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United States increases terrorism alert level
By Benny Poosawtse
Staff Writer
FILE PHOTO
An alert level of orange requires that there be increased security at major U.S. landmarks.
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The federal government put the nation on a higher level of terrorist threat alert on Feb. 7. The terrorist alert status was raised from the yellow “elevated risk” level to the orange “high risk” level, the first time this has been done since a two-week period in September of last year.
President George W. Bush made the decision after receiving regular briefings from the FBI and CIA and recommendations from Attorney General John Ashcroft and Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge. The possibility of attacks were partially based on electronic surveillance of terrorist suspects and interviews with apprehended Al Qaeda operatives.
Another cause of concern for U.S. officials was that attacks could coincide with the annual Muslim haj, or time of pilgrimage to Mecca. The five-day haj began on Sunday.
The color-coded alert system was instituted after Sept. 11, 2001. Orange is the second highest alert status. The highest one, red, indicates an imminent or ongoing attack. The recent decision to put the status at orange was “based on specific intelligence received and analyzed by the full intelligence community,” Ashcroft said at a news conference according to The New York Times.
At the same conference, Ridge said, “We are not recommending that events be canceled or travel or other plans be changed. We do recommend that individuals and families in the days ahead take some time to prepare for an emergency,” according to The New York Times.
When asked how long he anticipated the threat level staying at orange, Ashcroft said it depended on information and activity of potential terrorists, according to The New York Times.
New York City and Washington, D.C., the two targets of the Sept. 11 2001 attacks, were put on special notice, with a warning of possible attacks on Jewish sites. According to The New York Times, New York City itself has been on orange alert ever since the Sept. 11 attacks.
Security in the city’s public areas has been stepped up. Police guarded places like the Times Square train station, the Plaza Hotel, and the Tiffany & Co. jewelry store. Traffic on roads and subways was sparser than normal.
On Monday, the Transportation Department began requiring planes flying below 18,000 feet within a 30-mile radius of Washington, D.C., to file a flight plan and be in constant contact with air traffic controllers.
On the ground, 14 continuously running cameras have been installed around town. Thel move has caused some city leaders to suggest that the cameras could be used to silence legitimate protests, according to The Washington Post.
Gene Voegtlin, legal counsel for the Association of Chiefs of Police in Alexandria, Va., said that most cities were not significantly changing their security tactics. “How you catch a drug dealer is the same way you catch a terrorist. You work with your community and you look for people who don’t belong,” Voegtlin said according to The New York Times.
FBI Director Robert Mueller said, “We believe that an alert public is our strongest asset,” according to The Washington Post.
Speculation exists as to whether the alert level was political.
Mary Mortimer of Oakland, Calif., said, according to The New York Times, “I feel Washington is using the alert to say, ‘Hey look, it’s OK to invade Iraq.’”
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