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WASHINGTON — President Bush canceled a planned visit to Minnesota on Friday, the White House said.No explanation was offered, and officials did not return repeated phone calls Tuesday.Bush had planned to come for a roundtable discussion and a speech on welfare in Minneapolis.Bill Walsh, the chairman of the state GOP, said he had not heard of the cancellation."It was not a political event," he said. "We're hoping to get him back any time."

10:42 A.M. EDT THE PRESIDENT: Thank you all for coming. It's been my honor to welcome the leadership of the United States Congress here, to welcome them back from the August recess. We talked about a variety of issues -- talked about the defense appropriations bill, and terrorism insurance, and an energy bill. Spent most of our time talking about a serious threat to the United States, a serious threat to the world, and that's Saddam Hussein. One of the things I made very clear to the members here is that doing nothing about that serious threat is not an...

Downing Street has confirmed that UK Prime Minister Tony Blair is set to fly to America for talks with US President George Bush. Mr Blair meets President Bush at his official Camp David retreat on Saturday when tackling the alleged threat posed by Iraq is certain to top the agenda. Describing Iraq's Saddam Hussein as a serious threat, President Bush said: "I look forward to talking with Tony Blair about our mutual concern to make the world safer." The UK prime minister on Wednesday again promised to produce a dossier of evidence against Iraq "in the next few weeks". Dossier...

<p>September 4, 2002 -- Following protests from Israeli and Jewish-American groups, the producers of a Web site for a new public TV show about Arab-Americans and 9/11 said they were removing material considered pro-Palestinian.</p> <p>The documentary, scheduled to air tonight on Channel 13, examines the lives of three Arab-Americans. Critics said the Web site for "Caught in the Crossfire: Arab-Americans in Wartime" gave an inaccurate history of the Middle East conflict.</p>

Commenting on reports that the Iraqi leadership has declared its willingness to discuss a return of U.N. weapons inspectors, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said the regime of Saddam Hussein had demonstrated "a wonderful talent and skill" over the years at manipulating the international community. "When it's the right moment to lean forward, they lean forward. When it's the right moment to lean back, they lean back. It's a dance they engage in," Rumsfeld said at a press conference Tuesday, in response to questions. Rumsfeld commented on remarks by Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tarik Aziz, who said at the economic World...

"We ask for your help to make the Sept. 11 anniversary a time to reflect on peace and healing, not a time to call for more war and violence." These are the words of Kelly Campbell, who lost a brother-in-law to the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11. She is a founding member and co-director of Peaceful Tomorrows, an organization started by Sept. 11 families who advocate peace, not war. I heard her speak in New York at the national conference of the Fellowship of Reconciliation in June. The theme of the conference was "The Power of Nonviolence: Exploring Alternatives." I...

The British government will publish "in the next few weeks" details of evidence indicating that Saddam Hussein has continued to try to acquire weapons of mass destruction, Prime Minister Tony Blair said Tuesday. The plan mirrors the action taken by Britain in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks to boost international support for military action against Afghanistan. Speaking to reporters at a news conference in his parliamentary district of Sedgefield in northern England, Blair said, "The United States should not have to face this issue (of Iraq) alone. We should face it together." Blair said it was in the...

Special Dispatch Series - No. 418 September 04, 2002 No.418 An Al-Qa'ida-Affiliated Online Magazine: On the Importance of Jihad as a Means of Destroying the 'Infidel Countries' In an article in the sixteenth issue of the online magazine Al-Ansar, which is affiliated with Al-Qa'ida,(1) a columnist identified as Seif Al-Din Al-Ansari discussed the Koranic verse "Allah Will Torture Them [the Infidels] At Your Hands":The Annihilation of the Infidels is a Divine Decree"Regardless of the norms of 'humanist' belief, which sees destroying the infidel countries as a tragedy requiring us to show some conscientious empathy and... an atmosphere of sadness...

Muslims can only feel unease about 11 September They ask if we will also pray for the uncounted, innocent - maybe inevitable - victims of war in Afghanistan Yasmin Alibhai-Brown 02 September 2002 I have been dreading 11 September for a good two months. And now it is nearly upon us that weight has become almost intolerable. What happened to the 2,823 Americans and their families was unutterable and I hate the malevolent malcontents who perpetrate these acts – indeed the Tunisian-Swedish hijacker arrested on Friday may be one such plotter. However, I have to make this unambiguous proclamation to...

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The economic cost New York City suffers as the result of the Sept. 11 attacks will range from $83 billion to $95 billion, partly depending upon how many jobs are shifted out of the city, a new report said on Wednesday. City Comptroller William Thompson also estimated in his new report that it will cost $21.8 billion to replace the buildings, infrastructure and what he called "tenant assets" lost as a result of the attacks that toppled the World Trade Center. Some 13 million square feet of prime office space were destroyed -- an amount equal...

