Powell: U.S. Will Go After Terrorists Responsible

WASHINGTON -- Fire broke out at 1 World Financial Center in New York Wednesday morning, just blocks from the World Trade Center, according to ABC news.

A state police helicopter patrolling the area spotted white smoke billowing from the roof of the office building.

There is no one inside the building, but ABC reported that firefighters are working to get the flames under control.

The government went back to work amid the carnage Wednesday, its political leaders, diplomats and soldiers leaving no doubt the terrorist assault will be answered. "We will go after them," Secretary of State Colin Powell vowed. "We will not let up."

He added "It is a war" -- saying "it's a war not against the United States, it's a war against civilization." Powell is not only condemning those responsible for yesterday's terror attacks, but he's also given a stern warning to states and countries providing haven to such groups.

Powell also tells NBC's "Today Show" that there is "good evidence" to find out who's responsible for the attacks.

Powell says the government has told all U.S. ambassadors worldwide to shut down operations based on judgments of situations abroad.

CNN is reporting that seven survivors have been found in the rubble of the World Trade Center -- one was a police officer and the others are said to be firefighters. They also reported that they have hopes that two more will be rescued soon. Two Port Authority officers were found alive Tuesday night. There was no information on their conditions this morning.

According to MSNBC, 10,000 – 20,000 people were inside WTC when first plane hit.

Osama bin Laden (pictured) says he's happy about the terrorist attacks on the United States.

But the Saudi dissident is denying any involvement. A Palestinian journalist got a call early today from one of bin Laden's aides -- who was at a hideout in Afghanistan.

The aide said when bin Laden found out about the attacks, he "thanked Almighty Allah and bowed before him."

U.S. officials have said bin Laden is the prime suspect in Tuesday's attacks. He's believed to be hiding in Afghanistan.

Bin Laden is also a key suspect in the 1998 U.S. embassy bombings in East Africa where 224 people died.

Investigators in Boston are looking for members of the local arm of a terrorist group related to Osama bin Laden. Though the Boston Herald has unconfirmed reports on five possible Arab suspects, the FBI has refused to comment on any possible suspects.

In February, the Boston Globe reported on a pair of former taxi drivers investigated for their alleged involvement with terrorist plots financed by bin Laden.

Another former cabbie -- Raed Hijazi -- lived in Everett for several years and was sentenced to death just last year in Jordan for plotting a terrorist attack.

At Harvard University, two scholarship funds were established by the brother of the suspected terrorist. The University says they have no connection with bin Laden's programs.

_____________________________________________________ Report: Five Suspects Identified

The Boston Herald is reporting that Massachusetts authorities have identified at least five Arab men as suspects in Tuesday's terror attacks launched from Logan International Airport.

HOW TO HELP Red Cross: Call 1-800-GIVE-LIFE to schedule a time to give blood tomorrow and over the course of the next few days.

The FBI has established a toll-free number for anyone with info. on the attacks. Call (866) 483-5137. A form is on the Internet at www.ifccfbi.gov to report info.

Authorities found Arabic-language flight training manuals in a car in a parking garage, sources have told the paper. The Herald is reporting that among the suspects are two brothers whose passports were traced to the United Arab Emirates, one of whom was a trained pilot. At least two other suspects flew to Logan Tuesday from Portland, Maine. Authorities believe the suspects crossed over from Canada recently.

The paper is also reporting that the hijackers began killing flight attendants in order to lure a pilot from the cockpit and seize the plane. Sources say the suspects' weapons were plastic handles embedded with razor blades that were smuggled in on carry-on luggage.

The FBI says that there were three to five terrorists aboard each hijacked plane, as reported by MSNBC.

Meanwhile, U.S. officials say it's too early to definitively assign blame for Tuesday's deadly terrorist attacks, but there are signs that the FBI is targeting Saudi exile Osama bin Laden.

A manifest from one of the ill-fated jets included the name of a suspected bin Laden supporter.

The Boston Globe reports that investigators found the bag of one of the suspected hijackers of American Airlines Flight 11.

The Globe reports the bag contained a copy of the Koran, an instructional video on flying commercial airliners and a fuel consumption calculator.

Authorities also have reportedly seized a white Mitsubishi sedan at Boston's Logan Airport. The sedan is said to contain Arabic-language flight training manuals.

The top Republican on the Senate Judiciary committee, Orrin Hatch, says intelligence authorities intercepted communications between bin Laden supporters discussing the attacks on New York's World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

Federal officers in South Florida are moving forward with their investigation on several fronts in South Florida. WPLG-TV in Miami reported that agents have confirmed that they served a search warrant in Davie, Fla. According to some sources, warrants may also have been served in Daytona Beach, Fla., and Venice, Fla., but the FBI has not confirmed that.

The station also reports that sources say that agents are looking for two cars. The first car, a four-door tan Oldsmobile Alero with the license plate UEP-54N, was traced back to leasing company in Boca Raton.

The second car is a two-door, 1989 red Pontiac Grand Prix with the license plate D79-DDV. Agents have traced that car back to a Mohammed Acca in Venice.

Agents reportedly found people who might be associates or have something to do with renowned terrorist Osama Bin Laden. The agents then served searched warrants at the former addresses of at least one, perhaps more, of those people in Davie. Agents will not divulge which addresses they are interested in.

There are also reports from sources that warrants were served in the Daytona Beach area, possibly to a student at Embry Riddle University, which is one of the nation's best aeronautical and aviation universities.

