Saturday, October 30, 2004
U.S. Warns on Terror; Alert Unchanged
Sat Oct 30, 6:28 PM ET
By KATHERINE PFLEGER SHRADER, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON - The Bush administration left the terror threat level unchanged Saturday, despite warning state and local officials that a videotape message from Osama bin Laden (news - web sites) may portend a new terrorist attack.
AP Photo
AFP
Slideshow: Osama bin Laden & al-Qaida
"We don't have to go to (code level) orange to take action in response either to these tapes or just general action to improve security around the country," Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge told reporters.
Ridge urged Americans to go ahead with plans to vote in Tuesday's elections without undue concern.
His words and appearance both seemed designed to convey a lack of alarm. The nation's top anti-terrorism official made his remarks in casual clothes standing outside his office, rather than at a formal news conference of the type he and other administration officials have conveyed word of increased danger in the past.
Ridge's department and the FBI (news - web sites) issued a memo late Friday to local and state officials, hours after a new videotape of bin Laden surfaced.
"We remain concerned about al-Qaida's interest in attacking the American homeland, and we cannot discount the possibility that the video may be intended to promote violence or serve as a signal for an attack," it said.
Most of the United States has been at code yellow, the midpoint of a five-point color-coded warning scale, for much of the year.
Since August, the terror alert for the financial section in New York, Washington and Newark, N.J., has stood at orange, or high. At that time, administration officials disclosed al-Qaida had conducted surveillance of four buildings.
Injecting himself into the election, bin Laden said the United States must stop threatening the security of Muslims if it wants to avoid "another Manhattan." While he did not directly warn of new attacks, the al-Qaida leader and Sept. 11 mastermind warned: "There are still reasons to repeat what happened."
While Ridge sought to convey reassurance, he also said the government would strengthen anti-terrorism measures.
"In the hours and the days ahead, we'll increase our Coast Guard patrols of the harbors. We'll change some of the inspection protocols at our ports of entry and our airports. We'll work with our cities to reroute, as we've done from time to time in the past, hazard material, be it in truck or railroads, around some of our major urban areas," Ridge said.
"We've already been in contact with the advisory groups we've set up with the private sector," he added.
Government officials also were scrutinizing a tape aired Thursday by ABC News in which a shrouded man claiming to be an American member of al-Qaida promised attacks that will make U.S. streets "run red with blood." The speaker identified himself as "Azzam the American."
The FBI posted on its Web site Saturday video and still images of the tape. "We are hopeful someone will recognize something familiar in these videoclips and contact law enforcement or their local U.S. embassy, bureau spokeswoman Cassandra Chandler said.
Government officials were comparing the tapes with other intelligence gathered on al-Qaida to see if patterns emerge that could lead them to a plot or potential terrorist operatives.
Among scenarios officials are considering is whether the tapes could be a signal to an attack. But a number of broadcasts from al-Qaida leaders haven't followed that pattern, cautioned John Brennan, director of the government's leading terror-threat analysis unit, the Terrorist Threat Integration Center.
"It seems like it is a message to the American people," Brennan said of the bin Laden tape. "Now are there other aspects of it that we have to better understand? That is what we are trying to do right now."
The bin Laden tape, including portions not yet broadcast, contained no overt threat and no specific timetable or method of an attack, according to a law enforcement official, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The official, who was briefed on the entire tape, said much of what has not aired amounts to a sustained diatribe against President Bush (news - web sites) and his father, former President George H.W. Bush. It criticizes the current president's economic and jobs programs and contends that the Iraq (news - web sites) war is all about oil, the official said.
The president on Saturday directed his national security aides to take any necessary steps in response to the bin Laden tape. Bush held a videoconference call with national security adviser Condoleezza Rice (news - web sites) and the heads of the CIA (news - web sites), FBI and departments of Justice and Homeland Security.
Also Saturday, several hundred homeland security officials and some police chiefs held a conference call to discuss the tapes. Security at polling places on Tuesday was among the concerns and questions they raised.
