Operations
Defense Policy / Programs
Government Statements and Transcripts
US Domestic Responses
International Responses
Defense Industry
Other Conflicts
News Reports

October 20, 2001 Airstrikes

Operations

• PENTAGON/RAID VOA 20 Oct. 2001-- The Pentagon says U-S special forces have attacked two separate targets in southern Afghanistan, including a compound near Kandahar used as a residence by Taleban leader Mullah Mohamed Omar
• AFGHAN RAID VOA 20 Oct. 2001-- U-S army special forces have launched a night-time raid in Afghanistan, signaling a shift in the U-S-led anti-terrorism campaign following nearly two weeks of bombing. Taleban officials say they repelled the attack. Meanwhile, the Pentagon says a U-S helicopter on stand-by for search and rescue operations crashed in neighboring Pakistan, leaving two American soldiers dead.

Video footage used during DoD news briefing
Click on the small image to view a larger version
Footage showing deployed Special Operations Forces preparing for their missions [Warning] File Size: 18.5 Mb
Footage showing Special Operations Forces loading onto transport aircraft, taking off for the trip into Afghanistan, and exiting the C-130 aircraft and jumping onto their objective, an airfield in southern Afghanistan [Warning] File Size: 25 Mb	Night vision lens movie showing SOF in action: clearing the airfield building by building, and coming across a small weapons cache including rocket-propelled grenades, a machine gun and ammunition. According to the DoD, these weapons were later destroyed [Warning] File Size: 10 Mb

Defense Policy / Programs

Government Statements and Transcripts

• Excerpts: Pentagon Briefing on U.S. Ground Operations in Afghanistan 20 Oct. 2001-- Myers: "U.S. forces were able to deploy, maneuver and operate inside Afghanistan without significant interference from Taliban forces. They are now refitting and repositioning for potential future operations against terrorist targets in other areas known to harbor terrorists."
• Text: Bush Says Pacific Nations United in Fight Against Bioterrorism 20 Oct. 2001-- Bush: We do not yet know who sent anthrax to the United States Capitol, or several different media organizations. We do not, at this point, have any evidence linking the anthrax to the terror network that carried out the attacks of September 11. We do know that anyone who deliberately delivers anthrax is engaged in a crime and an act of terror, a hateful attempt to harm innocent people and frighten our citizens.
• Transcript: Bush Calls War on Terror "The Urgent Task of Our Time" 20 Oct. 2001-- Bush:In our world, there is no isolation from evil. Our enemies are murderers with global reach. They seek weapons to kill on a global scale. Every nation now must oppose this enemy, or be, in turn, its target. Those who hate all civilization and culture and progress, those who embrace death to cause the death of the innocent, cannot be ignored, cannot be appeased. They must be fought
• Transcript: White House Briefing on Bush Bilaterals in Shanghai 20 Oct. 2001-- President Bush's meeting October 20 with Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammed focused primarily on the fight against terrorism and U.S.-led efforts to combat terrorist networks around the world, a senior White House official told reporters.
• Transcript: President Bush and Japan's Koizumi Meet in Shanghai 20 Oct. 2001-- The anti-terror coalition "is making great progress," Bush said. "Not only are we doing well militarily, but we're sharing intelligence all across the globe, in ways that people could never envision up to now."

US Domestic Responses

International Responses

• AFGHANISTAN / NORTHERN ALLIANCE VOA 20 Oct. 2001-- The nominal head of Afghanistan's opposition group, the Northern Alliance said alliance troops are close to capturing the airport in the strategic city of Mazar-e-sharif in northern Afghanistan
• PAKISTAN / AFGHANISTAN VOA 20 Oct. 2001-- Heavy bombing has resumed in Afghanistan following a nighttime raid by U-S special forces on a Taleban target in the south of the country. Meanwhile, Pakistan's foreign ministry says a key Taleban minister visited Pakistan in recent days.
• SWEDEN / AFGHAN VOA 20 Oct. 2001-- A Swedish aid organization operating in Afghanistan says all its offices in the Afghan countryside have been closed after being ransacked by the Taleban during the past few days
• APEC SUMMIT VOA 20 Oct. 2001-- Economic troubles and terrorism are both on the agenda at the annual Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit that officially opened Saturday in Shanghai. Some of APEC's 21 members are forming new alliances to cope with the renewed challenge posed by terrorists

Defense Industry

Other Conflicts

News Reports

• CYBERTERRORISM VOA 20 Oct. 2001-- The September terrorist attacks against the United States have focused national attention on threats to the country's critical infrastructure, including its computer and information networks. President Bush has appointed a special assistant to unify the government's efforts to improve U-S information security
• ANTHRAX FINDING VOA 20 Oct. 2001-- Hazardous materials teams sweeping the U-S Congressional complex in Washington have found evidence of anthrax in a House of Representatives office building (Saturday, 10/20).
• AFGHANISTAN FUTURE VOA 20 Oct. 2001-- U-S and U-N officials are now trying to form some plans for post-war Afghanistan, while insisting that basic decisions lie with the Afghans themselves. The goal is somehow to create a unified government out of the nation's contentious groups, including Taleban defectors, and avoid a collapse into more warfare
• BUSH AFGHANISTAN RAID VOA 20 Oct. 2001-- President Bush is saying little in public about the newest phase in the U-S led military campaign against Taleban and terrorist targets in Afghanistan. But he does say progress is being made in the war on terrorism