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Operation Infinite Reach

Operation Infinite Reach was the codename for American cruise missile strikes on al-Qaeda bases that were launched concurrently across two continents on 20 August 1998. Launched by the U.S. Navy, the strikes hit the al-Shifa pharmaceutical factory in Khartoum, Sudan, and a camp in Khost Province, Afghanistan, in retaliation for al-Qaeda's August 7 bombings of American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, which killed 224 people (including 12 Americans) and injured over 4,000 others. Operation Infinite Reach was the first time the United States acknowledged a preemptive strike against a violent non-state actor.

U.S. intelligence wrongly suggested financial ties between the al-Shifa plant, which produced over half of Sudan's pharmaceuticals, and Osama bin Laden; a soil sample collected from al-Shifa allegedly contained a chemical used in VX nerve gas manufacturing. Suspecting that al-Shifa was linked to, and producing chemical weapons for, bin Laden and his al-Qaeda network, the U.S. destroyed the facility with cruise missiles, killing or wounding 11 Sudanese. The strike on al-Shifa proved controversial; after the attacks, the U.S. evidence and rationale were criticized as faulty, and academics Max Taylor and Mohamed Elbushra cite "a broad acceptance that this plant was not involved in the production of any chemical weapons."

The missile strikes on al-Qaeda's Afghan training camps were aimed at preempting more attacks and killing bin Laden. These strikes damaged the installations, but bin Laden was not present at the time. Two of the targeted camps were run by the Inter-Services Intelligence of Pakistan who were training militants to fight in Kashmir; in all, five ISI officers were confirmed killed and at least twenty militants also died. Following the attacks, Afghanistan's ruling Taliban allegedly reneged on a promise to Saudi intelligence chief Turki bin Faisal to hand over bin Laden, and the regime instead allegedly strengthened its ties with the al-Qaeda chief.

Operation Infinite Reach, the largest U.S. action in response to a terrorist attack since the 1986 bombing of Libya, was met with a mixed international response: U.S. allies and most of the American public supported the strikes, but many across the Muslim world disapproved them, viewing them as attacks specifically against Muslims, a factor that was further capitalized by radicals. The failure of the attacks to kill bin Laden also enhanced his public image in parts of the Muslim world. Further strikes were planned but not executed; as a 2002 congressional inquiry noted, Operation Infinite Reach was "the only instance ... in which the CIA or U.S. military carried out an operation directly against Bin Laden before September 11."

Background
On 23 February 1998, Osama bin Laden, Ayman al-Zawahiri, and three other leaders of Islamic militant organizations issued a fatwa in the name of the World Islamic Front for Jihad Against Jews and Crusaders, publishing it in al-Quds al-Arabi. Deploring the stationing of U.S. troops in Saudi Arabia, the alleged U.S. aim to fragment Iraq, and U.S. support for Israel, they declared that "The ruling to kill the Americans and their allies—civilian and military—is an individual duty for every Muslim who can do it in any country in which it is possible to do it." In spring 1998, Saudi elites became concerned about the threat posed by al-Qaeda and bin Laden; militants attempted to infiltrate surface-to-air missiles inside the kingdom, an al-Qaeda defector alleged that Saudis were bankrolling bin Laden, and bin Laden himself lambasted the Saudi royal family. In June 1998, Al Mukhabarat Al A'amah (Saudi intelligence) director Prince Turki bin Faisal Al Saud traveled to Tarnak Farms to meet with Taliban leader Mullah Omar to discuss the question of bin Laden. Turki demanded that the Taliban either expel bin Laden from Afghanistan or hand him over to the Saudis, insisting that removing bin Laden was the price of cordial relations with the Kingdom. American analysts believed Turki offered a large amount of financial aid to resolve the dispute over bin Laden. Omar agreed to the deal, and the Saudis sent the Taliban 400 pickup trucks and funding, enabling the Taliban to retake Mazar-i-Sharif. While the Taliban sent a delegation to Saudi Arabia in July for further discussions, the negotiations stalled by August.

Around the same time, the U.S. was planning its own actions against bin Laden. Michael Scheuer, chief of the Central Intelligence Agency's bin Laden unit (Alec Station), considered using local Afghans to kidnap bin Laden, then exfiltrate him from Afghanistan in a modified Lockheed C-130 Hercules. Documents recovered from Wadih el-Hage's Nairobi computer suggested a link between bin Laden and the deaths of U.S. troops in Somalia. These were used as the foundation for the June 1998 New York indictment of bin Laden, although the charges were later dropped. The planned raid was cancelled in May after internecine disputes between officials at the FBI and the CIA; the hesitation of the National Security Council (NSC) to approve the plan; concerns over the raid's chance of success, and the potential for civilian casualties.

Al-Qaeda had begun reconnoitering Nairobi for potential targets in December 1993, using a team led by Ali Mohamed. In January 1994, bin Laden was personally presented with the team's surveillance reports, and he and his senior advisers began to develop a plan to attack the American embassy there. From February to June 1998, al-Qaeda prepared to launch their attacks, renting residences, building their bombs, and acquiring trucks; meanwhile, bin Laden continued his public-relations efforts, giving interviews with ABC News and Pakistani journalists. While U.S. authorities had investigated al-Qaeda activities in Nairobi, they had not detected any warnings of imminent attacks.

On August 7, 1998, al-Qaeda teams in Nairobi, Kenya, and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, attacked the cities' U.S. embassies simultaneously with truck bombs. In Nairobi, the explosion collapsed the nearby Ufundi Building and destroyed the embassy, killing 213 people, including 12 Americans; another 4,000 people were wounded. In Dar es Salaam, the bomber was unable to get close enough to the embassy to demolish it, but the blast killed 11 Africans and wounded 85. Bin Laden justified the high-casualty attacks, the largest against the U.S. since the 1983 Beirut barracks bombings, by claiming they were in retaliation for the deployment of U.S. troops in Somalia; he also alleged that the embassies had devised the Rwandan genocide as well as a supposed plan to partition Sudan.

Planning the strikes
National Security Advisor Sandy Berger called President Bill Clinton at 5:35 AM on August 7 to notify him of the bombings. That day, Clinton started meeting with his "Small Group" of national security advisers, which included Berger, CIA director George Tenet, Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, Attorney General Janet Reno, Defense Secretary William Cohen, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Hugh Shelton. The group's objective was to plan a military response to the East Africa embassy bombings. Initially the U.S. suspected either Hamas or Hezbollah for the bombings, but FBI Agents John P. O'Neill and Ali Soufan demonstrated that al-Qaeda was responsible. Based on electronic and phone intercepts, physical evidence from Nairobi, and interrogations, officials soon demonstrated bin Laden as the perpetrator of the attacks. On August 8, the White House asked the CIA and the Joint Chiefs of Staff to prepare a targets list; the initial list included twenty targets in Sudan, Afghanistan, and an unknown third country, although it was narrowed down on August 12.

In an August 10 Small Group meeting, the principals agreed to use Tomahawk cruise missiles, rather than troops or aircraft, in the retaliatory strikes. Cruise missiles had been previously used against Libya and Iraq as reprisals for the 1986 Berlin discotheque bombing and the 1993 attempted assassination of then-President George H. W. Bush. Using cruise missiles also helped to preserve secrecy; airstrikes would have required more preparation that might have leaked to the media and alerted bin Laden. The option of using commandos was discarded, as it required too much time to prepare forces, logistics, and combat search and rescue. Using helicopters or bombers would have been difficult due to the lack of a suitable base or Pakistani permission to cross its airspace, and the administration also feared a recurrence of the disastrous 1980 Operation Eagle Claw in Iran. While military officials suggested bombing Kandahar, which bin Laden and his associates often visited, the administration was concerned about killing civilians and hurting the U.S.' image.

On August 11, General Anthony Zinni of Central Command was instructed to plan attacks on bin Laden's Khost camps, where CIA intelligence indicated bin Laden and other militants would be meeting on August 20, purportedly to plan further attacks against the U.S. Clinton was informed of the plan on August 12 and 14. Participants in the meeting later disagreed whether or not the intelligence indicated bin Laden would attend the meeting; however, an objective of the attack remained to kill the al-Qaeda leader, and the NSC encouraged the strike regardless of whether bin Laden and his companions were known to be present at Khost. The administration aimed to prevent future al-Qaeda attacks discussed in intercepted communications. As Berger later testified, the operation also sought to damage bin Laden's infrastructure and show the administration's commitment to combating bin Laden. The Khost complex, which was 90 mile southeast of Kabul, also had ideological significance: Bin Laden had fought nearby during the Soviet–Afghan War, and he had given interviews and even held a press conference at the site. Felix Sater, then a CIA source, provided additional intelligence on the camps' locations.