In the video, bin Laden acknowledged for the first time directly that he ordered the Sept. 11 attacks and said he did so because of injustices against the Lebanese and Palestinians by Israel and the United States.
"Your security is not in the hands of Kerry, Bush or al-Qaida. Your security is in your own hands," bin Laden said, referring to the president and his Democratic opponent, John Kerry (news - web sites). "Any state that does not mess with our security has naturally guaranteed its own security."
The television network Al-Jazeera received the 18-minute videotape at its offices in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, where "somebody dropped it yesterday at the gate," Ahmad Muaffaq Zaidan, the Pakistan bureau chief, said Saturday.
___
Associated Press writer Curt Anderson contributed to this report.
Car Bomb Near Fallujah Kills 8 Marines
1 hour, 38 minutes ago
By EDWARD HARRIS, Associated Press Writer
NEAR FALLUJAH, Iraq - A car bomb killed eight U.S. Marines outside Fallujah on Saturday, the deadliest attack against the U.S. military in nearly six months. Marines pounded guerrilla positions on the outskirts of Fallujah, where American forces are gearing up for a major assault on the insurgent stronghold.
AP Photo
Reuters
Slideshow: Iraq
Car Bomb Near Fallujah Kills 8 Marines(AP Video)
Latest headlines:
·
Japan Identifies Body in Iraq As Hostage AP - 13 minutes ago
·
Japan Vows to Stay in Iraq After Hostage Beheaded Reuters - 51 minutes ago
·
Group Says It Warned U.S. on Iraq Arms AP - 1 hour, 13 minutes ago
Special Coverage
The Marines later reported a ninth combat death Saturday but did not say whether it was in the car bombing or another action. Efforts to contact the Marines for clarification were unsuccessful.
In Baghdad, another car bomb exploded outside an Arabic television network's offices, killing seven people and injuring 19 in the biggest attack against a news organization since the occupation began last year.
It was a day in which at least 30 people died in politically motivated violence across the country — stark evidence of a security situation threatening to spiral out of control.
Late Saturday, the decapitated body of Japanese hostage Shosei Koda, 24, was found in an insurgent-infested neighborhood of Baghdad. The Japanese Foreign Ministry confirmed Koda's identity through fingerprints.
An al-Qaida-linked group led by Jordanian terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi threatened to behead the Japanese backpacker unless Tokyo withdrew its soldiers from Iraq (news - web sites). Japan rejected that demand.
"It is to our great sorrow that after putting all our efforts into securing his release he has become a victim of terrorism," Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura said Sunday in Tokyo. "We cannot allow this kind of action. Japan, in cooperation with the international community ..., must continue the battle against terrorism."
South of Baghdad, witnesses said a U.S. convoy came under attack, prompting Iraqi forces to open fire randomly and throw hand grenades, hitting three minibuses and three vans. At least 14 people were killed, hospital officials said.
The Marine deaths came when a car bomb went off next to a truck southwest of Baghdad, said Maj. Clark Watson of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force. Nine other Marines were wounded in the attack in western Anbar province, which includes Fallujah and other insurgent strongholds, the military said.
It was the biggest number of American military deaths in a single day since May 2, when nine U.S. troops were killed in separate mortar attacks and roadside bombings in Baghdad, Ramadi and Kirkuk.
American forces are preparing for a major assault on Fallujah in an effort to restore control to a swath of Sunni Muslim towns north and west of the capital ahead of crucial national elections due by Jan. 31.
On Saturday, insurgents fired mortars at Marine positions outside Fallujah. U.S. troops responded with "the strongest artillery barrage in recent weeks," said Marine spokesman 1st Lt. Lyle Gilbert.
Later, a Marine Harrier jet bombed a guerrilla mortar position inside Fallujah, then strafed it with machine-gun fire, Gilbert said. He had no reports of insurgent casualties.
