, if you want to donate blood, call 1-888-236-6283 to set up an appointment. A friend at Canadian Blood Services said that the level in NY is very low - it's the least we can do.
posted by theNonsuch at 12:47 PM PST - 6 comments

"This is a human issue, not an American, democracy, or a freedom issue." This site is intelligent & amusing, usually, but this critique is just plain wrong. It is uniquely an American issue, as the crime has been perpetrated upon our nation solely for our American values, beliefs, and principles. This is not an attack on Jason, but rather an attempt to demonstrate the true nature of this evil. The strike at the symbolic center of capitalism and the financial heart of the world, coupled with the attack on the headquarters of our nation's ability to defend itself, directly point to terrorists who want to hurt us BECAUSE of the very values & principles that make this America. BTW - I love that Jason & MeFi are performing the valuable services that they are, providing links to sites where NYC folks & friends can post "I'm OK" messages.
posted by davidmsc at 12:46 PM PST - 36 comments

Osama Bin-Laden confederate due to be sentenced tomorrow. Saudi citizen Mohammed al'Owhali, convicted for arranging the 1998 US Embassy bombings in Africa, is due to be sentenced on September 12, 2001. From indications, that would be at the US Courthouse in Foley Square, which is about a mile from the World Trade Center. A possible reason for the timing?
posted by dhartung at 12:16 PM PST - 17 comments

Washington state and the Bangor submarine base are all also in a state of heightened security. I drove past Subase Bangor and they are in Condition Delta, which is when every person who enters the base is physically searched, as well as their car. As a former member of the US Submarine Service I can tell you from first hand knowledge that the military is being scrambled right now to prepare for heightened security along the coastlines of the US. The entire Puget Sound is reeling from the tragic news... malls are closing, the WA state ferry service is no longer transporting cars, federal buildings are being closed, and major structures such as the Space Needle are being evacuated.
posted by crankydoodle at 12:15 PM PST - 5 comments

GST corporation has been asked to coordinate 500 reefers in assistance with the trade center tragedy. They're asking for help, as obtaining them in such a short amount of time is hard. Their phone number is 800-777-8785. Mind these are reefers, and 500 times atleast 48 feet would make up 24,000 feet, by atleast 98 inches would make up 2,352,000 square feet of space.
posted by tiaka at 11:45 AM PST - 7 comments

New Yorkers can check in here. (via windowseat)
posted by rebeccablood at 11:28 AM PST - 1 comments

What makes people feel the need to capitalize on this? Tragedy brings the best and worst out in people.
posted by da5id at 11:25 AM PST - 22 comments

jason is encouraging people in NYC to donate blood today. wherever you are, I encourage you to do the same.
posted by rebeccablood at 9:11 AM PST - 31 comments

Plane crashes in to the word trade center. Apologies for not linking to anything besides the main CNN page but there are no full stories on this yet. The plane crashed into the building about six minutes ago, from what the TV is saying. We are about sixty blocks north and we can see the smoke over the skyline.
posted by karen at 5:58 AM PST - 492 comments

"They just shrug... They don't think that someone is jamming their conversations." A friend of mine bought a cell-phone jammer two months ago and has been happily creating "sanity zones" within which cell phones are rendered inoperable. People have a right to communicate, he conceded. But "I have the right not to participate in that communication process - I really don't need to hear people yelling into a cell phone if I'm standing half a block away."
posted by tranquileye at 5:05 AM PST - 10 comments

Generation Jones : If you were born between 1954 and 1965, ask yourself this question: "Do I feel like a member of The Baby Boom Generation, Generation X, or neither?" Does this seem to you like splitting the hair too finely? Or do you think they've got something here?
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 4:35 AM PST - 6 comments

Lawyer Joseph Gersten fled to Australia after uncovering official corruption in Florida. He is trying to restart his career, but the FBI wants its pound of flesh.
posted by flowerdale at 3:34 AM PST - 5 comments

The math geeks have done it again. Yet another prime number which, when converted to binary, contains DeCSS: this one's an x86 Linux ELF executable. Only took a weekend of hacking to do, and it's only 752 bytes! You know what they say: when prime numbers are outlawed, only outlaws will have prime numbers.
posted by darukaru at 3:29 AM PST - 0 comments - Post a Comment

Robots help cows milk themselves. I'm waiting for the PETA protest -- they're making the cows participate in their own exploitation! The horror!
posted by meep at 2:41 AM PST - 1 comments

Some Kissinger victims are taking him to court in the US. Good.
posted by Mocata at 2:11 AM PST - 3 comments