On August 14, Tenet told the Small Group that bin Laden and al-Qaeda were doubtless responsible for the attack; Tenet called the intelligence a "slam dunk", according to counterterrorism official Richard Clarke, and Clinton approved the attacks the same day. As the 9/11 Commission Report relates, the group debated "whether to strike targets outside of Afghanistan". Tenet briefed the small group again on August 17 regarding possible targets in Afghanistan and Sudan; on August 19, the al-Shifa pharmaceutical facility in Khartoum, Sudan, al-Qaeda's Afghan camps, and a Sudanese tannery were designated as targets. The aim of striking the tannery, which had allegedly been given to bin Laden by the Sudanese for his road-building work, was to disrupt bin Laden's finances, but it was removed as a target due to fears of inflicting civilian casualties without any loss for bin Laden. Clinton gave the final approval for the attacks at 3:00 AM on August 20; the same day, he also signed Executive Order 13099, authorizing sanctions on bin Laden and al-Qaeda. The Clinton administration justified Operation Infinite Reach under Article 51 of the UN Charter and Title 22, Section 2377 of the U.S. Code; the former guarantees a UN member state's right to self-defense, while the latter authorizes presidential action by "all necessary means" to target international terrorist infrastructure. Government lawyers asserted that since the missile strikes were an act of self-defense and not directed at an individual, they were not forbidden as an assassination. A review by administration lawyers concluded that the attack would be legal, since the president has the authority to attack the infrastructure of anti-American terrorist groups, and al-Qaeda's infrastructure was largely human. Officials also interpreted "infrastructure" to include al-Qaeda's leadership.

The missiles would pass into Pakistani airspace, overflying "a suspected Pakistani nuclear weapons site," according to Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Joseph Ralston; U.S. officials feared Pakistan would mistake them for an Indian nuclear attack. Clarke was concerned the Pakistanis would shoot down the cruise missiles or airplanes if they were not notified, but also feared the ISI would warn the Taliban or al-Qaeda if they were alerted. In Islamabad on the evening of August 20, Ralston informed Pakistan Army Chief of Staff Jehangir Karamat of the incoming American strikes ten minutes before the missiles entered Pakistani airspace. Clarke also worried the Pakistanis would notice the U.S. Navy ships, but was told that submerged submarines would launch the missiles. However, the Pakistan Navy detected the destroyers and informed the government.

Al-Shifa plant attack

At about 7:30 PM Khartoum time (17:30 GMT), two American warships in the Red Sea (USS Briscoe and USS Hayler) fired thirteen Tomahawk missiles at Sudan's Al-Shifa pharmaceutical factory, which the U.S. wrongly claimed was helping bin Laden build chemical weapons. The entire factory was destroyed except for the administration, water-cooling, and plant laboratory sections, which were severely damaged. One night watchman was killed and ten other Sudanese were wounded by the strike. Worried about the possibility for hazardous chemical leakages, analysts ran computer simulations on wind patterns, climate, and chemical data, which indicated a low risk of collateral damage. Regardless, planners added more cruise missiles to the strike on Al-Shifa, aiming to completely destroy the plant and any dangerous substances.

Clarke stated that intelligence linked bin Laden to Al-Shifa's current and past operators, namely Iraqi nerve gas experts such as Emad al-Ani and Sudan's ruling National Islamic Front. Since 1995, the CIA had received intelligence suggesting collaboration between Sudan and bin Laden to produce chemical weapons for attacking U.S. Armed Forces personnel based in Saudi Arabia. Since 1989, the Sudanese opposition and Uganda had alleged that the regime was manufacturing and using chemical weapons, although the U.S. did not accuse Sudan of chemical weapons proliferation. Al-Qaeda defector Jamal al-Fadl had also spoken of bin Laden's desire to obtain weapons of mass destruction, and an August 4 CIA intelligence report suggested bin Laden "had already acquired chemical weapons and might be ready to attack". Cohen later testified that physical evidence, technical and human intelligence, and the site's security and purported links to bin Laden backed the intelligence community's view that the Al-Shifa plant was producing chemical weapons and associated with terrorists.

With the help of an Egyptian agent, the CIA had obtained a sample of soil from the facility taken in December 1997 showing the presence of O-Ethyl methylphosphonothioic acid (EMPTA), a substance used in the production of VX nerve gas, at 2.5 times trace levels. (Reports are contradictory on whether the soil was obtained from within the compound itself, or outside.) The collected soil was split into three samples, which were then analyzed by a private laboratory. The agent's bona fides were later confirmed through polygraph testing; however, the CIA produced a report on Al-Shifa on July 24, 1998, questioning whether Al-Shifa produced chemical weapons or simply stored precursors, and the agency advised collecting more soil samples. Cohen and Tenet later briefed U.S. senators on intercepted telephone communications from the plant that reputedly bolstered the U.S. case against Al-Shifa. U.S. intelligence also purportedly researched the Al-Shifa factory online and searched commercial databases, but did not find any medicines for sale.

Al-Shifa controversy
U.S. officials later acknowledged that the evidence cited by the U.S. in its rationale for the Al-Shifa strike was weaker than initially believed: The facility had not been involved in chemical weapons production, and was not connected to bin Laden. The $30 million Al-Shifa factory, which had a $199,000 contract with the UN under the Oil-for-Food Programme, employed 300 Sudanese and provided over half of the country's pharmaceuticals, including medicines for malaria, diabetes, gonorrhea, and tuberculosis. A Sudanese named Salah Idris purchased the plant in March 1998; while the CIA later said it found financial ties between Idris and the bin Laden-linked terrorist group Egyptian Islamic Jihad, the agency had been unaware at the time that Idris owned the Al-Shifa facility. Idris later denied any links to bin Laden and sued to recover $24 million in funds frozen by the U.S., as well as for the damage to his factory. Idris hired investigations firm Kroll Inc., which reported in February 1999 that neither Idris nor Al-Shifa was connected to terrorism.

The chairman of Al-Shifa Pharmaceutical Industries insisted that his factory did not make nerve gas, and Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir formed a commission to investigate the factory. Sudan invited the U.S. to conduct chemical tests at the site for evidence to support its claim that the plant might have been a chemical weapons factory; the U.S. refused the invitation to investigate and did not officially apologize for the attacks. Press coverage indicated that Al-Shifa was not a secure, restricted-access factory, as the U.S. alleged, and American officials later conceded that Al-Shifa manufactured pharmaceutical drugs. Sudan requested a UN investigation of the Al-Shifa plant to verify or disprove the allegations of weapons production; while the proposal was backed by several international organizations, it was opposed by the U.S.

The American Bureau of Intelligence and Research (INR) criticized the CIA's intelligence on Al-Shifa and bin Laden in an August 6 memo; as James Risen reported, INR analysts concluded that "the evidence linking Al Shifa to bin Laden and chemical weapons was weak." According to Risen, some dissenting officials doubted the basis for the strike, but senior principals believed that "the risks of hitting the wrong target were far outweighed by the possibility that the plant was making chemical weapons for a terrorist eager to use them." Senior NSC intelligence official Mary McCarthy had stated that better intelligence was needed before planning a strike, while Reno, concerned about the lack of conclusive evidence, had pressed for delaying the strikes until the U.S. obtained better intelligence. According to CIA officer Paul R. Pillar, senior Agency officials met with Tenet before he briefed the White House on bin Laden and Al-Shifa, and the majority of them opposed attacking the plant. Barletta notes that "It is unclear precisely when U.S. officials decided to destroy the Shifa plant." ABC News reported that Al-Shifa was designated as a target just hours in advance; Newsweek stated that the plant was targeted on August 15–16; U.S. officials asserted that the plant was added as a target months in advance; and a U.S. News & World Report article contended that Al-Shifa had been considered as a target for years. Clinton ordered an investigation into the evidence used to justify the Al-Shifa strike, while as of July 1999, the House and Senate intelligence committees were also investigating the target-selection process, the evidence cited, and whether intelligence officials recommended attacking the plant.

It was later hypothesized that the EMPTA detected was the result of the breakdown of a pesticide or confused with Fonofos, a structurally similar insecticide used in African agriculture. Eric Croddy contends that the sample did not contain Fonofos, arguing that Fonofos has a distinct ethyl group and a benzene group, which distinguish it from EMPTA, and that the two chemicals could not be easily confused. Tests conducted in October 1999 by Idris' defense team found no trace of EMPTA. Although Tenet vouched for the Egyptian agent's truthfulness, Barletta questions the operative's bona fides, arguing that they may have misled U.S. intelligence; he also notes that the U.S. withdrew its intelligence staff from Sudan in 1996 and later retracted 100 intelligence reports from a fraudulent Sudanese source. Ultimately, Barletta concludes that "It remains possible that Al-Shifa Pharmaceutical Factory may have been involved in some way in producing or storing the chemical compound EMPTA ... On balance, the evidence available to date indicates that it is more probable that the Shifa plant had no role whatsoever in CW production."

Attack on Afghan camps
Four U.S. Navy ships and the submarine USS Columbia, stationed in the Arabian Sea, fired between 60 and 75 Tomahawk cruise missiles into Afghanistan at the Zhawar Kili Al-Badr camp complex in the Khost region, which included a base camp, a support camp, and four training camps. Peter Bergen identifies the targeted camps, located in Afghanistan's "Pashtun belt," as al-Badr 1 and 2, al-Farooq, Khalid bin Walid, Abu Jindal, and Salman Farsi; other sources identify the Muawia, Jihad Wahl, and Harkat-ul-Jihad al-Islami camps as targets. According to Shelton, the base camp housed "storage, housing, training and administration facilities for the complex," while the support camp included weapons-storage facilities and managed the site's logistics. Egyptian Islamic Jihad and the Algerian Armed Islamic Group also used the Khost camps, as well as Pakistani militant groups fighting an insurgency in Kashmir, such as Harkat Ansar, Lashkar-e-Taiba, and Hizbul Mujahideen. The rudimentary camps, reputedly run by Taliban official Jalaluddin Haqqani, were frequented by Arab, Chechen, and Central Asian militants, as well as the ISI. The missiles hit at roughly 10:00 PM Khost time (17:30 GMT); as in Sudan, the strikes were launched at night to avoid collateral damage. In contrast to the attack on Al-Shifa, the strike on the Afghan camps was uncontroversial.