Crowds of Iraqis peered skyward as two warplanes circled over the rebel-held city, where large explosions rumbled Saturday afternoon. Insurgents fired rockets and mortars toward U.S. Marine positions.
"This is very painful for Fallujah. I think they're destroying the town and killing families there," said Saadoun Mohamed, a 35-year-old driver near Fallujah.
"It's very complicated. I don't know how to solve this problem," he said through an Iraqi Marine translator.
Clashes between U.S. troops and insurgents also started Saturday in Ramadi, west of Fallujah. Two policemen were killed and four Iraqis injured in the crossfire, said Dr. Saleh al-Duleimi of the Ramadi General Hospital.
In Baghdad, the car bomb exploded outside the office of the Al-Arabiya television network, a satellite broadcaster based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Seven people were killed and 19 injured, police and hospital officials said.
Three bodies, including one of a woman, were mangled beyond recognition, said Al-Arabiya correspondent Najwa Qassem. It could not be determined whether any of those bodies were of Al-Arabiya employees. However, she confirmed that one guard and one administration worker were among the dead.
The blast collapsed the first floor of the building, where staffers were meeting, said Saad al-Husseini, a correspondent of MBC, a sister channel of Al-Arabiya based in the same building.
Employees "were trapped between fire and the shattering shards of glass," he said. That "led to the high number of casualties. We were all there."
Al-Arabiya's managing editor, Abdulrahman al-Rashed, said seven people remained missing.
A militant group calling itself the "1920 Brigades" claimed responsibility for the attack, blasting Al-Arabiya as "Americanized spies speaking in Arabic tongue" in a statement posted on a Web site. The station is owned by Saudi investors.
"We have threatened them to no avail that they are the mouthpiece of the American occupation in Iraq," the statement said, warning of more attacks against this "treacherous network." It was impossible to verify the claim's authenticity.
Al-Rashed, an outspoken critic of Islamic militants and terror attacks, said the station will continue to operate from Iraq.
"This is our job and we won't succumb to pressure," he said from Dubai.
The Iraqi police shooting south of Baghdad came after an American convoy was attacked early Saturday with roadside bombs, witnesses said. After the Americans pulled out, Iraqi police and National Guards arrived on the scene and began firing wildly, the witnesses said. The U.S. military had no immediate comment.
Three minibuses and three vans were hit on the street near Haswa, 25 miles south of Baghdad, witnesses said.
Abdul Razzaq al-Janabi, director of Iskandariyah General Hospital, said 14 people were killed and 10 others injured. More wounded were taken to other hospitals. Reporters saw bloody bodies riddled with bullet holes inside the buses.
In Baghdad, Mohammed Bashar al-Faydhi, a spokesman for the influential Association of Muslim Scholars, demanded a government investigation into "this massacre" because "Iraqi policemen are carrying out such crimes."
Al-Faydhi also said a bid to mediate a peaceful solution to the Fallujah standoff failed because the government demanded that the city hand over extremists, including al-Zarqawi. Hardline clerics who run the city said al-Zarqawi is not there.
"There is no good news on the horizon in finding a solution," al-Faydhi said. "There is a belief among the Fallujah people that the Americans will invade the city even if the Arab fighters leave."
Marines mounted a three-week siege of Fallujah in April but called off the offensive after a public outcry over civilian casualties. The siege was launched after militants ambushed and killed four American contractors, mutilated their bodies and hung them from a bridge.
This time, U.S. officials insist that the final order for an all-out attack will come from Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi, and Iraqi forces will join the fight. American officials estimate up to 5,000 Islamic militants, Saddam Hussein (news - web sites) loyalists and common criminals are holed up in Fallujah.
Allawi met Saturday in Baghdad with tribal leaders from the area and told them "the door remained open" for a peaceful settlement in Fallujah, the prime minister's press office said.
But Allawi added that the government "owed it to the Iraqi people" not to let terrorists use Fallujah as a base of operations.