<p>Now that we are set to have our great debate on the war against terrorism, it seems it will be the wrong debate.</p> <p>By all indications, the discussion will be about using our irresistible military might against a single country in order to bring down its leader. We should instead be talking about using all our political, moral and military genius to support a vast democratic revolution to liberate all the peoples of the Middle East from tyranny. That is our real mission, the essence of the war in which we are engaged, and the proper subject of our national debate.</p>

September 4, 2002 9:00 a.m. It’s a War, Stupid Understanding and misunderstanding the detainees. From the September 16, 2002, issue of National Review. ven as the terrorist attacks were taking place last September 11, President Bush made use of the extraordinary authority he has to protect Americans from enemy action. Had the heroes of United Flight 93 not prevented their hijacked plane from reaching Washington, F-16s — deployed by President Bush — would have shot down the plane full of American citizens. There is no question that this first defensive action taken by the president in the war on terrorism...

A majority of Europeans think that US foreign policy is partially to blame for the September 11 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington. A survey of American and European attitudes towards foreign relations found that 55 per cent of respondents from six European countries agreed that US policy had contributed to the attacks. The poll also found widespread public support within the US for an invasion of Iraq, with 75 per cent of American respondents in favour of using military force to overthrow Saddam Hussein and incite regime change. But both European and American respondents were cautious about the...

<p>Now that we are set to have our great debate on the war against terrorism, it seems it will be the wrong debate.</p> <p>By all indications, the discussion will be about using our irresistible military might against a single country in order to bring down its leader. We should instead be talking about using all our political, moral and military genius to support a vast democratic revolution to liberate all the peoples of the Middle East from tyranny. That is our real mission, the essence of the war in which we are engaged, and the proper subject of our national debate.</p>

LONDON (Reuters) - The United States will ship tanks and heavy armor to the Middle East this month as President Bush tries to garner domestic support for efforts to oust Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.Shipping sources said Wednesday the U.S. Navy had booked a large commercial ship to carry tanks and heavy armor to the Gulf, a sign its own vessels might have made such shipments.The U.S. Military Sealift Command chartered a U.S.-flagged general cargo ship to sail from the southeast U.S. coast to an unspecified Gulf port for discharge in late September, they said. This is the third shipment...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The FBI is investigating the July 4 double killing at Los Angeles International Airport as possible terrorism even though there's no evidence linking the alleged shooter to any terrorist group, a spokesman said Tuesday. Justice Department officials have said all along that terrorism was among several possible motives for the attack at an Israeli airline counter, and investigators were looking for evidence the shooter, Hesham Mohamed Hadayet, had terror group connections. But until now the FBI had not publicly characterized the probe as a terrorism investigation. The Israeli government has called the event a terror attack since...

<p>At first, it seemed like debris. Large objects were falling from the top of the World Trade Center's north tower, just a few minutes after American Airlines Flight 11 hit.</p> <p>"It took three or four to realize: They were people," says James Logozzo, who had gathered with co-workers in a Morgan Stanley boardroom on the 72nd floor of the south tower, just 120 feet away from the north tower. "Then this one woman fell."</p>

Blair: Iraq Is Real Threat Prime Minister Tony Blair has strengthened his support for a possible US-led attack on Iraq, saying the country "poses a real and unique threat".Mr Blair made the pledge whilst facing the Press at an open forum in his Sedgefield constituency. "I believe it is in the United Kingdom's national interest that the issue is addressed," he said. Constant dialogue The Prime Minister said "America should not face the issue alone" and promised "the fullest possible debate will take part in Parliament and elsewhere". "The rest of the world has a responsibility, not just America," he...

'Wahhabi Lobby' Takes the Offensive Posted July 15, 2002 By J. Michael Waller Media Credit: JOSEPH BARRAK/AFP Oil wealth of the Saudis funds the Wahhabi movement to seize control of global Islam. Totalitarian regimes in the Middle East have targeted the United States with a well-financed influence campaign that is being rooted in American politics. Veteran watchers of the "active-measures" programs of the former Soviet Union say this Islamist propaganda offensive bears an uncanny resemblance to the old Soviet international front operations and the broad parade of fellow travelers who used themes of peace, tolerance and civil liberties to advance...

Israel's Supreme Court has approved the expulsion of relatives of a Palestinian militant from the West Bank to the Gaza Strip. In a landmark ruling, a nine-judge panel upheld an order issued last month against the brother and sister of a Palestinian suspected of organising suicide bombings. It said a third Palestinian related to another militant suspected of two shooting attacks near a Jewish settlement in the West Bank should be set free. Palestinian officials called the decision a "black day for human rights" and said they might file a complaint with the UN Security Council and the International Criminal...