The U.S. first fired unitary (C-model) Tomahawks at the Khost camps, aiming to attract militants into the open, then launched a barrage of D-model missiles equipped with submunitions to maximize casualties. Sources differ on the precise number of casualties inflicted by the missile strikes. Bin Laden bodyguard Abu Jandal and militant trainee Abdul Rahman Khadr later estimated that only six men had been killed in the strikes. The Taliban claimed 22 Afghans killed and over 50 seriously injured, while Berger put al-Qaeda casualties at between 20 and 30 men. Bin Laden jokingly told militants that only a few camels and chickens had died, although his spokesman cited losses of six Arabs killed and five wounded, seven Pakistanis killed and over 15 wounded, and 15 Afghans killed. A declassified September 9, 1998, State Department cable stated that around 20 Pakistanis and 15 Arabs died, out of a total of over 50 killed in the attack. Harkat-ul-Mujahideen's leader, Fazlur Rehman Khalil, initially claimed a death toll of over 50 militants, but later said that he had lost fewer than ten fighters. Death toll ranges from 6 or 50 militants.

Pakistani and hospital sources gave a death toll of eleven dead and fifty-three wounded. Pakistani journalist Ahmed Rashid writes that 20 Afghans, seven Pakistanis, three Yemenis, two Egyptians, one Saudi and one Turk were killed. Initial reports by Pakistani intelligence chief Chaudhry Manzoor and a Foreign Ministry spokesman stated that a missile had landed in Pakistan and killed six Pakistanis; the government later retracted the statement and fired Manzoor for the incorrect report. However, the 9/11 Commission Report states that Clinton later called Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif "to apologize for a wayward missile that had killed several people in a Pakistani village." One 1998 U.S. News & World Report article suggested that most of the strike's victims were Pakistani militants bound for the Kashmiri insurgency, rather than al-Qaeda members; the operation killed a number of ISI officers present in the camps. A 1999 press report stated that seven Harkat Ansar militants were killed and 24 were wounded, while eight Lashkar-e-Taiba and Hizbul Mujahideen members were killed. In a May 1999 meeting with American diplomats, Haqqani said his facilities had been destroyed and 25 of his men killed in the operation.

Following the attack, U.S. surveillance aircraft and reconnaissance satellites photographed the sites for damage assessment, although clouds obscured the area. According to The Washington Post, the imagery indicated "considerable damage" to the camps, although "up to 20 percent of the missiles ... [had] disappointing results." Meanwhile, bin Laden made calls by satellite phone, attempting to ascertain the damage and casualties the camps had sustained. One anonymous official reported that some buildings were destroyed, while others suffered heavy or light damage or were unscathed. Abu Jandal stated that bathrooms, the kitchen, and the mosque were hit in the strike, but the camps were not completely destroyed. Berger claimed that the damage to the camps was "moderate to severe," while CIA agent Henry A. Crumpton later wrote that al-Qaeda "suffered a few casualties and some damaged infrastructure, but no more." Since the camps were relatively unsophisticated, they were quickly and easily rebuilt within two weeks.

ISI director Hamid Gul reportedly notified the Taliban of the missile strikes in advance; bin Laden, who survived the strikes, later claimed that he had been informed of them by Pakistanis. A bin Laden spokesman claimed that bin Laden and the Taliban had prepared for the strike after hearing of the evacuation of Americans from Pakistan. Other U.S. officials reject the tip-off theory, citing a lack of evidence and ISI casualties in the strike; Tenet later wrote in his memoirs that the CIA could not ascertain whether Bin Laden had been warned in advance. Steve Coll reports that the CIA heard after the attack that bin Laden had been at Zhawar Kili Al-Badr but had left some hours before the missiles hit. Bill Gertz writes that the earlier arrest of Mohammed Odeh on August 7, while he was traveling to meet with bin Laden, alerted bin Laden, who canceled the meeting; this meant the camps targeted by the cruise missiles were mainly empty the day of the U.S. strike. Lawrence Wright says the CIA intercepted a phone call indicating that bin Laden would be in Khost, but the al-Qaeda chief instead decided to go to Kabul. Other media reports indicate that the strike was delayed to maximize secrecy, thus missing bin Laden. Scheuer charges that while the U.S. had planned to target the complex's mosque during evening prayers to kill bin Laden and his associates, the White House allegedly delayed the strikes "to avoid offending the Muslim world". Simon Reeve states that Pakistani intelligence had informed bin Laden that the U.S. was using his phone to track him, so he turned it off and cancelled the meeting at Khost.

Reactions in the U.S.
Clinton flew back to Washington, D.C. from his vacation at Martha's Vineyard, speaking with legislators from Air Force One and British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, and Sharif from the White House. Clinton announced the attacks in a TV address, saying the Khost camp was "one of the most active terrorist bases in the world." He emphasized: "Our battle against terrorism ... will require strength, courage and endurance. We will not yield to this threat ... We must be prepared to do all that we can for as long as we must." Clinton also cited "compelling evidence that [bin Laden] was planning to mount further attacks" in his rationale for Operation Infinite Reach.

The missiles were launched three days after Clinton testified on the Clinton–Lewinsky scandal, and some countries, media outlets, protesters, and Republicans accused him of ordering the attacks as a diversion. The attacks also drew parallels to the then-recently released movie Wag the Dog, which features a fictional president faking a war in Albania to distract attention from a sex scandal. Administration officials denied any connection between the missile strikes and the ongoing scandal, and 9/11 Commission investigators found no reason to dispute those statements.

Operation Infinite Reach was covered heavily by U.S. media: About 75% of Americans knew about the strikes by the evening of August 20. The next day, 79% of respondents in a Pew Research Center poll reported they had "followed the story 'very' or 'fairly' closely." The week after the strikes, the evening programs of the three major news networks featured 69 stories on them. In a Newsweek poll, up to 40% thought that diverting attention from the Lewinsky scandal was one objective of the strikes; according to a Star Tribune poll, 31% of college-educated respondents and 60% of those "with less than a 12th grade education" believed that the attacks were motivated "a great deal" by the scandal. A USA Today/CNN/Gallup poll of 628 Americans showed that 47% thought it would increase terrorist attacks, while 38% thought it would lessen terrorism. A Los Angeles Times poll of 895 taken three days after the attack indicated that 84% believed that the operation would trigger a retaliatory terrorist attack on U.S. soil.

International reactions
While U.S. allies such as Australia, Germany, the United Kingdom, Israel, and the Northern Alliance supported the attacks, they were opposed by Cuba, Russia, and China, as well as the targeted nations and other Muslim countries. German Chancellor Helmut Kohl said that "resolute actions by all countries" were required against terrorism, while Russian President Boris Yeltsin condemned "the ineffective approach to resolving disputes without trying all forms of negotiation and diplomacy." The Taliban denounced the operation, denied charges it provided a safe haven for bin Laden, and insisted the U.S. attack killed only innocent civilians. Mullah Omar condemned the strikes and announced that Afghanistan "will never hand over bin Laden to anyone and (will) protect him with our blood at all costs." A mob in Jalalabad burned and looted the local UN office, while an Italian UN official was killed in Kabul on August 21, allegedly in response to the strikes. Thousands of anti-U.S. protesters took to the streets of Khartoum. Omar al-Bashir led an anti-U.S. rally and warned of possible reciprocation, and Martha Crenshaw notes that the strike "gained the regime some sympathy in the Arab world." The Sudanese government expelled the British ambassador for Britain's support of the attacks, while protesters stormed the empty U.S. embassy. Sudan also reportedly allowed two suspected accomplices to the embassy bombings to escape. Libyan leader Muammar al-Gaddafi declared his country's support for Sudan and led an anti-U.S. rally in Tripoli. Zawahiri later equated the destruction of Al-Shifa with the September 11 attacks.

Pakistan condemned the U.S. missile strikes as a violation of the territorial integrity of two Islamic countries, and criticized the U.S. for allegedly violating Pakistani airspace. Pakistanis protested the strikes in large demonstrations, including a 300-strong rally in Islamabad, where protesters burned a U.S. flag outside the U.S. Information Service center; in Karachi, thousands burned effigies of Clinton. The Pakistani government was enraged by the ISI and trainee casualties, the damage to ISI training camps, the short notice provided by the U.S., and the Americans' failure to inform Sharif of the strikes. Iran's Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, and Iraq denounced the strikes as terrorism, while Iraq also denied producing chemical weapons in Sudan. The Arab League, holding an emergency meeting in Cairo, unanimously demanded an independent investigation into the Al-Shifa facility; the League also condemned the attack on the plant as a violation of Sudanese sovereignty.

