The news this October week in 2000 was a curious mixture of domestic barb-trading, Middle-East saber rattling with shuttle diplomacy and suspicious eyes cast in the direction of Afghanistan.
The suicide bombing of the USS Cole while refueling in Yemen gave further evidence terrorism was, not only on the rise, it was becoming more brazen in its targets. And there was universal agreement as to who the main culprit was.
Jim Stewart (CBS News): “There is no hard evidence as yet, but the working theory among intelligence and law enforcement officials is that this was the work of Osama bin Laden. They believe the bombing may have been carried out by volunteers belonging to the Egyptian Islamic Jihad movement, which you may recall was the same group that massacred fifty eight foreign tourists at the Luxor Temple ruins three years ago. That movement is now firmly in the camp of Osama bin Laden who still operates out of his hideout in Afghanistan.”
At the time the name Osama bin Laden wasn't as recognizable to most people as it was to the Intelligence community. But ten years later it all makes perfect sense.
Also on this Weekend Roundup program for the week ending the 14th of October (and beginning on the 7th), was news of the continuing and escalating violence in Gaza, the 2000 elections (with some interesting insights about Florida) and a fascinating appraisal of the then-current state of the Internet.
What a kick history is.