New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani says police have received cell phone calls from people trapped in the rubble of the World Trade Center. He isn't saying how many.

Officials say at least five of the dozens of people taken to two local hospitals have died following yesterday's attacks.

It may be weeks before a final death toll is known, but Giuliani says the number will be "in the thousands."

They say three top New York City Fire Department officials were among those killed when the twin towers collapsed after two hijacked airliners slammed into them.

There were 202 firefighters missing. And dozens of police officers are unaccounted for. One firefighter says he "lost count" of all the dead people he saw and called the situation "worse than you could ever imagine."

An estimated 800 people were killed when a hijacked airliner rammed the Pentagon Tuesday.

Search crews are combing the rubble of the Pentagon and the World Trade Center for possible survivors. Affiliate station WTAE's Sheldon Ingram reported that a Munhall, Pa., woman called Allegheny County 911 shortly before 8 p.m. saying that her brother was still trapped under 40 feet of rubble, near the Forward Hotel in Manhattan.

"She received a call from him saying he was still trapped under the World Trade Center.

He gave specific directions and said that he was there along with two New York City (police) sergeants," said Brian Jones, 911 coordinator in Allegheny County.

He declined to release their names but said authorities in New York were aware of the survivors. Ingram reports that initial attempts to call the man's cell phone went to his voice mail.

President Bush, speaking from the Oval Office in a nationally broadcast address, promised to commit the full resources of the nation's intelligence and law enforcement communities to find the terrorists and bring them to justice.

Bush said that "these acts were intended to frighten our nation into chaos and retreat...they have failed."

He said that "terrorist attacks can shake the foundations of our biggest buildings but did not shake our foundation of America."

"America was targeted for attack because we are the brightest beacon for freedom in the world." Bush said that the attacks, carried out with hijacked planes, ended "thousands of lives" through what he called "evil, despicable acts of terror."

He said U.S. authorities won't distinguish between those who committed the acts and those who harbor those individuals.

Bush said that Federal agencies will be opening up for essential personnel tonight, and will be fully operational tomorrow.

Investigators trying to piece together the events aboard four hijacked planes have help from some of the doomed passengers.

Officials say that at least one person aboard each plane made a cell phone call before the plane crashed.

The callers indicated three to five hijackers armed with knives had taken control of each jet.

Author and commentator Barbara Olson, the wife of U.S. Solicitor Gen. Theodore Olson, told her husband armed hijackers had forced passengers to the rear of the jet before it crashed into the Pentagon.

And a man aboard a plane that hit one of the World Trade Center towers called his father, telling him a flight attendant had been stabbed.

A flight attendant aboard the jet that hit the other tower told emergency officials her co-workers had been stabbed.

A cellphone conversation between a passenger and his wife may indicate that an act of heroism may have kept one of the airplanes from doing damage and taking more innocent lives.

Tom Burnett, a passenger aboard United Flight 93, reportedly called his wife Deena and told her that the plane he was traveling on had been hijacked and that someone had been stabbed, according to the Knight Ridder news service. Burnett then told his wife “We’re all gonna die, but three of us are going to do something.”

Burnett then reportedly told his wife “I love you honey” before the call ended. United Flight 93 crashed just southeast of Pittsburgh. It was the only hijacked flight of four that didn’t crash into a building Tuesday.

A senior administration official said that the plane that crashed near Pittsburgh was viewed at the time as a potential threat to the White House and was a major reason for the evacuation of the presidential mansion shortly before the plane crashed.

It was not known whether the White House, or perhaps Camp David in the Maryland mountains near the Pennsylvania border, was indeed the target.

Shipments of blood from around the country are expected to begin arriving early today in New York, mostly by truck.

The Red Cross is issuing a call for O positive and O negative blood. But they still need all types.

Americans have been standing in long lines to donate blood for the victims of Tuesday's terrorist attacks.

One man at a donation center in Springfield, Mass., says "he needed to do something" and he was "too angry to just sit there and watch TV."

Emergency personnel from coast to coast planned to join the relief effort, including 70 Phoenix firefighters and 65 members of a search-and-rescue team from the Seattle area.

The American Medical Association is compiling a list of doctors willing to volunteer. Some hospitals canceled elective surgeries to conserve medical supplies.

>>Osama bin Laden (pictured) says he's happy about the terrorist attacks on the United States<<

OK, kill 'em.

Next?

Why go after ONLY the terrorists who are responsible? GO AFTER ALL KNOWN TERRORIST ORGANIZATIONS! Why wait until another organization is responsible for some other outrage? They have long ago declared war against the U.S. Now we see what they are capable of. It is time for us to declare war back at them. Attack all of them before they attack us. Punish all that would support them.

Slight change in your instructions.

"Kill ~~Punish~~ all that would support them."

Powell wants to bring them to 'justice.' Yes that will work!

Let's say that we can nab them. Now we must prove beyond a reasonable doubt in court that they were involved. And the jury must be fairly balanced with all types of people. Which means at least one will be a liberal.

A year later as we release the suspects, the ACLU files a billion dollar civil suit on their behalf.

Yes I think 'justice' will be done.

B4Ranch said "Powell isn't asking for justice. He wants body bags with Arabian contents, just like I do"

Somebody must have gotten to him to change his story. I watched his interview and he said he wanted to bring the perps to 'justice.'

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