Several Islamist groups also condemned Operation Infinite Reach, and some of them threatened retaliation. Hamas founder Ahmed Yassin stated that American attacks against Muslim countries constituted an attack on Islam itself, accusing the U.S. of state terrorism. Mustafa Mashhur, the leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, said that U.S. military action would inflame public opinion against America and foster regional unrest, which was echoed by a Hezbollah spokesman. Harkat-ul-Mujahideen threatened Americans and Jews, announcing a worldwide jihad against the U.S. Al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya denounced the strikes as "a crime which will not go without punishment" and encouraged fellow militant groups to reciprocate. In November, Lashkar-e-Taiba held a 3-day demonstration in Lahore to support bin Laden, in which 50,000 Pakistanis promised vengeance for the strikes. American embassies and facilities worldwide also received a high volume of threats following the attacks. The attacks led to anti-Semitic conspiracy theories in the region that Lewinsky was a Jewish agent influencing Clinton against aiding Palestine, which would influence Mohamed Atta to join al-Qaeda's Hamburg cell and commit the September 11 attacks.

Planet Hollywood bombing
A Planet Hollywood restaurant in Cape Town, South Africa, was the target of a terrorist bombing on August 25, killing two and injuring 26. The perpetrators, Muslims Against Global Oppression (later known as People Against Gangsterism and Drugs), stated that it was in retaliation for Operation Infinite Reach.

Al-Qaeda victory
The outcome was considered a political and strategic victory for al-Qaeda. The Taliban announced within a day that bin Laden had survived the attacks, which Wright notes strengthened his image in the Muslim world "as a symbolic figure of resistance" to the U.S. Bin Laden had prominent support in Pakistan, where two hagiographies of the al-Qaeda chief were soon published, parents began naming their newborn sons Osama, mosques distributed his taped speeches, and cargo trucks bore the slogan "Long Live Osama". Children in Kenya and Tanzania wore bin Laden T-shirts, and al-Qaeda sold propaganda videos of the strikes' damage in European and Middle Eastern Islamic bookstores. A 1999 report prepared by Sandia National Laboratories stated that bin Laden "appeared to many as an underdog standing firm in the face of bullying aggression," adding that the missile strikes sparked further planning of attacks by extremists. Operation Infinite Reach also strengthened bin Laden's associates' support for him, and helped the al-Qaeda leader consolidate support among other Islamist militant groups. The attacks also helped al-Qaeda recruit new members and solicit funds. Naftali concludes that the strikes damaged the Khost camps but failed to deter al-Qaeda and "probably intensified [bin Laden's] hunger for violence." Similarly, researcher Rohan Gunaratna told the 9/11 Commission that the attacks did not reduce the threat of al-Qaeda.

Assessment
Each cruise missile cost between $750,000 and $1 million, and nearly $750,000,000 in weapons was fired in the strikes overall. The missiles' failure to eliminate their targets led to an acceleration in the American program to develop unmanned combat air vehicles. On September 2, the Taliban announced that it had found an unexploded U.S. missile, and the Pakistani press claimed that another had landed in Balochistan's Kharan Desert. Russian intelligence and intercepted al-Qaeda communications indicate that China sent officials to Khost to examine and buy some of the unexploded missiles; bin Laden used the over $10 million in proceeds to fund Chechen opposition forces. Pakistani missile scientists studied the recovered Tomahawk's computer, GPS, and propulsion systems, and Wright contends that Pakistan "may have used [the Tomahawks] ... to design its own version of a cruise missile."

The September 9 State Department cable also claimed that "the U.S. strikes have flushed the Arab and Pakistani militants out of Khost," and while the camps were relocated near Kandahar and Kabul, paranoia lingered as al-Qaeda suspected that a traitor had facilitated the attacks. For example, Abu Jandal claimed that the U.S. had employed an Afghan cook to pinpoint bin Laden's location. Bin Laden augmented his personal bodyguard and began changing where he slept, while Al-Qaeda military chief Mohammed Atef frisked journalists who sought to meet Bin Laden.

Two days after Operation Infinite Reach, Omar reportedly called the State Department, saying that the strikes would only lead to more anti-Americanism and terrorism, and that Clinton should resign. The embassy bombings and the declaration of war against the U.S. had divided the Taliban and angered Omar. However, bin Laden swore an oath of fealty to the Taliban leader, and the two became friends. According to Wright, Omar also believed that turning over bin Laden would weaken his position. In an October cable, the State Department also wrote that the missile strikes worsened Afghan-U.S. relations while bringing the Taliban and al-Qaeda closer together. A Taliban spokesman even told State Department officials in November that "If [the Taliban] could have retaliated with similar strikes against Washington, it would have." The Taliban also denied American charges that bin Laden was responsible for the embassy bombings. When Turki visited Omar to retrieve bin Laden, Omar told the prince that they had miscommunicated and he had never agreed to give the Saudis bin Laden. In Turki's account, Omar lambasted him when he protested, insulting the Saudi royal family and praising the Al-Qaeda leader; Turki left without bin Laden. The Saudis broke off relations with the Taliban and allegedly hired a young Uzbek named Siddiq Ahmed in a failed bid to assassinate bin Laden. American diplomatic engagement with the Taliban continued, and the State Department insisted to them that the U.S. was only opposed to bin Laden and al-Qaeda, at whom the missile strikes were aimed, not Afghanistan and its leadership.

Following the strikes, Osama bin Laden's spokesman announced that "The battle has not started yet. Our answer will be deeds, not words." Zawahiri made a phone call to reporter Rahimullah Yusufzai, stating that "We survived the attack ... we aren't afraid of bombardment, threats, and acts of aggression ... we are ready for more sacrifices. The war has only just begun; the Americans should now await the answer." Al-Qaeda attempted to recruit chemists to develop a more addictive type of heroin for export to the U.S. and Western Europe, but was unsuccessful. A September 1998 intelligence report was titled "UBL Plans for Reprisals Against U.S. Targets, Possibly in U.S.," while the August 6, 2001, President's Daily Brief stated that after Operation Infinite Reach, "Bin Ladin told followers he wanted to retaliate in Washington."

Afterwards, U.S. considered, but did not execute, more cruise missile strikes; from 1999 to 2001, ships and submarines in the North Arabian Sea were prepared to conduct further attacks against bin Laden if his location could be ascertained. The U.S. considered firing more cruise missiles against bin Laden in Kandahar in December 1998 and May 1999; at an Emirati hunting camp in Helmand in February 1999; and in Ghazni in July 1999, but the strikes were called off due to various factors, including questionable intelligence and the potential for collateral damage. Similarly, CIA-employed Afghans planned six times to attack bin Laden's convoy but did not, citing fears of civilian casualties, tight security, or that the al-Qaeda chief took a different route. Thus, Operation Infinite Reach was the only U.S. operation directed against bin Laden before the September 11 attacks. The operation's failure later dissuaded President George W. Bush from ordering similar strikes in the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan.

title: Operation Infinite Reach


text:
Wikipedia talk:Selected anniversaries/March 21

J.S. Bach's birthday
Johann Sebastian Bach surely deserves to be mentioned.

March 10th ?!
The "This date in recent years" feature is showing March 10th, not March 21st...

Someone else
Just my two cents, but that Alcatraz thumb is so small as to be unrecognizable. Radagast 03:28, Mar 21, 2004 (UTC)

 * A crop would be best, but I increased the width to 150px. For now, another U.S. topic has replaced it. --mav 03:51, 21 Mar 2004 (UTC)

Americans boycotting the 1980 Summer Olympics vs Pete Rose
Is this a better item to feature than Pete Rose ? -- PFHLai 19:57, 2005 Mar 20 (UTC) Never mind. We have no room. Perhaps we can do some event cycling.... -- PFHLai 23:59, 2005 Mar 20 (UTC)
 * 1980 - The United States announced the boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow to protest the Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan.
 * 1989 - An article in Sports Illustrated alleged that Pete Rose, the Manager of the Cincinnati Reds, was involved in baseball gambling.

Norouz, The Persian New-Year's Day
already featured on MainPage the day before --PFHLai 16:14, 24 March 2006 (UTC)

 * I didn't see it in March 21. This year, March 21 was the Persian New-Year's Day. Bidabadi 05:45, 26 March 2006 (UTC)

Norouz
Happens at an exact moment of vernal equinox which this year occurs at exactly 12:07 GMT. If someone could add this information it would be great.