1 hour, 38 minutes ago
By EDWARD HARRIS, Associated Press Writer
NEAR FALLUJAH, Iraq - A car bomb killed eight U.S. Marines outside Fallujah on Saturday, the deadliest attack against the U.S. military in nearly six months. Marines pounded guerrilla positions on the outskirts of Fallujah, where American forces are gearing up for a major assault on the insurgent stronghold.
AP Photo
Reuters
Slideshow: Iraq
Car Bomb Near Fallujah Kills 8 Marines(AP Video)
Latest headlines:
·
Japan Identifies Body in Iraq As Hostage AP - 13 minutes ago
·
Japan Vows to Stay in Iraq After Hostage Beheaded Reuters - 51 minutes ago
·
Group Says It Warned U.S. on Iraq Arms AP - 1 hour, 13 minutes ago
Special Coverage
The Marines later reported a ninth combat death Saturday but did not say whether it was in the car bombing or another action. Efforts to contact the Marines for clarification were unsuccessful.
In Baghdad, another car bomb exploded outside an Arabic television network's offices, killing seven people and injuring 19 in the biggest attack against a news organization since the occupation began last year.
It was a day in which at least 30 people died in politically motivated violence across the country — stark evidence of a security situation threatening to spiral out of control.
Late Saturday, the decapitated body of Japanese hostage Shosei Koda, 24, was found in an insurgent-infested neighborhood of Baghdad. The Japanese Foreign Ministry confirmed Koda's identity through fingerprints.
An al-Qaida-linked group led by Jordanian terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi threatened to behead the Japanese backpacker unless Tokyo withdrew its soldiers from Iraq (news - web sites). Japan rejected that demand.
"It is to our great sorrow that after putting all our efforts into securing his release he has become a victim of terrorism," Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura said Sunday in Tokyo. "We cannot allow this kind of action. Japan, in cooperation with the international community ..., must continue the battle against terrorism."
South of Baghdad, witnesses said a U.S. convoy came under attack, prompting Iraqi forces to open fire randomly and throw hand grenades, hitting three minibuses and three vans. At least 14 people were killed, hospital officials said.
The Marine deaths came when a car bomb went off next to a truck southwest of Baghdad, said Maj. Clark Watson of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force. Nine other Marines were wounded in the attack in western Anbar province, which includes Fallujah and other insurgent strongholds, the military said.
It was the biggest number of American military deaths in a single day since May 2, when nine U.S. troops were killed in separate mortar attacks and roadside bombings in Baghdad, Ramadi and Kirkuk.
American forces are preparing for a major assault on Fallujah in an effort to restore control to a swath of Sunni Muslim towns north and west of the capital ahead of crucial national elections due by Jan. 31.
On Saturday, insurgents fired mortars at Marine positions outside Fallujah. U.S. troops responded with "the strongest artillery barrage in recent weeks," said Marine spokesman 1st Lt. Lyle Gilbert.
Later, a Marine Harrier jet bombed a guerrilla mortar position inside Fallujah, then strafed it with machine-gun fire, Gilbert said. He had no reports of insurgent casualties.
Crowds of Iraqis peered skyward as two warplanes circled over the rebel-held city, where large explosions rumbled Saturday afternoon. Insurgents fired rockets and mortars toward U.S. Marine positions.
"This is very painful for Fallujah. I think they're destroying the town and killing families there," said Saadoun Mohamed, a 35-year-old driver near Fallujah.
"It's very complicated. I don't know how to solve this problem," he said through an Iraqi Marine translator.
Clashes between U.S. troops and insurgents also started Saturday in Ramadi, west of Fallujah. Two policemen were killed and four Iraqis injured in the crossfire, said Dr. Saleh al-Duleimi of the Ramadi General Hospital.
In Baghdad, the car bomb exploded outside the office of the Al-Arabiya television network, a satellite broadcaster based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Seven people were killed and 19 injured, police and hospital officials said.
