Chicago Tribune from Chicago, Illinois • 61

Chicago tribune SECTION 5 WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 17, 2001 FN then I hat was i a ROCK REVIEW U2 still providing rockingly spiritual balm for the masses By Greg Kot Tribune rock critic After the events of Sept. 11, the stakes have been raised for touring rock bands. And U2 never a band to shy away from a major challenge brought the goods Monday in the first of two sold-out performances at the United Center. On a superficial level, the show was much like the four concerts the Irish quartet performed in Chicago last spring: the heart-shaped stage, the band's entrance with the house lights up, a tautly paced two-hour set with some songs snuffled in the middle section. But the world is a very different place, and the need for great art, meaningful art has deepened considerably.

In other words, we need bands like U2, and the feeling, it seems, is mutual: "We feel very blessed to be on a tour at this time in the United States," Bono said. U2's songs have always addressed the big subjects: war and peace, love and betrayal, sin and faith. And those themes once so easy to take for granted only a few months ago resonated more deeply than ever for an audience clearly starved for some sort of spiritual sustenance. In the '80s, U2's penchant for the grandiose was unparalleled, as Bono waved white flags and climbed rafters in death-defying feats of ego, ambition and passion. But on Monday, the singer tempered his gestures, and they rang louder than ever.

When a member of the audience handed him an American flag midway through "Sunday Bloody Sunday," one half-expected the singer to troop around the building waving it. It would have been an easy applausevinning gambit, but Bono instead clutched the flag tightly for a few seconds while singing the lines, "Wipe your tears away," and then gently handed it back. Bob Greene Don't say that we weren't forewarned Maybe we shouldn't be so confident that things are really going to change. Maybe we shouldn't pat ourselves on the back quite so heartily as we tell ourselves that now we truly understand the severity of the dangers, and now we are willing to sacrifice our free-and-easy way of living in the name of protecting our society. Why should we remain a little skeptical, even in these terrible days? Consider this.

Diane M. Kezerle, a secretary with the Arthur Andersen accounting firm, was doing some research on a personal project at the Joliet Public Library, near her home. She was going through some microfilmed copies of the Joliet Herald-News the item she was looking for was in the paper of Sunday, Sept. 27, 1970. As she was looking at the old film of the newspaper, she noticed another story, near the one she was interested in.

The headline of this unrelated story caught her eye: "Bulletproof Cock- pit Doors Asked to vf 'I don't know why no one acted. Thwart Hijackers." The story, written by the Copley News Service, had a Washington dateline. Remember, this was 1970. It began: It was a supremely moving moment because it was done with such understated grace. Then Bono and the Edge broke into a seemingly impromptu but timely version of the Three Degrees' 1974 soul hit "When Will I See You Again." PLEASE SEE U2, PAGE 2 this is now coalition to help the nation avenge the Sept.

11 terrorist attacks. Former foes such as Russia and Uzbekistan suddenly became best buddies while, conversely, a former 1980s pal such as bin Laden was transformed into an adversary, having earned that status in the 1990s by supporting and directing terrorism. Hussein was our friend in 1980 when he opposed our enemy, Iran, but became our enemy a decade later when he invaded our friend, Kuwait Positing terrorism as the No. 1 enemy, the United States has been wheeling and dealing with regimes that, under other circumstances, we might find unsavory. Instead of wagging a finger in their faces with disapproval, we're crooking that same finger in a summoning gesture: Come, join us.

We need you. In our courtship of the Northern Alliance, the rebels who oppose Afghanistan's ruling Taliban party, the United States risks creating another Al Qaeda, the terrorist group masterminded by bin Laden. PLEASE SEE ENEMIES, PAGE 5 You can't tell our allies without a scorecard or, more accurately, a calendar By Julia Keller Tribune cultural critic If a modern Rip Van Winkle nodded off in 1980 and suddenly woke up, he might inquire were he of a political turn of mind about the fate of that brave freedom fighter, Osama bin Laden, or those nasty villains, the Russians. He might wonder about the health of that nice chap, Saddam Hussein, or of those wily, untrustworthy folks in Uzbekistan. What a difference a decade or two makes.

In the steps leading up to the current bombardment of Afghanistan, American diplomats hurriedly built a Tribune photo by Nuccio DiNuzzo U2 lead singer Bono gets a different view of the United Center on Monday. "Airline pilots have demanded bulletproof cockpit doors and bulkheads to thwart would-be aerial hijackers." The story reported that Charles Ruby, president of the Airline Pilots Association, had written to the Federal Aviation Administration asking for "action now" to protect passengers and flight crews. He said what was needed were bulletproof partitions separating the cockpits from the cabins, bulletproof doors with electromagnetic locks, bulletproof windows, and a sliding panel in the cockpit doors so pilots could use defensive devices. The news story said that "almost every incident of air violence has seen a demand to enter the flight deck and to confer with the captain." By making it impossible, or at least extremely difficult, for a hijacker to get into the cockpit, the story quoted the pilots' official as saying, the FAA and the airlines could avoid situations in which violence toward the cockpit crew could lead to tragedy. As Diane Kezerle read this 31-year-old news story she had stumbled upon, she said, she "was just heartbroken.