I would suggest the format of:

 * Norouz in Iran, Afghanistan and Tajikistan and also for Bahai faith and Zoroastrians at the exact moment of vernal equinox (12:07 GMT)

Regards, --Rayis 23:05, 11 March 2007 (UTC)

 * Actually, it's 00:07 UTC, not 12:07. It's already there. --PFHLai 14:45, 14 March 2007 (UTC)

Purim (2008)
Purim is a Jewish holiday that is on March 21 in 2008. Can an Admin please add Purim for this year only? Manassehkatz 05:00, 21 March 2008 (UTC)
 * Doesn't Purim begin on sunset on the previous day, like all other Jewish holidays? That is what was displayed on Selected anniversaries/March 20. Zzyzx11 (Talk) 05:33, 21 March 2008 (UTC)

 * Yes, it does. But like the other Jewish holidays, more of the holiday takes place in the day than at night. And unlike Passover where the main commandments/observances are at night, in Purim there are 4 commandments for the day and only 1 for the night (which is also in the day). Manassehkatz 13:13, 21 March 2008 (UTC)

 * Thank you, Y and Happy Purim! Manassehkatz 17:24, 21 March 2008 (UTC) —Preceding unsigned comment added by Manassehkatz (talk • contribs)

2012 notes
— howcheng  {chat} 08:46, 21 March 2012 (UTC)
 * Omitted: Báb, Ponce massacre; Kenny Washington (American football); Murder of Amanda Dowler
 * Included: True Cross (first appearance; rescued from Ineligible); Thomas Cranmer (8th appearance, last in 2010); Pope Pius VII (4th appearance, last in 2010); Otto von Bismarck (first appearance); Pete Rose (3rd appearance, last in 2009)
 * Repeats: Erawan Shrine (2nd consecutive appearance, 2 total)

2013 notes
— howcheng  {chat} 07:09, 20 March 2013 (UTC)
 * Omitted: Pope Pius VII (ineligible–maintenance); True Cross; Thomas Cranmer; Pete Rose (ineligible–maintenance); Erawan Shrine
 * Included: Great Dayton Flood (first appearance; 100th anniversary); Ponce massacre (3rd appearance, last in 2011); Battle of the Transdanubian Hills (first appearance); Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary/Alcatraz Island (penitentiary: first appearance; island: 2nd appearance, last in 2004; 50th anniversary)
 * Repeats: Otto von Bismarck (2nd consecutive appearance, 2 total)

Edit request on 22 March 2013
INSTEAD OF... I PROPOSE THIS BE CHANGED TO THIS: RATIONALE: Unlike the other events listed for March 21, nowhere is the name of the event mentioned in this listing's text. While there is a link to the event via a wikilink at "opened fire", such method is not the clearest way to link to the article about the event in this listing since the name of the event is never mentioned. Regards, Mercy11 (talk) 19:43, 22 March 2013 (UTC)
 * 1937 – A police squad, acting under orders from Governor of Puerto Rico Blanton Winship, opened fire on demonstrators protesting the arrest of Puerto Rican Nationalist leader Pedro Albizu Campos, killing 17 people and injuring over 200 others.
 * 1937 – A police squad, acting under orders from Governor of Puerto Rico Blanton Winship, opened fire on demonstrators protesting the arrest of Puerto Rican Nationalist leader Pedro Albizu Campos, killing 17 people and injuring over 200 others in what came to be known as the Ponce massacre.

Mercy11 (talk) 19:43, 22 March 2013 (UTC)
 * ❌. This is fairly standard syntax for OTD listings. It just happens that today's bunch only has one blurb in this style instead of multiple. — howcheng  {chat} 23:12, 22 March 2013 (UTC)

2014 notes
— howcheng  {chat} 07:07, 20 March 2014 (UTC)
 * Deleted: Báb (already appears on October 20); 1980 Summer Olympics boycott (moved to January 20)
 * Omitted: Otto von Bismarck; Great Dayton Flood; Ponce massacre; Battle of the Transdanubian Hills; Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary/Alcatraz Island
 * Included: Thomas Cranmer (9th appearance, last in 2012); Pope Pius VII (5th appearance, last in 2012; rescued from Ineligible); Operation Michael (first appearance); Kenny Washington (American football) (2nd appearance, last in 2011); A House Divided (Dallas) (first appearance)

Protected edit request on 21 March 2014
Tiara link.

--Revenge of the Sith (talk) 13:11, 21 March 2014 (UTC)
 * Your request is not clear. But I had a guess about what you meant. If it's something else, please be more specific ... — Martin (MSGJ · talk) 15:19, 21 March 2014 (UTC)

2015 notes
— howcheng  {chat} 07:00, 19 March 2015 (UTC)
 * Moved to Ineligible: Ponce massacre (maintenance)
 * Omitted: Pope Pius VII; Operation Michael; Kenny Washington (American football); A House Divided (Dallas)
 * Included: True Cross (2nd appearance, last in 2012); Otto von Bismarck (3rd appearance, last in 2013); Battle of the Transdanubian Hills (2nd appearance, last in 2013; 70th anniversary); Murder of Milly Dowler (2nd appearance, last in 2011)
 * Repeats: Thomas Cranmer (2nd consecutive appearance, 10 total)

2016 notes
— howcheng  {chat} 08:09, 19 March 2016 (UTC)
 * Omitted: Mother's Day (ineligible—maintenance); Thomas Cranmer; Battle of the Transdanubian Hills; Murder of Milly Dowler
 * Included: Pope Pius VII (6th appearance, last in 2014); Kenny Washington (American football) (3rd appearance, last in 2014; 70th anniversary); Erawan Shrine (3rd appearance, last in 2012; 10th anniversary)
 * Repeats: True Cross (2nd consecutive appearance, 3 total); Otto von Bismarck (2nd consecutive appearance, 4 total)

 * There has been a mistake with Naw-Rúz (Bahá'í calendar). It varies with the spring equinox and is on March 20 in 2016. It should be included on the March 20 page (it was accidentally placed on the March 21 page). Reference: http://www.religiouslife.emory.edu/documents/Baha_i%20Holy%20Days%2050%20year%20calendar.pdf  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 120.22.5.196 (talk) 01:00, 21 March 2016 (UTC)
 * There was a note on the page stating the Bahai Naw-Ruz was always on March 21. I've now changed it so that it's listed with Nowruz. — howcheng  {chat} 16:47, 21 March 2016 (UTC)

2017 notes
— howcheng  {chat} 07:55, 21 March 2017 (UTC)
 * Deleted: Murder of Milly Dowler (sensitive to family)
 * Rescued from Ineligible (unused): Battle of Karameh
 * Omitted: Pope Pius VII; Otto von Bismarck (ineligible—maintenance); Kenny Washington (American football); Erawan Shrine
 * Included: Thomas Cranmer (11th appearance, last in 2015); Mit brennender Sorge (3rd appearance, last in 2013; moved from March 14); Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary (2nd appearance, last in 2013; blurb also previously featured Alcatraz Island, which is currently ineligible); A House Divided (Dallas) (2nd appearance, last in 2014); Al Williamson (first appearance); Nobuo Uematsu (first appearance); Chinua Achebe (first appearance)
 * Repeats: True Cross (3rd consecutive appearance, 4 total)

2018

 * I would like to add this historical picture in place of a Thomas Cranmer portrait as the Battle of Karameh marks a special 50th anniversary. Makeandtoss (talk) 15:22, 18 March 2018 (UTC)

2018 notes
— howcheng  {chat} 05:45, 21 March 2018 (UTC)
 * Moved to Ineligible: Pope Pius VII (maintenance); Battle of the Transdanubian Hills (maintenance)
 * Rescued from Ineligible (unused): Sharpeville massacre
 * New articles (unused): Battle of Arcis-sur-Aube; 1983 West Bank fainting epidemic
 * Omitted: True Cross (ineligible—maintenance); Mit brennender Sorge (ineligible—maintenance); Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary; A House Divided (Dallas); Al Williamson; Nobuo Uematsu (ineligible—maintenance); Chinua Achebe (ineligible—maintenance)
 * Included: Operation Michael (2nd appearance, last in 2014; 100th anniversary); Moondog Coronation Ball (first appearance); Battle of Karameh (first appearance; 50th anniversary); Erawan Shrine (4th appearance, last in 2016); Absalon (first appearance); Alice Henry (first appearance); Emily Infeld (first appearance)
 * Repeats: Thomas Cranmer (2nd consecutive appearance, 12 total)

2019 notes
— howcheng  {chat} 17:05, 21 March 2019 (UTC)
 * Rescued from Ineligible (unused): Mit brennender Sorge; Nobuo Uematsu; Chinua Achebe
 * Omitted: Thomas Cranmer; Operation Michael; Moondog Coronation Ball; Battle of Karameh; Absalon; Alice Henry; Emily Infeld
 * Included: Battle of Arcis-sur-Aube (first appearance); Cornerstone Speech (first appearance); Ponce massacre (4th appearance, last in 2013); 1983 West Bank fainting epidemic (first appearance); Florenz Ziegfeld Jr. (first appearance); Salvador Lutteroth (first appearance); Wolfgang Wagner (first appearance)
 * Repeats: Erawan Shrine (2nd consecutive appearance, 5 total)

2020 notes
— howcheng  {chat} 22:23, 22 March 2020 (UTC)
 * Moved to Ineligible: Nobuo Uematsu (maintenance)
 * Omitted: Cornerstone Speech; Ponce massacre; 1983 West Bank fainting epidemic; Erawan Shrine; Florenz Ziegfeld Jr.; Salvador Lutteroth
 * Included: Thomas Cranmer (13th appearance, last in 2018); Mit brennender Sorge (4th appearance, last in 2017); Sharpeville massacre (3rd appearance, last in 2009; 60th anniversary); A House Divided (Dallas) (3rd appearance, last in 2017; 40th anniversary); Ælla of Northumbria (first appearance); Evelina Haverfield (first appearance; 100th anniversary)
 * Repeats: Battle of Arcis-sur-Aube (2nd consecutive appearance, 2 total); Wolfgang Wagner (2nd consecutive appearance, 2 total; 10th anniversary)

