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Texas A&M University — Celebrating 125 Years
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SERVING THE TEXAS A&M COMMUNITY SINCE 1893
Volume 108 • Issue 14
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Bryan Munici |NEW YORK (AP) — In the
most devastating terrorist
onslaught ever waged against the
United ' States, knife-wielding
hijackers crashed two jetliners
into the World Trade Center
mesday, toppling its twin 110-
story towers. The deadly calamity
was witnessed on televisions
across the world as another plane
slammed into the Pentagon and a
fourth crashed outside Pittsburgh.
■ “Today, our nation saw evil,”
saitl President George W. Bush in
anj address to the nation Tuesday
night. He said thousands of lives
were “suddenly ended by evil,
despicable acts of terror.”
Bush said the United States
w*H find and punish “those
behind these evil acts,” and any
country that harbors them.
K Establishing the U.S. death
toll could take weeks. The four
jetliners alone had 266 people
aboard and there were no known
survivors. At the Pentagon, about
100 people are believed dead.
I In addition, a firefighters
union official said he feared an
estimated 200 firefighters had
died in rescue efforts at the Trade
Center — where 50,000 people
worked — and dozens of police
officers were believed missing.
I No one took responsibility for
the attacks that rocked the seats of
finance and government. But fed
eral authorities identified Osama
bin Laden, who has been given
asylum by Afghanistan’s Taliban
rulers, as the prime suspect.
I Aided by intercepted com
munications between his sup
porters and harrowing cell
phone calls from at least one
flight attendant and two passen
gers aboard the jetliners before
they crashed, U.S. officials
began assembling a case linking
bin Laden to the devastation.
U.S. intelligence intercepted
communications between bin
Laden supporters discussing the
attacks on the World Trade
Center and Pentagon, according
to Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch, the
top Republican on the Senate
Judiciary Committee.
The people aboard the jetlin
ers who managed to make cell
phone calls each described simi-
lar circumstances. They indicat
ed the hijackers were armed with
knives, in some cases stabbing
ight attendants. The hijackers
hen took control of the planes.
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See Attacks on page 3. Two World Trade Center buildings in New York City were destroyed when two commercial jetliners were hijacked and flown through them Tuesday.
Muslim students
express concern
for their safety
By Rolando Garcia
THE BATTALION
Muslim students at Texas
A&M say they are worried about
becoming targets of harassment
and resentment because of the
widespread assumption that
Islamic extremists were responsi
ble for Tuesday’s terrorist attacks.
“Every time something like
this happens, they say it’s the
Muslims, and that presumption
can put us in a lot of clanger,” said
Arsalan Haque, Class of 2000
and an officer in the Muslim
Students Association (MSA).
“Innocent people were killed
and people are enraged, and
we’re enraged too,” he said.
Lt. Dan Jones, spokesman for
the College Station Police
Department, said the department
had increased patrols in the
Northgate area, although no
threats of violence have been
reported. But a harassing note
was left at the door of the Muslim
mosque in College Station.
“The note said something to
the effect of ‘go back to your
country,’ ” Jones said.
Bob Wiatt, director of the
University Police Department
(UPD), said a few international
students have called his office to
express concern for the safety of
Muslims on campus in the after-
math of the terrorist attacks. To
reassure international students
living in University-owned apart
ments, UPD has stepped up bicy
cle patrols in the area, Wiatt said.
Haque said Muslim women,
many of whom wear visible
signs of their faith, such as veils,
are especially vulnerable.
“Everybody is talking about
it, and right now they have a bad
connotation of Muslims in their
minds,” Haque said.
Chris Alexander, associate
director for international studies
at A&M, said Americans often
misunderstand the turmoil in the
Middle East and mistakenly
brand all Muslims as extremists.
“The overwhelming majori
ty of the Muslim world does
not support this kind of terror
ism and does not support
Osama bin Laden,” Alexander
said. “Americans may not have
a sense for the complex politi
cal issues involved, and may
not realize that this has very
little to do with religion.”
See Muslims on page 10.
die cuts.
Bush complex closed
By Rolando Garcia
THE BATTALION
^ The George Bush Presidential Library Complex was closed
Tuesday for security reasons in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks
in New York City and Washington, D.C.
I The Bush Library will remain closed until further notice, said
library spokesman Brian Blake. Also, today’s event at the library
featuring General Richard Eberhart was canceled.
E “Once the government feels the danger has passed, we’ll get
word from the National Archives to reopen,” Blake said.
I Police barricades were set up outside the museum, Blake said,
and all staff was evacuated.
I “If there was any target on campus, that would be it,” Blake said.
A&M System task force tapped
to assist with New York rescue
By Mark Passwaters
THE BATTALION
See Bush on page 12.
CODY WAGES • THE BATTALION
Scoty Baxter, a technical search specialist for the
TX-TF1 search and rescue team, prepares to leave
for New York, while search dog Chulo looks on.
The members of Texas Task Force-1
(TX-TF1) have dealt with the destruc
tion caused by floods, fires and torna
does in its four-year existence. Tuesday,
while quickly packing, members were
faced with preparing for their greatest
challenge: looking for survivors trapped
in the destruction of New York City’s
World Trade Center.
The task force is one of 28 urban
search-and-rescue teams in the United
States, and is designed to respond to dis
asters in cities or large urban environ
ments. Until Tuesday, reacting to a large-
scale terrorist attack was something the
members of the unit had only trained for.
“It’s really tough to prepare for. I
don’t think anyone wants to expect
something like this,” said Mitch
Hubbard, a rescue specialist from the
Woodlands and a member of White
Team, a unit within TX-TF1.
See Task Force on page 12.