2 - The Michigan Daily - Tuesday, December 11, 2001 NATION/WORLD A Bush may release bin Video showing al-Qaida leader celebrating success of attacks could be made public within days WASHINGTON (AP) - Osama bin Laden claims he calculated in advance how many casualties "the enemy" would suffer on Sept. 11 and was delighted to see his estimate surpassed, according to a videotape President Bush wants the world to see. The president said the tape "just reminds me of what a murderer he is." Two senior administration officials said privately that Bush was leaning toward making public the tape seized in Afghanistan. They said he was holding off on a final decision while intelligence officials recheck their Arabic translation and anything that might betray intelligence-gathering methods. The tape could be released in the next two days, officials said. Bush, during a White House event celebrating Hanukkah, did not address whether he would release the tape but isaid of bin Laden: "This man wants to destroy any semblance of civilization for his own Russia,: deal to cut weapons MOSCOW (AP) - Russia and the United States are near agreement on drastic cuts in long-range nuclear arse- nals but remain at odds over a U.S. missile defense, Secretary of State Colin Powell said yesterday. Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov said the arms-reduction deal could be ready for the next summit between President Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin, tentatively scheduled for Moscow next spring. But the U.S.-Russian disagreement over missile defense is so deep that Russia is bracing for the possibility of" a U.S. withdrawal from the landmark |y 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile treaty, Ivanov told a joint news conference with Powell at the Kremlin. "The positions of the sides remain unchanged," Ivanov said. Palestinian Despite the missile-defense which killed impasse, both Ivanov and Powell were upbeat about prospects for wrapping up a deal to reduce nuclear warheads. Powell said he was taking Bush;Isr Russian recommendation on arms cuts that responds to Bush's announcement last month that the United States would cut its nuclear arsenal over the m i next decade by two-thirds, from just under 6,000 warheads now to between 1,700 and 2,200. HEBROI Powell did not disclose specifics. attack heli But a senior State Department official, police post: briefing reporters on Powell's plane, after Palesti said the Russian recommendation was settlements in the same ball park as the Bush snarl U.S. e announcement. One pers Ivanov said Russia prefers to see the latest Israe reductions presented in treaty form. The buildin Bush has opposed such a move in the attack, they past, suggesting that the reductions The Israe should be put on less formal grounds. was retalia But Powell told reporters that both fire at Jewi countries "recognize the need for a Israeli girl codification of the new levels we're mortar shel going to. ... It might be in the form of "despite Isr a treaty, or some other way of codify- attacks ceas ing it." Yesterda "With respect to what that agreed missiles at lower level will be, we're very close," Hebron in Powell said. Palestinian power" The chilling nature of the tape stands in con- trast to the spirit of the holiday season, Bush said. "For those who see this tape, they realize that not only is he guilty of incredible murder, he has no con- science and no soul. He represents the worst of civi- lization," Bush said. The tape, which was discovered about 10 days ago in an abandoned apartment in Jalalabad, Afghanistan, was described to reporters by the small circle of administration officials who have seen the video or read a translation of its contents. A date stamped on the tape suggests it was produced in November, one of the officials said. "The body language that I saw, really was just dis- gusting. I mean, that people would take delight in hav- ing killed innocent civilians is horrible," said Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz. Apparently made by an amateur with a handheld camera, the videotape shows bin Laden being inter- viewed or meeting with a cleric about the suicide hijackings that killed thousands in New York, Wash- ington and Pennsylvania. The suspected terrorist mas- termind, speaking in Arabic, reportedly tells the story -aden tape of how he tuned into news shows on the morning of Sept. 11, waited for reports of the first strikes on the World Trade Center, and then told companions there was more to come - evidently referring to planes that later crashed into the Pentagon and a Pennsylvania field. He says he had only expected New York's twin towers to collapse only down to the level of where the hijacked airliners struck. Two intelligence officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said bin Laden also revealed that, in advance of Sept. 11, he tallied up how many Ameri- cans could be killed, a casualty estimate "for the