2021 notes
— howcheng  {chat} 07:28, 23 March 2021 (UTC)
 * Rescued from Ineligible (unused): Nobuo Uematsu
 * Omitted: Battle of Arcis-sur-Aube; Mit brennender Sorge; Sharpeville massacre; A House Divided (Dallas); Ælla of Northumbria; Evelina Haverfield; Wolfgang Wagner
 * Included: Cornerstone Speech (2nd appearance, last in 2019); Battle of Karameh (2nd appearance, last in 2018); Erawan Shrine (6th appearance, last in 2019); John Law (economist) (first appearance); Al Williamson (2nd appearance, last in 2017; 90th birthday); Marina Salye (first appearance)
 * Repeats: Thomas Cranmer (2nd consecutive appearance, 14 total)

2022 notes
— howcheng  {chat} 16:19, 22 March 2022 (UTC)
 * Moved to Ineligible: 1983 West Bank fainting epidemic (maintenance)
 * New articles (ineligible): Hanna Greally (date not cited)
 * Omitted: Thomas Cranmer; Cornerstone Speech; Battle of Karameh; Erawan Shrine; John Law (economist); Al Williamson
 * Included: Oltenia Day (first appearance); Great New Orleans Fire (1788) (first appearance); Battle of Arcis-sur-Aube (3rd appearance, last in 2020); Moondog Coronation Ball (2nd appearance, last in 2018; 70th anniversary); 2019 Xiangshui chemical plant explosion (first appearance); Salvador Lutteroth (2nd appearance, last in 2019; 125th birthday); Nobuo Uematsu (2nd appearance, last in 2017)
 * Repeats: Marina Salye (2nd consecutive appearance, 2 total; 10th anniversary)

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/


text:
Vasyugan

The Vasyugan (Васюга́н) is a river in the southern West Siberian Plain of Russia. It is a tributary of the Ob on the left side, and its course from its source in the Vasyugan Swamp is entirely within the Kargasok district of Tomsk Oblast.

Statistics
The river is 1082 km long and is navigable upriver for 886 km from the mouth. The Vasyugan drains a basin of 61800 km2. Average annual runoff: 345 m3/c, 10.9 km3/year.

Tributaries:
 * Right hand: Yelizarovka, Petryak, Yershovka, Kalganak, Pyonorovka, Nyurolka, Zimnyaya, Chizhapka, Pasil, Silga, Naushka, Kochebilovka, Lozunga.
 * Left hand: Bolshoy Petryak, Listvenka, Korovya, Staritsa, Garchak, Kyn, Glukhaya, Chertala, Yagylyakh, Yegolyakh, Olenyovka, Kelvat, Lontynyakh, Katylga, Cheremshanka, Prudovaya, Makhnya, Martynovka, Varingyogan, Yokhomyakh, Chebachya, Kacharma, Malaya Kuletka.

Municipalities (downstream from source): Novy Vasyugan, Aypolovo, Novy Tevriz, Sredny Vasyugan, Staraya Beryozovka, Ust-Chizhapka, Naunak, Bolshaya Griva, Staroyugino, Novoyugino, Bondarka.

Literature

 * Evseeva NS Geography of Tomsk region. (Natural conditions and resources). - Tomsk: TSU, 2001, 223 pp.

title: Vasyugan


text:
Fado em Mim

Fado em Mim is the debut studio album of Portuguese fado singer Mariza, released in April 2002 by Dutch label World Connection. A special collectors' edition, containing an additional CD with 8 live tracks recorded at the WOMAD 2002, was released later.

Release
Fado em Mim, Mariza's debut studio album, was initially rejected by Portuguese labels, who were uneasy working with an unproven artist. ; The album was picked up by Dutch label World Connection and was later released in 32 countries.

Reception
In January 2004, Mariza was awarded the European Border Breakers Award for the international sales of Fado em Mim.

Personnel

 * Mariza – Vocals
 * Custódio Castelo – Portuguese Guitar
 * Jorge Fernando – Classic Guitar/Viola
 * António Neto – Classic Guitar/Viola ("Poetas" & "Ó Gente da Minha Terra")
 * Marino Freitas – Acoustic Bass
 * Ricardo Cruz – Acoustic Bass ("Ó Gente da Minha Terra" & "Oiça Lá Ó Senhor Vinho), Double Bass ("Poetas" & "Por Ti")
 * Tiago Machado – Piano ("Poetas" & "Ó Gente da Minha Terra"[hidden track])
 * Dalú – Percussion ("Barco Negro")
 * Davide Zaccaria – Cello ("Há Festa Na Mouraria")
 * Fernando Nunes – Engineering
 * Jorge Fernando, Tiago Machado – Production and Arrangement
 * João Pedro Ruela, Albert Nijimolen – Executive Production

title: Fado em Mim


text:
User talk:João Neves

Hi there. Welcome to Wikipedia! Drop us a note at New user log to introduce yourself.

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If you have any other questions about the project then check out Help or add a question to the Village pump. You can also drop me a question on my talk page.

Happy editing, Isomorphic 21:26, 29 Feb 2004 (UTC)

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Unspecified source for Image:BjorkTelegram.jpg
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Orphaned non-free image (Image:BjorkTelegram.jpg)
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title: User talk:João Neves


text:
Anton Dostler

Anton Dostler (10 May 1891 – 1 December 1945) was a German army officer who fought in both World Wars. During World War II, he commanded several units as a General of the Infantry, primarily in Italy. After the Axis defeat, Dostler was executed for war crimes—specifically, ordering the execution of fifteen American prisoners of war in March 1944 during the Italian Campaign.

Dostler was tried during the first Allied war crimes trials to be held after the end of the war in Europe; at Nuremberg, he mounted a defense on the grounds that he had ordered the executions only because he himself was obeying superior orders, and that as such only his superiors could be held responsible. The Nuremberg judges rejected Dostler's defense, ruling, in an important precedent (later codified in Principle IV of the Nuremberg Principles and the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights), that citing superior orders did not relieve soldiers or officers of responsibility for carrying out war crimes. After being found guilty, Dostler was sentenced to death and executed by a United States Army firing squad.

Military career
Dostler joined the German army in 1910 and served as a junior officer during World War I. From the start of World War II to 1940, he served as chief of staff of the 7th Army. Subsequently he commanded the 57th Infantry Division (1941–42), the 163rd Infantry Division (1942) and, after some temporary stand-ins at corps, was appointed commander of 75th Army Corps (Jan-July 1944) in Italy and then commander of the Venetian Coast (Sept–Nov 1944), when its name was reassigned to 73rd Army Corps, where he finished the war.

Execution of U.S. soldiers
On 22 March 1944, 15 soldiers of the U.S. Army, including two officers, landed on the Italian coast about 15 kilometers north of La Spezia, 400 km (250 miles) behind the then-established front, as part of Operation Ginny II. They were all properly dressed in the field uniform of the U.S. Army and carried no civilian clothes. Their objective was to demolish a tunnel at Framura on the important railway line between La Spezia and Genoa. Two days later the group was captured by a combined party of Italian Fascist soldiers and troops from the German Army. They were taken to La Spezia, where they were confined near the headquarters of the 135th (Fortress) Brigade, which was under the command of German Col. Almers. His immediate superior was the commander of the 75th Army Corps, Dostler.

The captured American party was interrogated by Wehrmacht intelligence officers, and an officer revealed the mission. The information, including that it was a commando raid, was then sent to Dostler at the 75th Army Corps H.Q. The following day he informed his superior, Field Marshal Albert Kesselring, commanding general of all German forces in Italy, about the captured U.S. commandos and asked what to do with them. According to Dostler's adjutant, Kesselring responded by ordering the execution. Later that day Dostler sent a telegram to the 135th (Fortress) Brigade passing on the order that the captured commando party was to be executed, in line with the Commando Order of 1942 issued by Adolf Hitler, which ordered the immediate execution without trial of all enemy commandos and saboteurs taken prisoner by the Wehrmacht in the field.

Colonel Almers at the 135th (Fortress) Brigade was uneasy with the execution order, and approached Dostler again to delay the execution command. In response Dostler dispatched another telegram ordering Almers to carry out the execution as previously ordered. Two last attempts were made by Colonel Almers to stop the execution, including some by telephone, as he knew that executing uniformed prisoners of war was in violation of the 1929 Geneva Convention on Prisoners of War. His appeals were unsuccessful, and the 15 Americans of the commando raid were executed on the morning of 26 March 1944, at Punta Bianca, south of La Spezia, in the municipality of Ameglia. Their bodies were buried in a mass grave that was camouflaged afterwards. Alexander zu Dohna-Schlobitten, a member of Dostler's staff who, unaware of the existence of Hitler's "Commando Order", had refused to sign the execution order for the American commandos, was dismissed from the Wehrmacht for insubordination.

