Seven security staff at Chicago's O'Hare airport have been fired following the arrest of a man who almost succeeded in getting seven knives, a Taser stun gun, and a can of Mace on to a flight to Omaha on Saturday night.
Mr Subash Gurung, a 27-year-old Tibetan living in the city, had surrendered two folding knives at the main baggage security point, and had been allowed to proceed to the departure lounge where a random search of his carry-on bag revealed the weapons. He was released on bail after being charged with minor offences but has been re-arrested by the FBI and faces more significant federal charges. He claims to have forgotten he was carrying the knives.
The failure to spot the weapons initially, and his subsequent release have raised serious questions about the company employing the checkers, Atlanta-based Argenbright Security, which was already criticised for lax procedures, and will feed into the row in Congress over whether airport security staff should all be on the public payroll.
But the incident took on a yet more ominous aspect when it became clear Mr Gurung previously lived in a flat complex where Mr Ayub Ali Khan once lived. Mr Khan was detained on a train with box cutters the day after September 11th and has been held by authorities as a material witness. It is unclear whether he knew Mr Gurung.
The US bombing of Afghanistan intensified yesterday, predominantly around Kabul, Kandahar and Mazar-e-Sharif, as special forces spotters open up new targets. Rear Admiral John Stufflebeem, briefing journalists at the Pentagon, said the damage inflicted on Taliban lines was "substantial".
He could not elaborate, he said, beyond observing that in several positions it took Taliban troops days to re-emerge and respond following the raids.
He said the willingness of the opposition to talk about advancing was also a sign of the effectiveness of the air campaign.
The Admiral confirmed the presence of US assessors in Tajik airbases and that the US would like to establish northern, and closer access to Afghanistan. Agreement is reported to have been reached with the government for US use of the bases for offensive operations.
Admiral Stufflebeem rejected the description in the latest New Yorker of a raid by Delta Forces on October 20th on the Kandahar home of Mullah Omar, the Taliban leader. The magazine claimed the raid had ended in a fierce firefight, a rapid unplanned extraction of the troops, 12 of whom had been wounded, and in the subsequent review of commando raids as a tactic.
Although the Pentagon admitted the raid did not produce the hoped-for intelligence, it insisted that none of the injured were hurt in battle and the Admiral said the exchange had been light. The forces were taken out, he said, in a planned way, "not a hasty retreat".
Over the weekend there were three further reports of anthrax contamination of premises, but all three were very minor and no new human cases were found.
Two post office mail boxes, on a commercial concourse inside the Pentagon tested positive for anthrax, Pentagon officials said yesterday.
Tests also uncovered small traces of anthrax in a Veterans Affairs hospital. Both the latter sites are served by the Brentwood postal facility, suggesting contamination from the highly volatile anthrax in the letter to the Senate Majority leader, Mr Tom Daschle.
Meanwhile the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota has announced the development of a new DNA test for anthrax in the bloodstream which, the clinic claims, will allow local rapid testing within the hour of those with suspected infections.
