Sidelights.(political newsbites )

Norwegian rock band Taliban Airways marked the anniversary of 9/11 with a concert entitled Hit Another Tower.... In her September 11, 2002 sermon, Presbyterian minister Gretchen Graf, of Grand Forks, North Dakota said that the 9/11 hijackers committed "an act of faith and courage, a carefully planned statement against what they saw as the evils of a corrupt and oppressive nation. They were willing to give their lives so that the world would see their outrage." At a morning prayer service, Harvard president Larry Summers told the audience that while "anti-Semitism and views that are profoundly anti-Israeli have traditionally been the primary preserve of poorly educated rightwing populists, profoundly anti-Israel views are increasingly finding support in progressive intellectual communities. Serious and thoughtful people are advocating and taking actions that are anti-Semitic in their effect if not their intent."

Jesse Jackson told Baltimore radio audiences that to get Saddam Hussein, America is "going to have to kill a lot of innocent people.... It's reminiscent of biblical times--killing all those children to get to Jesus." ... Iraqi-born teenager Hussein Mohammed told London's Daily Telegraph that he was "against Saddam because he doesn't have a heart for any people. I think he should be attacked. I'd rather have America than Saddam." He was quoted while marching in a European anti-war rally. According to a report in Time, American Taliban John Walker Lindh took homosexual sex romps with his Muslim comrades. ... An English Islamic group issued a death fatwa against playwright Terrence McNally because the London stage production of his play Corpus Christi depicts Jesus Christ as a homosexual. At a press conference in Rome, Steven Spielberg told reporters that "If Bush ... has reliable information on the fact that Saddam Hussein is making weapons of mass destruction, I cannot not support the policies of his government." ... Actress Jessica Lange told Spanish audiences she hates President Bush. "I despise him ...