For the Record - Column

National Review, Nov 19, 2001

-- Bush at Travis Air Force Base in California: "You mark my words: People are going to get tired of the war on terrorism. And by the way, it may take more than two years. There's a variety of theaters. So long as anybody's terrorizing established governments, there needs to be a war." . . . Vice President Cheney, in Washington Post: "It is different than the Gulf War was, in the sense that it may never end. At least, not in our lifetime." . . . Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Richard B. Myers: "This is a different kind of conflict. The closest analogy would be the drug war." . . . Bush on the World Series, according to New York Post: "I'm for anyone but the Yankees."

-- Former CIA chief James Woolsey: "There are too many things, too many examples of stolen identities, of cleverly crafted documentation, of coordination across continents and between states . . . to stray very far from the conclusion that a state, and a very well-run intelligence service, is involved here." . . . In Reuters/Zogby poll, 74 percent support expanding war on terrorism to "go after Saddam Hussein." . . . National security adviser Condoleezza Rice, in New York Times: "I think that the Russians are beginning to see that what we've said all along is true: that the near-term program for missile defense, which is really a testing and evaluation program, is not actually a threat to them." . . . In New Atlantic Initiative/Chicago Sun-Times poll, 77 percent say they support building missile-defense system. . . . Rep. Steve Buyer (R., Ind.) proposes using tactical nuclear weapons on parts of Afghanistan where bin Laden may be hiding: "Close these caves for a thousand years." . . . Adds Rep. Peter King (R., N.Y.): "I would never rule out tactical weapons if I thought they could do the job and if they were needed."

-- At Dulles International Airport in Virginia, 87 percent of baggage screeners are non-U.S. citizens, reports NPR. . . . In CNN/USA Today poll, 58 percent say immigration levels should be reduced and 30 percent say keep them at present levels; in June, respective numbers were 41 percent and 42 percent. . . . In Council on American- Islamic Relations poll, 67 percent of U.S. mosque leaders say "America is an immoral, corrupt society." . . . University of Chicago's National Opinion Research Center says there are no more than 2.8 million Muslims in U.S., despite advocacy-group claims of 7 million. . . . Rep. Cynthia McKinney (D., Ga.) writes to Saudi Arabian prince Alwaleed bin Talal expressing disappointment that New York mayor Rudy Giuliani returned his $10 million check because of objections to political statements, asks prince to donate money to black Americans. . . . Rep. Charles Rangel (D., N.Y.) on McKinney's letter, in New York Daily News: "It is very embarrassing."

-- New York City Board of Education votes to require Pledge of Allegiance at start of school day. . . . Gallup poll: 41 percent of New Yorkers consider their city "safe," compared to 33 percent one year ago. . . . In Florida, high school drops plans for anti-bin Laden poster. Explains Pinellas County school spokesman Ron Stone, in St. Petersburg Times: "I thought perhaps, especially with our emphasis on multicultural issues . . . that it would not be a good thing to do." . . . Bradley Foundation gives largest gift ever: $20 million to Partners in Advancing Values in Education for school choice and charter-school construction. . . . Stanford offers course on "The Language of Hip-Hop Culture," in which students study lyrics of Sean "P. Diddy" Combs and other rappers.

-- Sen. Hillary Clinton (D., N.Y.) on running for president, on French television: "That is not something that is at all part of my future. I have so many things that I'm interested in doing in my life right now, that that is something I've said I'm not going to do." . . . Percentage of new mothers in workforce falls for first time since Census Bureau started keeping those statistics. . . . Price of gas per gallon falls from $1.525 in September to $1.284 in October, with lowest price in country $0.959 in Virginia's Prince William County, acording to AAA. . . . U.S. Olympic Committee says it will back one of four sites for 2012 games: Washington-Baltimore, Houston, New York, or San Francisco.

-- Britain and Australia commit ground troops to Afghanistan war, Canada sends support personnel, and France considers greater involvement. . . . British admiral Sir Michael Boyce, in Daily Telegraph: "The war against Communism took 50 years to win, and I wonder if we shouldn't be thinking of it like that." . . . Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak, in Newsweek: "Osama bin Laden made his explosions and then started talking about the Palestinians. He never talked about them before." . . . Chinese purchased unexploded U.S. missiles from bin Laden following cruise-missile attack in 1998, says witness in Italian custody, but China denies claim. . . . Russia says it will dismantle "listening station" in Cuba. . . . Winnie Mandela, former wife of Nelson Mandela, arrested for bank fraud in South Africa.