Three bodies, including one of a woman, were mangled beyond recognition, said Al-Arabiya correspondent Najwa Qassem. It could not be determined whether any of those bodies were of Al-Arabiya employees. However, she confirmed that one guard and one administration worker were among the dead.
The blast collapsed the first floor of the building, where staffers were meeting, said Saad al-Husseini, a correspondent of MBC, a sister channel of Al-Arabiya based in the same building.
Employees "were trapped between fire and the shattering shards of glass," he said. That "led to the high number of casualties. We were all there."
Al-Arabiya's managing editor, Abdulrahman al-Rashed, said seven people remained missing.
A militant group calling itself the "1920 Brigades" claimed responsibility for the attack, blasting Al-Arabiya as "Americanized spies speaking in Arabic tongue" in a statement posted on a Web site. The station is owned by Saudi investors.
"We have threatened them to no avail that they are the mouthpiece of the American occupation in Iraq," the statement said, warning of more attacks against this "treacherous network." It was impossible to verify the claim's authenticity.
Al-Rashed, an outspoken critic of Islamic militants and terror attacks, said the station will continue to operate from Iraq.
"This is our job and we won't succumb to pressure," he said from Dubai.
The Iraqi police shooting south of Baghdad came after an American convoy was attacked early Saturday with roadside bombs, witnesses said. After the Americans pulled out, Iraqi police and National Guards arrived on the scene and began firing wildly, the witnesses said. The U.S. military had no immediate comment.
Three minibuses and three vans were hit on the street near Haswa, 25 miles south of Baghdad, witnesses said.
Abdul Razzaq al-Janabi, director of Iskandariyah General Hospital, said 14 people were killed and 10 others injured. More wounded were taken to other hospitals. Reporters saw bloody bodies riddled with bullet holes inside the buses.
In Baghdad, Mohammed Bashar al-Faydhi, a spokesman for the influential Association of Muslim Scholars, demanded a government investigation into "this massacre" because "Iraqi policemen are carrying out such crimes."
Al-Faydhi also said a bid to mediate a peaceful solution to the Fallujah standoff failed because the government demanded that the city hand over extremists, including al-Zarqawi. Hardline clerics who run the city said al-Zarqawi is not there.
"There is no good news on the horizon in finding a solution," al-Faydhi said. "There is a belief among the Fallujah people that the Americans will invade the city even if the Arab fighters leave."
Marines mounted a three-week siege of Fallujah in April but called off the offensive after a public outcry over civilian casualties. The siege was launched after militants ambushed and killed four American contractors, mutilated their bodies and hung them from a bridge.
This time, U.S. officials insist that the final order for an all-out attack will come from Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi, and Iraqi forces will join the fight. American officials estimate up to 5,000 Islamic militants, Saddam Hussein (news - web sites) loyalists and common criminals are holed up in Fallujah.
Allawi met Saturday in Baghdad with tribal leaders from the area and told them "the door remained open" for a peaceful settlement in Fallujah, the prime minister's press office said.
But Allawi added that the government "owed it to the Iraqi people" not to let terrorists use Fallujah as a base of operations.
today's papersOctober Surprise: Bin Laden's RepriseBy Alexander Barnes DryerPosted Saturday, Oct. 30, 2004, at 2:30 AM PT
As the presidential campaign enters its final, frantic 72 hours, everyone leads with the long-awaited October Surprise, which emerged yesterday in the form of a new videotape from Osama bin Laden. The video features the terrorist kingpin's first direct admission of guilt for the 9/11 attacks and shows him looking healthier and more relaxed than he has appeared in previous recordings. Bin Laden's comments demonstrate a familiarity with recent events in the United States, including the presidential campaign.
