Tom Ridge: Terror threat imminent

[duck]

Nation's Threat Level Rising to Orange



By JENNIFER C. KERR, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON - The government on Sunday raised the national threat level to orange, the second-highest, saying attacks were possible during the holidays and that threat indicators are "perhaps greater now than at any point" since Sept. 11, 2001.

"Extensive and considerable protections have been or soon will be in place all across the country," Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge said at a hastily arranged news conference at department headquarters.

"Your government will stand at the ready 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to stop terrorism during the holiday season and beyond."

Orange means a high risk of terrorist attack. The level had been at yellow, or an elevated risk, and in the middle of the five-color scale.

[ßå$tĮТHÏ¿ð]

Ok I got a question. With the "threat level" rising, it costs more to have additional police forces on patrol and units ready at the standby. How much does this cost the American tax payer? How many times has the threat level went up since sept 11th?
Just wondering because with something like this threat level meter it would be very hard to plan a budget around something that can go up or down rather quickly, not to mention straining local authorities.

[One?]

Ok I got a question. With the "threat level" rising, it costs more to have additional police forces on patrol and units ready at the standby. How much does this cost the American tax payer? How many times has the threat level went up since sept 11th?
Just wondering because with something like this threat level meter it would be very hard to plan a budget around something that can go up or down rather quickly, not to mention straining local authorities.


I've been saying that to everyone since they came up with the new 5 level thing. OBL isn't stupid, he knows that whenever he comes up with a video or threatens, then the US is going to raise their threat level, spend alot of money and they will end up with nothing, other than loosing money.

[ßå$tĮТHÏ¿ð]

Good point One. If my memory serves me correctly I do recall that the United States has been under threat of attack and believed it was going to happen more then a few times.

My real question(s) is who all is on call for the threat? Is local military base security jacked up? Is there more police officers out? Is the local FBI out in full force? How are they going to respond to a terrorist attack? Have they ever prevented a terrorist attack when the threat level is this high?

If they keep raising this meter up and down and up and down eventually people arnt going to care about it except if they work for law enforcement.


"Your government will stand at the ready 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to stop terrorism during the holiday season and beyond."

Well thats going to cost alot, alot of overtime and time and a half and double time issued out over this holiday season. Lets hope they have a good enough reason to raise this level higher.

[duck]

The "hastily organized" press conference is a sign of new and credible information. But who knows?

[SFontaine]

They normally do this before major religious holidays.

[Fioraon]

Big deal. Life is the same as it was last week. I dont see any extra police out on the streets then the normal holiday rush crowd control.

[ßå$tĮТHÏ¿ð]

Well if its no "big deal" then why does the American government spend so much on this alert system if the general public doesnt give a flying f*ck about it?

[California Joe]

Honestly, he's right. The average person does not change their plans one bit. It's a wasted system. Military bases have their own systems.

[ßå$tĮТHÏ¿ð]

Honestly, he's right. The average person does not change their plans one bit. It's a wasted system. Military bases have their own systems.

Well thankz Joe I never hear those 3 words in a row
Honestly, he's right, I do believe its a wasted system for a couple reasons.
A: the amount of tax payer's dollars spent on overtime for police forces/fbi could be used else were
B: it reminds many people about sept 11th too much ( we got enough paranoid people as is in this world)
C: it makes people feel dependant on "big brother" for protection, I'm pretty sure a normal human can tell wether hes in danger or not. Im pretty sure he/she doesnt think a color coded system is going to help them out at that moment..

If it doesnt change anyones plans or make anyone more "vigilant" besides the already paranoid people (weres my tinfoil hat?) then whats the point?

[Armour recon]

I also read it. They said they have gain intelligence information from even greater attack than the september attacks! World has gone crazy...

[California Joe]

Unless you can actually tell people "don't go to the mall on Friday" the system is useless. The average civilian is totally oblivious to their surroundings. I find it laughable that huge amounts of money were expended to pick colors.

[Fox2]

A: the amount of tax payer's dollars spent on overtime for police forces/fbi could be used else were
B: it reminds many people about sept 11th too much ( we got enough paranoid people as is in this world)
C: it makes people feel dependant on "big brother" for protection, I'm pretty sure a normal human can tell wether hes in danger or not. Im pretty sure he/she doesnt think a color coded system is going to help them out at that moment..

If it doesnt change anyones plans or make anyone more "vigilant" besides the already paranoid people (weres my tinfoil hat?) then whats the point?

One must ask in this case, also, has there been any attempts that have been foiled? If there are some cases like that (which, honestly, we most likely would not have heard about), I would have to say that it is not a waste of money.

