National update

• President Bush issued a broadly worded executive order Tuesday allowing the use of special military courts to try suspected terrorists. People designated as terrorists shall be ""placed under the control of the Secretary of Defense,"" who will have ""exclusive jurisdiction"" over them. They may not seek the aid of ""any court of the United States,"" nor of ""any court of any foreign nation or any international tribunal,"" the order says.
• The United Nations' top Afghan envoy presented the Security Council with a blueprint for a transitional government in Afghanistan Tuesday and asked members to consider dispatching a multinational force to protect it. The plan would establish a provisional council to select leaders of an interim government, which in turn would produce a national security plan, outline a program for a two-year political transition and draft a new constitution. Its actions would then be endorsed by a loyal jirga, a traditional gathering of ethnic and religious leaders.