Details of the air and cruise missile strikes against targets in Afghanistan and the diplomatic preparation for the attack by Andrew Koch.

"The administration of President George Bush requested $20 billion, but lawmakers proposed doubling that amount to pay for disaster relief and readying the military for possible action."

Luke Hill. "Deputy US Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz, during an informal meeting of NATO defence ministers in Brussels on 26 September, stopped short of providing proof that the terror attacks on New York and Washington constituted an attack from abroad. He instead focused on developing a multi-dimensional response to which allies and non-allies can contribute."

"Missile strikes can cause havoc to military installations and concentrations of troops; they are useless against scattered groups of terrorists."

"Israel's military intelligence service, Aman, suspects that Iraq is the state that sponsored the suicide attacks on the New York Trade Center and the Pentagon in Washington. Directing the mission, Aman officers believe, were two of the world's foremost terrorist masterminds: the Lebanese Imad Mughniyeh, head of the special overseas operations for Hizbullah, and the Egyptian Dr Ayman Al Zawahiri, senior member of Al-Qaeda and possible successor of the ailing Osama Bin Laden."

"As the United States plans its military response to last week's terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, the role of Pakistan - and the position of the country's unelected military leader, General Pervez Musharraf - have become key questions."

Summarizes recent intelligence and analysis regarding potential terrorism against the United States.

"As one very well-informed source close to US intelligence told JID, 'The main problem is not a lack of information - that comes in all the time - but that we simply don't have sufficient skilled operatives capable of analysing the intelligence we receive in a timely manner and identifying those who pose a real risk to our interests.'"

"Back in March Moscow's Permanent Mission at the UN submitted to the UN Security Council an unprecedentedly detailed report on Al-Qaeda's terrorist infrastructure in Afghanistan, but the US government opted not to act." Special issue available for purchase online.

"The genesis, operational methods and organisational structure of the Bin Laden network: Al-Qaeda."

Ed Blanche. "It may be that the USA would find it prudent to go after al-Zawahiri first if it wants to eliminate the enemy it has identified. Indeed, the genesis of what the USA thinks it is coming to grips with may well lie more in Egypt than in Saudi Arabia."

"Al-Qaeda's operations are not carried out by one group led by one person, but are rather conducted by different groups with support and guidance from Al-Qaeda."

The threat, characteristics, motivation, modus operandi, likely developments, state responses and the growing threat.

"Above all, it will remain to be seen if an overwhelming US response to the horrendous acts on 11 September will destroy Bin Ladin or merely sow the seeds for further martyrs to follow him."

"Suicide attacks serve other purposes besides inflicting damage. First, they generate the maximum amount of publicity for the cause, and second, they force outside intervention."

"Includes: Harakat-ul Mujahideen (HuM); Jaish-e Mohammad (JeM); Lashkar-e Tayyiba (LeT); Hizb-ul Mujahideen (HM); Al Badr. In the past, Harakat ul-Ansar (HUA) acted as an umbrella organisation, although after the formation of JeM an estimated three quarters of HUA members defected to the new group."

Nick Cook. "Rumsfeld's comments raise the spectre of a prolonged conflict, but they also point towards a careful double-edged strategy, analysts believe, comprising a comprehensive military build-up backed by a barely perceptible psychological operations offensive, designed to throw the enemy off-guard and to maximise the effects of US and allied military action when it takes place."

"An initial prime suspect behind the terrorist onslaught on the US, the most devastating such attack the world has ever seen, is Osama bin Laden, the terrorist mastermind who resides in Afghanistan."

Richard Engel, Cairo and Amman. "While there were many heroes and martyrs in the Afghan war, which was supported by US intelligence as part of its battle against communism, many of the mujahideen rallied around three main people: charismatic Saudi financier Osama bin Laden, blind cleric Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman and intelligent technocrat Dr Ayman al-Zawahari."

Rahul Bedi in New Delhi. The connection between Pakistan and the Kashmir militants.

"NATO for the first time invoked its Article Five mutual defence provision on Wednesday under which the attack was to be considered an attack against the entire 19-member alliance."

Rahul Bedi in New Delhi, with Scott Gourley and Peter Felstead. Logistical problems of fighting during the Afghan winter.

"Commentators were saying in the aftermath of the attack that the Pentagon's current location and layout should no longer remain."

Rahul Bedi in New Delhi. Backgrounder. "'The concern now for General Musharraf is whether the ISI will remain loyal to him and provide the US with credible information or continue to pursue its aims of ensuing the Taliban's continuance in Kabul,' said one intelligence officer."

"The origins of last Tuesday's attack on the United States arguably have their roots in the 1970s."

Discusses the difference between breeding disease cultures and the creation of biological and chemical weapons.