enemy." Some 3,300 people died in the attacks. In another section of the crudely produced tape, bin Laden's comments suggest that the plot's ringleaders did not tell all the hijackers that their mission would end in death. He also says that the suicide hijackers will be awarded virgins in the afterlife, sources said. "The president wants to share as much as possible with the country, to be as forthright as possible and to let people cope to their own judgments by seeing things for themselves," said White House press secre- tary Ari Fleischer, who read a transcript of the tape. NEWS IN BRIEF. CI *0 ~r F j ., ,,.. . . '1' Y .. .. Fed expected to make 11th rate cut 4 VipAS11i NGT'Ot The Federal Reserve, faced with an economy now officially suffering through a recession and shedding jobs at the fastest pace in two decades, is widely expected to cut interest rates today for the 11th time this year. But many economists believe the central bank will also signal that its aggres- sive credit lowering is drawing to a close by making a quarter-point reduction instead of the bigger half-point moves it has favored for most of this year. Some analysts had thought that the central bank might decide to leave rates unchanged at its final meeting of the year given some tentative positive signs, such as stronger-than-expected auto sales in October and November and a big jump in factory orders. Those views changed on Friday when the government reported that the unemployment rate shot up to 5.7 percent in November as another 331,000 Americans lost their jobs, bringing total job losses over the past two months to 800,000, the largest total in 21 years. The central bank launched the current easing campaign with a surprise half- point cut on Jan. 3, in between its regular meetings. In the 10 rate cuts so far this year, seven came at regularly scheduled meetings and three occurred between 4 Bus company busted for smuggling migrants. WAS H NG T ON Federal law enforcement officials have broken up a large illegal immigrant smuggling ring that used a Los Angeles-based bus company to transport immi- grants from U.S. cities near the Mexican border to locations around the Western part of the country, Attorney General John D. Ashcroft announced yesterday. Thirty-two people were indicted in "Operation Great Basin," including the president and other corporate officers of Golden State Transportation, a regional bus company, and six alleged smugglers, Ashcroft said. They were charged with "transporting and harboring illegal aliens for profit," he said. The indictments allege that Golden State officials conspired with smugglers to transport between 50 and 300 migrants a day from the southwest border to such cities as Los Angeles, Albuquerque and Las Vegas. The alleged scheme involved immigrants already in the United States who had been taken to private homes to await transportation to other cities. Bus company officials allegedly allowed smugglers to buy large blocks of tickets in advance and schedule arrivals and AP PHUTO is gather around the car hit by Israeli helicopter m in the West Bank town of Hebron yesterday. The missile attack, d a 3-year-old boy and a 13-year-old boy, was apparently targeting an Islamic Jihad activist who was riding in the car. ael coninues retaliation; Issiles kill -2 boys In car Armey might step down at end of term WASH I NGT ON House Majority Leader Dick Armey, second-ranking leader among Republicans and an advocate for tax cuts and smaller government, has told associates he may retire at the end of his term, sources close to the Texas lawmaker said last night. A decision to step down could open up a lively race among fellow Republi- cans eager to claim his powerful post. One source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Armey had notified House Speaker Dennis Hastert and other Republicans that he may not seek re-election to a 10th term in 2002. Armey, 61, faces a filing deadline of Jan. 2 in Texas, but he could announce his plans sooner, possibly within days. One source familiar with Armey's thinking said the Texan was not consid- ering retirement for reasons of health or Annan accepts Nobel Peace PriZe for U.N. OSLO, Norway Saying the world "entered the third millennium through a gate of fire" ignited on Sept. 11, U.N. Secretary- General Kofi Annan accepted the cen- tennial Nobel Peace Prize yesterday. with a call for humanity to fight pover- ty, ignorance and disease. Annan said the terrorist attacks in the United States showed that "new threats make no distinction between races, nations or regions." The world now has "a deeper awareness of the bonds that bind us all - in pain and in prosperity," he said. "Today, no walls can separate humanitarian or human rights crises in one part of the world from national security crises in another," he said. "What begins with the failure to uphold the dignity of one life, all too often ends with a calamity for entire U I Study links Gehrig's disease, Gulf service