All that time ago, the pilots knew this was necessary. If the terrorists on Sept. 11 had not been able to gain access to the cockpit, the pilots could have steered those planes away from the buildings, and saved all those lives. "I don't know why no one acted on these suggestions," Kezerle said. "Was it a matter of economics? Was it matter of airline safety going out of the news when something else came up? I don't know if anyone has the answers, but 31 years ago, the pilots were telling the government what needed to be done." The pilots' proposal was quite detailed right down to the kind of equipment best for communicating with the passenger cabin from behind the locked cockpit door, and the type of hinge pins that should be used on the door for safety reasons.

In their letter Mur. hue Book No. 2: Let the debate begin By Patrick T. Reardon Tribune staff reporter And now the question is: What's next? Over the past two months, tens of thousands of Chicagoans and their suburban neighbors read Harper Lee's classic "To Kill a Mockingbird" together and discussed it. Now, as members of a new metropolitan-wide book club, they want to know what the second selection will be.

And many don't want to wait another 12 months for the club to meet. Well, they probably won't have to. At the urging of Mayor Richard M. Daley, Library Saddam Hussein The United States, still reeling from the 1979 seizure of American hostages in Iran, gave a green light to Iraq's Saddam Hussein when he invaded Iran in 1980, initiating a vicious, eight-year battle between the two countries. Manuel Noriega The United States allegedly was pleased when Noriega, a former CIA operative, took over the leadership of Panama in 1983 from Gen.

OmarTorrijos. Lessons of tolerance, injustice. PAGE 3 Commissioner Mary Dempsey said she is strongly considering making the library system's One Book, One Chicago project a twice-a-year event, with one book for the spring and another for the fall. (Since Dempsey is appointed by Daley and serves at Saddam Hussein Hussein's invasion of Kuwait in 1990 ignited the Gulf War, and the Iraqi leader was instantly branded an enemy of the United States. His belligerent stance since the war has engendered continued economic and military reprisals.

Manuel Noriega The relationship soured by 1988, when Noriega was indicted on racketeering and drug charges by the U.S. Surrendering after a 1989 U.S. invasion of Panama, he was convicted in 1992 and is serving a 40-year term in Miami. Augusto Pinochet After stepping down in 1990, Pinochet was accused of torturing his citizens and of condoning a 1 976 terrorist act against his foes on American soil. He was arrested in London in 1 998 and returned to Chile, where he awaits trial.

Fidel Castro By 1961, the U.S. government had severed diplomatic ties with Castro because of his Communist agenda, whose true outlines came to light only after his ascension to power. his pleasure, two books a year is probably a done deal.) And the title of the next book? That's still up in the air. "Mockingbird" was chosen June 1 by a small committee of librarians. It was only later, Dempsey insists, that the librarians realized Lee's novel was Daley's favorite book.

As last multitude of "Mockingbird" readings, events and discussions wound down, Dempsey said she is open to suggestions for the next selection, I Hi i til 1 and anyone can send proposed titles to her by e-mail (at lbookw chipublib.org) or regular mail (at the Harold Washington Library Center, 400 S. State PLEASE SEE BOOK, PAGE 4 to the FAA, the pilots said, "the materials required are currently available, lightweight and relatively inexpensive. The technology is available and extensive modification is not necessary." Kezerle kept looking through the microfilms; she found another story published the same month Sept. 26, 1970 in which then-Secretary of Transportation John A. Volpe and then-FBI Director J.

Edgar Hoover announced that hundreds of armed FBI and Treasury agents, along with FAA air marshals and trained military personnel, would be riding on U.S. flights to make sure passengers were safe. Volpe said that, in addition to the armed air marshals, "the most important single thing would be preventing a potential hijacker from ever getting on an airplane." Thirty-one years ago, they apparently knew what was necessary. And yet, 31 Septembers later. The Airline Pilots Association, in its 1970 letter to the FAA, said that for the protection of passengers, crews and the American public, no halfway measures should be acceptable, and that the U.S.

government must be "the international leader in security measures." Otherwise, the pilots of 1970 said, hijackers could do something to the cockpit crews that would "mean certain disaster for all aboard the airplane." Rob Greene comments on the news of the day Thursdays on the "WGN ifews at Nine. INSIDE TEMPO Augusto Pinochet Pinochet led the 1973 military junta in Chile that toppled the freely elected socialist government of Salvador Allende, reportedly with the support of the U.S., especially the CIA. It was one of the activities that led Congress to rein in the CIA. Fidel Castro Castro has led Cuba since 1 959, the year he and his supporters ousted the dictator Fulgencio Batista, allegedly with an approving nod from the U.S. At the time of his victory, Castro was a popular favorite among U.S.

leaders and the American public. Josef Stalin With Adolf Hitler threatening Europe in World War II, Stalin was a valuable friend to the U.S. Stalin himself had once been Hitler's chum, but was shocked when the Nazi leader turned on him by ordering the military invasion of Russia. X' Ji' -if r- 1 THEATER REVIEWS She's come undone Performance poet cin salach stars in the innovative "Undone" at About Face Theater. PAGE 3 A time of crisis A community in turmoil scapegoats some of its own in Arthur Miller's "The Crucible" at TimeLlne Theatre.

PAGE 3 Josef Stalin Shortly after the end of the war, the Soviet Union's military ambitions became clear and Stalin was suddenly an enemy. The Cold War between the U.S. and the Soviet Union had begun..