The New York Times features the most extensive quotes from the tape, including the entirety of bin Laden's remarks about Bush's initially slow response to news of the attacks. The Los Angeles Times report has the best review of bin Laden's demeanor, noting that he appeared "almost defiant" at times. The Washington Post's story places greater emphasis on the potential political impact of bin Laden's reappearance. A news analysis that runs alongside the paper's lead attempts to discern whether the tape helps or hurts either candidate. The piece presents the emerging conventional wisdom: The video may boost Bush by reminding voters of terrorism (an issue on which Americans continue to trust him), or it may boost Kerry by reminding voters bin Laden is still on the loose (an issue on which the senator has attacked the president). The NYT also runs a secondary piece; it goes light on the analysis but reports on both candidates' efforts to incorporate news of the tape into their last series of campaign appearances.
The LAT is the only paper to front an unfortunately ironic counterpoint to the bin Laden tape—news of the intelligence reform bill's collapse in Congress. House and Senate negotiators could not hammer out a compromise on several thorny issues, including Pentagon control the intelligence budget. The paper also fronts an excellent story on the growing hatred of the United States in Pakistan, which only adds to the overall gloomy news offered about the war on terror.
Other election news dominates the rest of the papers' front pages. The Post hits the early voting story a day late, and adds little that the NYT didn't offer up yesterday. For its part, the NYT examines the voters who are switching from the party they supported in 2000. The piece has some interesting details about the strength of the candidates' support from their political bases, but it is mostly an attempt to offer a view of the electorate at a time when most political pros have concluded it's too late and too close to watch the polls. The LAT has the best color from the campaign trail, with a report on Bush's swing through Ohio with California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.
The Post assesses the possibility of a drawn-out election in which a winner cannot immediately be declared. While at least one expert tells the paper the 2000 election was an historical anomaly, others fear Florida-style chaos. Perhaps the biggest problem will be provisional ballots, which are given to voters who don't appear on registration lists. This is the first presidential campaign in which the ballots are being used nationwide (they are now required by federal law), and they are already the subject of intense litigation.
The NYT fronts a story that may become bigger news in the next few days, given the Kerry campaign's ripped-from-the-headlines approach to criticizing President Bush (see also: al-Qaqaa). A new study shows the serious and increasingly apparent effects of global warming on the Arctic. The NYT obtained the study—which was prepared by the United States and seven other countries—after Europeans involved in the research complained that the Bush administration was holding the results until after the election.
The Post offers a healthy reminder that U.S. politics are relatively tame when compared other countries' electoral efforts. The paper has an excellent review of the tense (and at times violent) presidential campaign in Ukraine, where voters head to the polls tomorrow. Ukrainians' choice, as the Post explains it, is between an opposition candidate favoring closer ties to the West and a ruling party candidate favoring closer ties to Russia. Significantly, both candidates support withdrawing Ukrainian troops from Iraq.
Back at home, the NYT examines the struggles of traditional airlines and the growth of low-cost carriers. The nominal newspeg is ATA Airlines' bankruptcy filing, but a troubled discounter doesn't exactly fit the storyline and is thus buried at the end. In truth, the story reads as if it could have run any time in the last three years.
All the papers front a handful of local stories, but a couple will be interesting to readers across the country. An article in the LAT examines the case of an L.A. man who falsely incriminated himself in three slayings. The paper reports that the man had an IQ between 60 and 73 and uses his case as an example of a problem nationwide: Children and mentally impaired adults regularly offer confessions for crimes they did not commit. The Post gets ready for Halloween with its report on a Virginia haunted house staged by Jerry Falwell's Liberty University. The paper reports that evangelical groups are staging such scary Halloween-related events to frighten visitors into accepting God.Alexander Barnes Dryer is a former Slate intern.Article URL: http://slate.msn.com/id/2108921/
As the presidential campaign enters its final, frantic 72 hours, everyone leads with the long-awaited October Surprise, which emerged yesterday in the form of a new videotape from Osama bin Laden. The video features the terrorist kingpin's first direct admission of guilt for the 9/11 attacks and shows him looking healthier and more relaxed than he has appeared in previous recordings. Bin Laden's comments demonstrate a familiarity with recent events in the United States, including the presidential campaign.