WASHINGTON N, West Bank (AP) - Israeli copters struck a Palestinian in northern Gaza early today, nians fired mortars at Jewish in violence that continued to fmorts to arrange a truce. on was slightly injured in the li strike, Palestinians said. ig was evacuated before the said. eli military said the air strike tion for Palestinian mortar sh settlements in Gaza. An was slightly wounded by a , a military statement said, aeli demands that the mortar e." y, Israeli helicopters fired a car waiting at a stoplight in the West Bank, killing two boys, ages 3 and 13, and wounding at least seven people - including a suspected Islamic militant who was the target of the attack. The raid drew an angry response from the Palestinian leadership and fur- ther complicated peace efforts by U.S. envoy Anthony Zinni, who shuttled between meetings with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat in a renewed bid to halt the violence. European Union foreign ministers meeting in Brussels, Belgium, issued a statement yesterday calling on Arafat to dismantle Palestinian radical groups and declare an end to the violent uprising against Israel. European countries have traditionally tilted toward the Palestini- ans, and the move pointed to the increasing international pressure on Arafat to crack down on militants. Still, the violence overshadowed the diplomatic initiatives. In Hebron, one of the most*volatile spots in the West Bank, a pair of Israeli helicopter gunships fired two missiles that damaged at least three cars waiting at a traffic light in a bustling part of the city. A car carrying Islamic Jihad activist Mohammed Ayoub Sidr, 26, took a direct hit, wounding him and turning the vehicle into a charred, smoking ruin. Another passenger in the car, 3-year- old Burhan Himouni, was dismembered, while his father lost both legs, said Dr. Jamil Haslamoun at Ahli Hospital. The two men in the car were related by mar- riage, and relatives said they had been headed to a bakery to buy traditional sweets for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Americans who served in the Gulf War were nearly twice as likely to develop Lou Gehrig's disease as other military personnel, the government reported yesterday. It was the first time officials acknowledged a scien- tific link between service in the Gulf and a specific disease. The Department of Veterans Affairs said it would immediately offer disabili- ty and survivor benefits to veterans with the disease who served in the Persian Gulf during the conflict a decade ago. "The hazards of the modern day bat- tlefield are more than bullet wounds and saber cuts," said Anthony Principi, sec- retary of Veterans Affairs. The research, which included nearly 2.5 million military personnel, is one of the largest epidemiological studies ever conducted and offers the most conclu- - Compiled from Daily wire reports. 4 I Three months later, America still reeling The Michigan Daily (ISSN 0745-967) is published Monday through Friday during the fall and winter terms by students at the University of Michigan. Subscriptions for fall term, starting in September, via U.S. mail are $105. Winter term (January through April) is $110, yearlong (September through April) is $190. University affiliates are subject to a reduced subscription rate. On-campus subscriptions for fall term are $35. Subscrip- tions must be prepaid. The Michigan Daily is a member of The Associated Press and The Associated Colle- giate Press. ADDRESS: The Michigan Daily, 420 Maynard St., Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-1327. PHONE NUMBERS (All area code 734): News 76-DAILY; Arts 763-0379; Sports 647-3336; Opinion 764-0552; Circulation 764-0558; Classified advertising 764-0557; Display advertising 764-0554; Billing 764-0550. E-mail letters to the editor to daily.letters@umich.edu. World Wide Web: www.michigaidaily.com. WASHINGTON (AP) - From a never-imagined war to a micromanaged manhunt, the pursuit of justice for the terrorist attacks has shifted in the three months since Sept. 11. At home, the horrific attacks cast a pall over the economy and the holiday season. Abroad, backed by U.S. firepower, local fighters routed the Taliban out of its last stronghold last week, forcing the core still loyal to Osama bin Laden and his now-fugitive host, Mullah Mohammed Omar, into the hills. Both men remain very much wanted by the United States, and officials warned that although the war is on a different footing, it is far from over. U.S. involvement was likely to deepen as emphasis shifts to the hard-core supporters. Marines mobilized near the fallen Taliban stronghold of Kandahar yester- day to cut off escape routes for Taliban leaders and fighters from bin Laden's terror network. "There are still a lot of senior al-Qaida and senior Taliban people left," said Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. "Our job has got a long way to go." In some respects, it's come a long way. In 66 days since the bombing