Trial and execution
Dostler was taken prisoner of war by the United States Army and, after it discovered the fate of the commando raiding team, was put on trial for war crimes on 8 May 1945. A military tribunal was held at the seat of the Supreme Allied Commander, the Royal Palace in Caserta, on 8 October 1945. In the first Allied war crimes trial carried out by the United States, he was accused of carrying out an illegal order. In his defense he maintained that he had not issued the order but had only passed it to Colonel Almers from Field Marshal Kesselring, and that the execution of the OSS men was a lawful order. Dostler's plea of superior orders failed before the tribunal, which found that in ordering the mass execution he had acted on his own outside the Führer's orders. The Military Commission also rejected his plea for clemency, declaring that the mass execution of the commando party was in violation of Article 2 of the 1929 Geneva Convention on Prisoners of War, which prohibited acts of reprisals against prisoners of war. In its judgment the Commission stated that "no soldier, and still less a Commanding General, can be heard to say that he considered the summary shooting of prisoners of war legitimate, even as a reprisal."

Under the 1907 Hague Convention on Land Warfare, it was legal to execute spies and saboteurs disguised in civilian clothes or enemy uniforms, but not those captured in uniforms of their own army. Because the 15 U.S. soldiers were properly dressed in U.S. uniforms behind enemy lines, and not disguised in civilian clothes or enemy uniforms, they should not have been treated as spies but as prisoners of war, a principle which Dostler had violated in enforcing the order for execution.

The trial found General Dostler guilty of war crimes, rejecting the "superior orders" defense. He was sentenced to death, and executed in Aversa by a 12-man firing squad at 0800 hours on 1 December 1945. The execution was photographed on black and white still and movie cameras. Immediately after the execution Dostler's body was lifted onto a stretcher, shrouded inside a white cotton mattress cover, and driven away in an army truck. His body was buried in Grave 93/95 of Section H at Pomezia German War Cemetery.

Of the Nazi war criminals to be executed by the U.S. military, Dostler was one of only two who were shot instead of hanged. The other exception was Curt Bruns.

title: Anton Dostler


text:
New Era Party

The New Era Party (Jaunais laiks, JL) was a centre-right political party in Latvia. Founded in 2002, the party merged with Civic Union and Society for Other Politics to form Unity in 2011.

New Era was a member of the European People's Party (EPP), and its MEPs sat in the European People's Party group (previously EPP-ED).

History
New Era was founded on 2 February 2002 by Einars Repše, a politician and central banker who was very popular at that time. Originally, most of the party candidates were political unknowns led by Repše.

In its first election campaign, New Era promised to combat corruption and tax evasion. According to New Era promises, eliminating tax evasion would increase Latvia's state budget by 400 million Latvian lats (about 750 million United States dollars), allowing for increased funding for a variety of programs and also for tax cuts. Running on this platform, the party won 23.9% of the popular vote and 26 out of 100 seats in the 2002 legislative election and became the largest party in the Saeima, the parliament of Latvia. It formed a coalition government with 3 other parties, with the New Era leader Einars Repše as the prime minister. In January 2004, the coalition fell apart and Repše resigned.

New Era was in the opposition until October 2004, when it joined a coalition government led by Aigars Kalvītis of the People's Party. It left the coalition after a vote-buying scandal in the Jūrmala municipal elections which involved one of its coalition partners, the Latvia's First Party. The New Era Party first requested Latvia's First Party to leave the coalition. After Latvia's First Party and prime minister Kalvītis refused this demand, all New Era ministers resigned on 13 April 2006. In the October 2006 parliamentary elections, the New Era party won 18 seats. After the elections it did not rejoin the coalition government. Despite its significant losses, it became the largest opposition party.

Repše has lost most of his popularity, due to a sequence of scandals, but remains one of the party leaders. In March 2007, the party established a new structure, in which it had two leaders: Einars Repše and Arturs Krisjanis Karins. Arturs Krisjanis Karins is a United States citizen, born in the United States to a Latvian family.

In 2008, prominent MPs and members of the board—Ina Druviete, Karlis Sadurskis, Ilma Cepane and Sandra Kalniete—left the New Era to create Civic Union. Its leadership resigned, and Solvita Aboltina and Artis Kampars became new leaders. The chairman of the New Era parliamentary faction is Dzintars Zakis.

In March 2009, New Era Party member Valdis Dombrovskis, who served as finance minister from 2002 to 2004, became Prime Minister, bringing the New Era Party to the leadership of a 4-party, center-right coalition government.

On 6 August 2011, it merged with two other parties to form the new political party Unity.

Ideology
The New Era Party had strong populist leanings and derived most of its appeal from positioning itself as the main anti-corruption force in Latvian politics. New Era supporters characterized most of the other political parties as corrupt and controlled by oligarchs. As a result, New Era had very strained relations with most of the other political parties, which made a considerable effort to leave New Era in opposition whenever possible.

On ethnic issues, New Era tended to be somewhat nationalist. Its economic positions were uncertain and have changed over time. Its original platform in 2002 included radical free-market reforms in health care and education, such as replacing government-funded higher education by student loans.

title: New Era Party


text:
Black Canyon

Black Canyon may refer to:
 * Black Canyon of the Colorado, a canyon on the Colorado River
 * Black Canyon City, Arizona, a census-designated place in Yavapai County, Arizona, United States
 * Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, a United States National Park located in western Colorado
 * Black Canyon of the Yellowstone, a canyon on the Yellowstone River in Yellowstone National Park
 * Black Canyon Freeway, the portion of Interstate 17 in Phoenix, Arizona
 * Black Canyon (Fraser Canyon) or Big Canyon, a stretch of the Fraser Canyon near Boston Bar, British Columbia
 * Black Canyon (Thompson River), a stretch of the Thompson River near Ashcroft, British Columbia
 * Black Star Canyon, a remote mountain canyon in the Santa Ana Mountains

title: Black Canyon


text:
Wikipedia talk:Selected anniversaries/March 24

 * 1965 - NASA spacecraft Ranger 9, equipped to convert its signals into a form suitable for showing on domestic television, brought images of the Moon into ordinary homes before crash-landing.
 * Needs wikifying.-- PFHLai 06:56, 2005 Mar 22 (UTC)

 * 1989 - Exxon Valdez oil spill: In Alaska's Prince William Sound the Exxon Valdez spills 240,000 barrels (11 million gallons) of oil after running aground.
 * 1999 - NATO launches air strikes in Yugoslavia which was refusing to sign a peace treaty. This marks the first time NATO has attacked a sovereign country.
 * 2001 - Apple Computer releases Mac OS X version 10.0.

2012 notes
— howcheng  {chat} 06:47, 23 March 2012 (UTC)
 * Moved to Ineligible: Dirty War (maintenance)
 * Omitted: James VI and I; Titokowaru's War; Mycobacterium tuberculosis/Tuberculosis; Óscar Romero; Bhutanese general election, 2008
 * Included: Brandenburg concertos (first appearance); Sakuradamon incident (1860) (first appearance); McMahon murders (first appearance); Nanjing incident (first appearance); Stalag Luft III (5th appearance, last in 2010; rescued from Ineligible)

2013 notes
— howcheng  {chat} 05:57, 23 March 2013 (UTC)
 * Omitted: Sakuradamon Incident (1860); McMahon murders; Stalag Luft III
 * Included: Titokowaru's War (2nd appearance, last in 2011); Mycobacterium tuberculosis/Tuberculosis (bacterium: first appearance; TB: 8th appearance, last in 2011); Exxon Valdez oil spill (7th appearance, last in 2010)
 * Repeats: Brandenburg concertos (2nd consecutive appearance, 2 total); Nanking Incident (2nd consecutive appearance, 2 total)

2014 notes
— howcheng  {chat} 07:25, 23 March 2014 (UTC)
 * Omitted: Brandenburg concertos; Mycobacterium tuberculosis/Tuberculosis; Nanking Incident
 * Included: James VI and I (9th appearance, last in 2011); Ardeatine massacre (first appearance; 70th anniversary); Bhutanese National Assembly election, 2008 (2nd appearance, last in 2011)
 * Repeats: Titokowaru's War (2nd consecutive appearance, 3 total); Exxon Valdez (2nd consecutive appearance, 8 total; 25th anniversary)

2015 notes
— howcheng  {chat} 07:13, 22 March 2015 (UTC)
 * Moved to Ineligible: Brandenburg Concertos (maintenance); McMahon killings (maintenance)
 * Omitted: James VI and I; Titokowaru's War; Ardeatine massacre; Bhutanese National Assembly election, 2008
 * Included: Sakuradamon Incident (1860) (2nd appearance, last in 2012); Mycobacterium tuberculosis/Tuberculosis (bacterium: 2nd appearance; TB: 9th appearance; both last in 2013); Nanking Incident (3rd appearance, last in 2013); Stalag Luft III (6th appearance, last in 2012)
 * Repeats: Exxon Valdez oil spill (3rd consecutive appearance, 9 total)

2016 / Cowherd death
I offer the Cowherd death to bring back the earliest date and to add variety. I can see that it's not a major event at the time, and that that counts against it.

Although it *is* a minor death at the time, it's important in the development of a significant [edit: global] social movement (vegetarianism). And it's also an interesting, quirky, piece of history.