The New York Times features the most extensive quotes from the tape, including the entirety of bin Laden's remarks about Bush's initially slow response to news of the attacks. The Los Angeles Times report has the best review of bin Laden's demeanor, noting that he appeared "almost defiant" at times. The Washington Post's story places greater emphasis on the potential political impact of bin Laden's reappearance. A news analysis that runs alongside the paper's lead attempts to discern whether the tape helps or hurts either candidate. The piece presents the emerging conventional wisdom: The video may boost Bush by reminding voters of terrorism (an issue on which Americans continue to trust him), or it may boost Kerry by reminding voters bin Laden is still on the loose (an issue on which the senator has attacked the president). The NYT also runs a secondary piece; it goes light on the analysis but reports on both candidates' efforts to incorporate news of the tape into their last series of campaign appearances.
The LAT is the only paper to front an unfortunately ironic counterpoint to the bin Laden tape—news of the intelligence reform bill's collapse in Congress. House and Senate negotiators could not hammer out a compromise on several thorny issues, including Pentagon control the intelligence budget. The paper also fronts an excellent story on the growing hatred of the United States in Pakistan, which only adds to the overall gloomy news offered about the war on terror.
Other election news dominates the rest of the papers' front pages. The Post hits the early voting story a day late, and adds little that the NYT didn't offer up yesterday. For its part, the NYT examines the voters who are switching from the party they supported in 2000. The piece has some interesting details about the strength of the candidates' support from their political bases, but it is mostly an attempt to offer a view of the electorate at a time when most political pros have concluded it's too late and too close to watch the polls. The LAT has the best color from the campaign trail, with a report on Bush's swing through Ohio with California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.
The Post assesses the possibility of a drawn-out election in which a winner cannot immediately be declared. While at least one expert tells the paper the 2000 election was an historical anomaly, others fear Florida-style chaos. Perhaps the biggest problem will be provisional ballots, which are given to voters who don't appear on registration lists. This is the first presidential campaign in which the ballots are being used nationwide (they are now required by federal law), and they are already the subject of intense litigation.
The NYT fronts a story that may become bigger news in the next few days, given the Kerry campaign's ripped-from-the-headlines approach to criticizing President Bush (see also: al-Qaqaa). A new study shows the serious and increasingly apparent effects of global warming on the Arctic. The NYT obtained the study—which was prepared by the United States and seven other countries—after Europeans involved in the research complained that the Bush administration was holding the results until after the election.
The Post offers a healthy reminder that U.S. politics are relatively tame when compared other countries' electoral efforts. The paper has an excellent review of the tense (and at times violent) presidential campaign in Ukraine, where voters head to the polls tomorrow. Ukrainians' choice, as the Post explains it, is between an opposition candidate favoring closer ties to the West and a ruling party candidate favoring closer ties to Russia. Significantly, both candidates support withdrawing Ukrainian troops from Iraq.
Back at home, the NYT examines the struggles of traditional airlines and the growth of low-cost carriers. The nominal newspeg is ATA Airlines' bankruptcy filing, but a troubled discounter doesn't exactly fit the storyline and is thus buried at the end. In truth, the story reads as if it could have run any time in the last three years.
All the papers front a handful of local stories, but a couple will be interesting to readers across the country. An article in the LAT examines the case of an L.A. man who falsely incriminated himself in three slayings. The paper reports that the man had an IQ between 60 and 73 and uses his case as an example of a problem nationwide: Children and mentally impaired adults regularly offer confessions for crimes they did not commit. The Post gets ready for Halloween with its report on a Virginia haunted house staged by Jerry Falwell's Liberty University. The paper reports that evangelical groups are staging such scary Halloween-related events to frighten visitors into accepting God.Alexander Barnes Dryer is a former Slate intern.Article URL: http://slate.msn.com/id/2108921/