began Oct. 7, coalition forces have shredded the Taliban as a political and mil- itary force. Al-Qaida terrorist training camps have been destroyed and B-52s are dropping heavy bombs on a network of caves in eastern Afghanistan. Nine U.S. personnel have died, and the numbers of Afghan casualties - while difficult to assess - are likely in the thousands. Even as its soldiers keep fighting, the United States' diplomats are pressing the case for a stable postwar Afghanistan, working closely with the United Nations to set up the provisional government. Four Afghan factions have agreed to a six-month interim government and named a leader, Hamid Karzai. The scion of a ruling family respected at home for his nationalism and in the West for his moderate outlook, Karzai pledged to restore rights for women - naming two to his Cabinet - and rejected any truce that would allow Omar to go free. The Bush administration -hoping to draw Islamic nations into a postwar effort to stabilize the region - has stressed the mission's humanitarian thrust. So far, U.S. aircraft have dropped 2.1 million food packs to war-beleaguered Afghans. Yesterday in Kabul, Americans reclaimed the U.S. Embassy 12 years after it was abandoned. Progress in the war did little to stem the economic downturn that Sept. 11 accelerated. The nation's unemployment rate shot up to 5.7 per- cent in November and.the job loss total for the past two months hit 800,000, the worst in more than two decades. The figures reflect huge post-attack layoffs across a swath of the U.S. economy, with airlines and other travel industries particularly hard-hit. cnlTdnlAI CTACC re ffMev Gftei'MAl1 CAi+dv in (shimf r- F-TWA STAFFJ ci*k**AJeu..mp-Lnrn LJrni..flX ;" CUI I W SAL a iwrr viavrrrcy aaasolunl caIwr III 1tNlCl NEWS Nick Bunkley, Managing Editor EDITORS: David Enders, Lisa Koivu, Caitlin Nish, Jeremy W. Peters STAFF: Jeremy Berkowitz, Tyler Boersen, Ted Borden, Anna Clark, April Effort, Lizzie Ehrle, Casey Ehrlich, Margaret Engoren, Michael Gazdecki, Rachel Green, Lisa Hoffman, C. Price Jones, Elizabeth Kassab, Shabina S. Khatri, Kylene Kiang, Daniel Kim, Tomislav Ladika, Louie Meizlish, Jennifer Misthal, Jacquelyn Nixon, Shannon Pettypiece, Stephanie Schonholz, Karen Schwartz, Sarah Scott, Jordan Schrader, Maria Sprow Kelly TrahanKaraWenzel CALENDAR: Lisa Koivu EDITORIAL Michael Grass, Nicholas Woomer, Editors ASSOCIATE EDITORS: Johanna Hanink, Aubrey Henretty, Manish Raiji STAFF: Howard Chung, Kevin Clune, Sumon Dantiki, Rachel Fisher, Seth Fisher, Catherine Groat, Jessica Gronski, David Livshiz, Garrett Lee, Paul Neuman, Neil Pais, An Paul, Zachary Peskowitz, Jess Piskor, Jim Secreto, Lauren Strayer CARTOONISTS: Sam Butler, Chip Cullen, Thomas Kulgurgis COLUMNISTS: Peter Cunniffe, David Horn, Rebecca Isenberg, Steve Kyritz, Dustin J. Seibert, Waj Syed, Josh Wickerham, Amer G. Zahr SPORTS . Jon Schwartz, Managing Editor SENIOR EDITORS: Raphael Goodstein, Arun Gopal, Jeff Phillips, Joe Smith NIGHT EDITORS: Chris Burke, David Horn, Steve Jackson, Seth Klempner, J. Brady McCollough, Naweed Sikora STAFF: Rohit Bhave, Dan Bremmer, Eric Chan, Kareem Copeland, Josh Holman, Bob Hunt, Melanie Kebler, Shawn temp, Matt Kramer, Courtney Lewis, Kyle ONeill, Charles Paradis, Dan Rosen, Mike Rosen, David Roth, Brian Schick, Brian Steere, Allison Topp, Jim Weber ARTS Jennifer Fogel, Managing Editor EDITORS: Robyn Melamed,,Lyle Henretty WEEKEND, ETC. EDITORS: Matt Grandstaff, Jane Krull SUB-EDITORS: Lisa Rajt (Books), Andy Taylor-Fabe (Film), Jim Schiff (Fine/Performing Arts), Luke Smith (Music), Jeff Dickerson (Tv/New Media) STAFF: Charity Atchison, Marie Bernard, Ryan Blay, Rob Brode, Autumn Brown, Japiya Burns, Laura Deneau, Kiran Diwla, Tricia Donelan, Keith N. Dusenberry, Andrew Field, Julie Geer, Ben Goldstein, Melissa Gollob, Nicholas Harp, Jenny Jeltes, Carmen Johnson, Chris Lane, Laura LoGerf, Beatrice Marovch, Willhelmina Mauritz, Rosemary Metz, Ryan C. Moloney, Denis Naranjo, Gina Pensiero, Darren Ringel, Sarah Rubin, Dustin Seibert, Christian Smith, Todd Weiser, Janet Yang PHOTO David Katz, Editor ASSOCIATE EDITORS: Danny Moloshok, Brendan O'Donnell, Alyssa Wood STAFF: Laurie Brescoll, Tom Feldcamp, Emma Fosdick, Ryan Leventhal, Debbie Mizel, Brett Mountain, John Pratt; David Rochkind, Yana Ryu, Jonathon Triest, Leslie Ward ONLINE Paul Wong, Managing Editor STAFF: Marc Allen, Soojung Chang, Chuck Goddeeris, Melanie Kebler, Sommy Ko, Timothy Najmolhoda CONSULTANTS: Mike Bibik. Satadru Pramanik k 1i [r . (--l- l..T rT' U~7T ~ ~ :~! I 11 Deluxe accommodations for up to 4 in a room r +n1~ l~l. nr4nr n:- - roi Qtir0n, a {t ' 12 DISPLAY SALES Mlcah Winter, Manager ASSOCIATE MANAGER: Carrie Wozniak STAFF Ayalla Barkai, Jessica Cordero, Brad Davies, Laura Frank. Ellen Gagnet, Jennifer Kaczmarek, Julie Lee, Kristin Nahhat, Leslie Olinek, Glenn Powlas, Amit Kapoor, Anne Sause, Tarah Saxon, Nicole Siegel, Debbie Shapiro, David Soberman i I CLASSIFIED SALES Esther Chat, Manager A