The "threatometer" (hehe) is used by law enforcement at every level. I have family in law enforcement, and they all have a communications system at the state and federal level, advising everyone from FBI special agents to the lowly traffic cop about possible threats.

Personally, even if it has no real effect on the happenings of the general populous, I think it's good to have a reminder of the current threat level, lest we become complacent.

I think it is more of a reminder than anything, for everyone just to be safe and cautious.


B: it reminds many people about sept 11th too much

Everyone lost someone or knows someone who lost a loved one in those attacks, and it is indeed depressing if you think about it too much. However, I would say that it is a good thing to remember what happened. Remember that part of the reason those attacks happened in the first place (at least in my opinion), is that we didn't think something like that could happen to us. We became complacent in our security. To forget the events of that day is to open ourselves up for another attack.

[usa320]

They shouldnt announce threat level upgdates, it does nothing.

Instead tell the TSA, DOD, CIA, FBI, ect... Tell the law enforcement and military and first responders and airport security and stuff... only the people that need to know and who can act on the threat.

[WARPIG]

The system is definately flawed but it is atleast a system. Zero to a mediocre system is still an improvement. I grew up in DOD schools my whole life.. and believe me.. a little warning when some terrorist cell or organized crime has their hair up is much appreciated.
Just remember. NSA, CIA, FBI and the likes.. only suggest higher levels for specific reasons. Raising the level at the Holidays is prudent. People going to the mall may not skip a beat but the people getting on airplanes tend to show up a little early because they know it will be a while in those ticket and security lines. If the TSA cracks the whip a little to make their screeners pay more attention... great! Putting local law enforcement in a higher awarness is not too stupid either. I really doubt too many agencies spend money on extra shifts during "orange" levels but atleast have those plans out front and are watching the Federal intel communications a lot closer.
The only big switch you will see is in the Air Marshall program. Different Federal Officers are being crosstrained to be able to cover Air Marshall duties when the need arises. Instead of trying to hire more or overworking the current Marshalls... putting more trained eyes in the sky in a pinch is a good bargain. Think the TSA wants to foot those bills just from some knee jerk reaction?
Hate to disagree with you all but even if it is money spent on that "knee jerk reaction"... I think I am ok with it. Just doing nothing seems a little naive.
Reality is though..many steps are taken in the area of antiterrorism and counterterrorism without the threat rainbow makinga a change.

[2Sheds_Jackson]

Good point One. If my memory serves me correctly I do recall that the United States has been under threat of attack and believed it was going to happen more then a few times.

My real question(s) is who all is on call for the threat? Is local military base security jacked up? Is there more police officers out? Is the local FBI out in full force? How are they going to respond to a terrorist attack? Have they ever prevented a terrorist attack when the threat level is this high?

If they keep raising this meter up and down and up and down eventually people arnt going to care about it except if they work for law enforcement.


"Your government will stand at the ready 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to stop terrorism during the holiday season and beyond."

Well thats going to cost alot, alot of overtime and time and a half and double time issued out over this holiday season. Lets hope they have a good enough reason to raise this level higher.

Elevating to Orange does a bunch of things. For me, it creates a huge pain in the ass - via all the extra security at the Federal compound where I work. No street parking around the building (all meters are red bagged), increased security patrols around the block, all entrances except one are closed, increased personal checks once inside...plus some other measures. The increased cost to the gov't is fairly minimal, at least here. It does create major headaches for all gov't employees, in terms of convenience & time to communte etc..
I'd say the biggest impact would be for travellers - it will slow things down & airports etc. That's got to have an economic impact. Plus there's the unknown psychological impact during the shopping season, and it can't be positive. So the T's get to affect us some by not even doing anything.
Hey, that's ok. We'll keep takin' them out, one by one. We're much better at kicking ass than they are.

[WARPIG]

Don't forget the first tool of security.... presence. No not the kind under the Christmas tree.
I mean the physical act of being there. If some of the less organized terrorists, the more independent, or even the wanna be's see an eleveted security presence.. it acts as a discouragement. Hitting the softer targets are what terrorists want. Security isn't about catching the bad guys.. it is about discouraging them from being bad to us. Too often do people try and lump security into the active hunt for terror.

[He219]

Current Terror Alert Level...
http://www.geekandproud.net/terror/terror.php

http://www.wackyneighbor.com/cgi-bin/terrah


The Scale:

http://www.geekandproud.net/terror/images/terror-all.jpg

;)

[ßå$tĮТHÏ¿ð]

http://www.cafeshops.com/thewhitehouse/75598

Im sorry but this was too funny...

Thanks for clearing it up though, still the system has its kinks but hopefully they can develop something besides a color bar to decide how much of a threat you are under.