His followers are also important in the Salford liberal culture - they helped found the Guardian newspaper, opposed the slave trade, founded a municipal graveyard, etc. So though he's not a household name, his life had ripple effects.

Anyway, I thought I'd create a talk page section so that you know where it came from, and it was offered in good faith. Ian McDonald (talk) 00:48, 2 February 2016 (UTC)
 * The article does not mention the date of his death. --BorgQueen (talk) 01:29, 2 February 2016 (UTC)
 * Of course. Thanks for explaining your revert here. I'd independently realised it and added it, with more info about his burial and inscription, before I got your revert notification. Ian McDonald (talk) 15:10, 2 February 2016 (UTC)
 * (Just so that User talk:BorgQueen gets a notification) Ian McDonald (talk) 14:40, 11 February 2016 (UTC)

2016 notes
— howcheng  {chat} 07:46, 22 March 2016 (UTC)
 * Deleted: Direct rule (wrong date)
 * Moved to Ineligible: Ardeatine massacre (maintenance)
 * Omitted: Sakuradamon Incident (1860); Mycobacterium tuberculosis/Tuberculosis; Nanking Incident; Stalag Luft III; Exxon Valdez oil spill
 * Included: James VI and I (10th appearance, last in 2014); Titokowaru's War (4th appearance, last in 2014); Tydings–McDuffie Act (first appearance); Germanwings Flight 9525 (first appearance)
 * Repeats: Exxon Valdez oil spill (4th consecutive appearance, 10 total)

2017 notes
— howcheng  {chat} 06:37, 24 March 2017 (UTC)
 * Moved to Ineligible: Nanking Incident (maintenance); Stalag Luft III (maintenance)
 * Omitted: James VI and I; Tītokowaru's War; Germanwings Flight 9525
 * Included: Sakuradamon Incident (1860) (3rd appearance, last in 2015); Mycobacterium tuberculosis/Tuberculosis (Mycobacterium: 3rd appearance; Tuberculosis: 10th appearance; both last in 2015); Bhutanese National Assembly election, 2008 (3rd appearance, last in 2014); William Morris (first appearance); Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (first appearance); David Irving (first appearance)
 * Repeats: Tydings–McDuffie Act (2nd consecutive appearance, 2 total); Exxon Valdez oil spill (5th consecutive appearance, 11 total)

2018 notes
— howcheng  {chat} 05:56, 24 March 2018 (UTC)
 * Rescued from Ineligible (unused): McMahon killings
 * New articles (unused): Jessica Chastain (TFA for 2018)
 * Omitted: Mycobacterium tuberculosis/Tuberculosis; Exxon Valdez oil spill; William Morris; Henry Wadsworth Longfellow; David Irving
 * Included: James VI and I (11th appearance, last in 2016); 1921 Women's Olympiad (first appearance); Wulfred (first appearance); Fanny Crosby (first appearance); Maria Radner (first appearance)
 * Repeats: Sakuradamon Incident (1860) (2nd consecutive appearance, 4 total); Tydings–McDuffie Act (3rd consecutive appearance, 3 total); Bhutanese National Assembly election, 2008 (2nd consecutive appearance, 4 total; 10th anniversary)

2019 notes
— howcheng  {chat} 15:58, 25 March 2019 (UTC)
 * Deleted: Commonwealth of the Philippines (already appears on November 15 and we have a separate blurb for Tydings–McDuffie Act); Tītokowaru's War (wrong date and the date in the article is not cited)
 * Rescued from Ineligible (unused): Óscar Romero
 * New articles (unused): Rough Wooing
 * Omitted: James VI and I; Sakuradamon Incident (1860); 1921 Women's Olympiad; Tydings–McDuffie Act; 2008 Bhutanese National Assembly election; Wulfred; Fanny Crosby; Maria Radner
 * Included: Tuberculosis (11th appearance, last in 2017; blurb also previously featured Mycobacterium tuberculosis, which is currently ineligible); McMahon killings (2nd appearance, last in 2012); Dirty War (3rd appearance, last in 2010; rescued from Ineligible); Exxon Valdez oil spill (12th appearance, last in 2017; 30th anniversary); Elizabeth Ridgeway (first appearance); Lorna Hodgkinson (2nd appearance, last in 2017; previously appeared on May 13, her birthday); Jessica Chastain (first appearance; rescued from Ineligible)

2020 notes
— howcheng  {chat} 15:59, 25 March 2020 (UTC)
 * Moved to Ineligible: Germanwings Flight 9525 (maintenance)
 * Omitted: Tuberculosis; McMahon killings; Dirty War; Exxon Valdez oil spill; Elizabeth Ridgeway; Lorna Hodgkinson (deleted as already featured elsewhere); Jessica Chastain
 * Included: Rough Wooing (first appearance); Tītokowaru's War (5th appearance, last in 2016; restored to page after date verified); 1946 Cabinet Mission to India (first appearance); Óscar Romero (2nd appearance, last in 2011; 40th anniversary); 2008 Bhutanese National Assembly election (5th appearance, last in 2018); Catherine of Vadstena (first appearance); Fanny Crosby (2nd appearance, last in 2018; 200th birthday); Kitty O'Neil (first appearance)

2021 notes
— howcheng  {chat} 06:44, 26 March 2021 (UTC)
 * Moved to Ineligible: Dirty War (maintenance)
 * Omitted: Rough Wooing; Tītokowaru's War; 1946 Cabinet Mission to India; Óscar Romero; 2008 Bhutanese National Assembly election; Kitty O'Neil
 * Included: James VI and I (12th appearance, last in 2018); Sakuradamon Incident (1860) (5th appearance, last in 2018); Tuberculosis (12th appearance, last in 2019); 1921 Women's Olympiad (2nd appearance, last in 2018; 100th anniversary); Exxon Valdez oil spill (13th appearance, last in 2019); E. T. Whittaker (first appearance)
 * Repeats: Catherine of Vadstena (2nd consecutive appearance, 2 total); Fanny Crosby (2nd consecutive appearance, 3 total)

2022 notes
— howcheng  {chat} 02:48, 25 March 2022 (UTC)
 * Omitted: James VI and I; Sakuradamon Incident (1860); Tuberculosis; 1921 Women's Olympiad; Exxon Valdez oil spill; Catherine of Vadstena; Fanny Crosby; E. T. Whittaker
 * Included: Tītokowaru's War (6th appearance, last in 2020); Winton Motor Carriage Company (2nd appearance, last in 2004; rescued from Ineligible); McMahon killings (3rd appearance, last in 2019; 100th anniversary); Tydings–McDuffie Act (4th appearance, last in 2018); Óscar Romero (3rd appearance, last in 2020); Hugh III of Cyprus (first appearance); Antoine-Henri Jomini (first appearance); Rudra Rajasingham (first appearance)


text:
Kolpashevo

Kolpashevo (Колпа́шево) is a town and the administrative center of Kolpashevsky District in Tomsk Oblast, Russia, located on the Ob River. Population:

History
It has existed since the beginning of the 17th century as a village. Town status was granted to it in 1938.

Mass grave
During the Great Purge, Kolpashevo was the site of mass executions carried out by the NKVD, with the corpses of those executed being disposed of in mass graves. In May 1979 meandering of the Ob river caused a mass grave containing more than 1,000 mummified corpses to become exposed. A number of cover-stories were issued by the local government, first that these bones were cattle bones, and then that these were the bodies of deserters from the Second World War. Instead most of the bodies were people from Tomsk. Yegor Ligachev, the provincial party chief, took charge of a cover-up operation to destroy the mass grave using tugs, and used the KGB to coerce local people to dispose of the corpses by sinking them, although some corpses turned up in the sluiceway of a sawmill downstream, mixed with logs floated downstream.

Administrative and municipal status
Within the framework of administrative divisions, Kolpashevo serves as the administrative center of Kolpashevsky District, to which it is directly subordinated. As a municipal division, the town of Kolpashevo, together with three rural localities, is incorporated within Kolpashevsky Municipal District as Kolpashevskoye Urban Settlement.

Transportation
The town is served by the Kolpashevo Airport.

Climate
Kolpashevo has a subarctic climate (Köppen climate classification Dfc), with very cold winters and warm summers. Precipitation is moderate and is somewhat higher in summer than at other times of the year.

title: Kolpashevo


text:
Interstate 335

Interstate 335 may refer to:
 * Interstate 335 (Iowa), a designation once proposed by city leaders in Carlisle and Des Moines, Iowa for the Des Moines Bypass
 * Interstate 335 (Kansas), a spur to Topeka, Kansas and designation for part of the Kansas Turnpike
 * Interstate 335 (Minnesota), a never-built spur in Minneapolis, Minnesota
 * Interstate 335 (Oklahoma), the designation for the Kickapoo Turnpike

title: Interstate 335


text:
Sinter

Sinter may refer to:

 * Sinter plant, in which iron-ore dust gets mixed with other fine materials at high temperature, to create a product – sinter – for use in a blast furnace
 * Sintering, a high temperature process for fusing powder together
 * Calcareous sinter, calcium carbonate deposited by springs
 * Siliceous sinter, silica deposited by hot springs and geysers
 * Sinter, a racecar constructed by Fluid Motorsport Development

title: Sinter