Prompted by intelligence warning the U.S. homeland security chief says terror threat now 'perhaps greater' than at any point since 9/11

Dec. 21, 2003

WASHINGTON  — The United States went on high alert for a possible terror attack Sunday as Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge said 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," Ridge said at a news conference in Washington as he announced that the threat level would rise from yellow, or elevated, to orange, the second-highest level.

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

The increase in the threat level is the first since May 5, when the government went to orange after deadly terrorist bombings in Morocco and Saudi Arabia. The threat level was returned to yellow 11 days later.

Ridge cited reports that Usama bin Laden's terrorist network is trying find holes in U.S. aviation security, and that "extremists abroad" are anticipating attacks that will rival or exceed the scope of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

U.S. intelligence agencies "received a substantial increase in the volume of threat-related intelligence reports," Ridge said.

"These credible sources suggest the possibility of attacks against the homeland around the holiday season and beyond," he said. "These strategic indicators, including Al Qaeda's continued desire to carry out attacks against our homeland, are perhaps greater now than at any point since Sept. 11."

A senior intelligence official said last week that analysts were particularly concerned about the threat of Sept. 11-style attacks, in which terrorists would use hijacked airliners as weapons.

Ridge said that "recent reporting reiterates that Al Qaeda continues to consider using aircraft as a weapon. They are evaluating procedures both here and abroad to find gaps in our security posture that can be exploited."

As a result of the change in threat level, all federal departments and agencies were putting in place action plans and stepping up security at airports, border crossings and ports, Ridge said.

Before Ridge made the announcement Sunday, Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said that officials were trying to determine whether increased terrorist chatter being detected in recent weeks was an aberration or something more serious.

"There is no doubt, from all the intelligence we pick up from Al Qaeda, that they want to do away with our way of life," he told "Fox News Sunday" after returning from a trip to Iraq and Afghanistan.

"And if they could use another catastrophic event, a tragedy like 9/11; if they could do that again, if they could get their hands on weapons of mass destruction and make it 10,000 [deaths], not 3,000, they would do that."

Ridge sought to reassure Americans about the warning, and urged them to use common sense and report anything suspicious, such as packages, and to prepare or review personal emergency plans.

"We have not raised the threat level in this country for six months, but we have raised it before. And as before, Americans can be assured that we know what we must do and we are doing it," Ridge said.

He urged Americans not to disrupt holiday travel plans. "America is a country that will not be bent by terror. America is a country that will not be broken by fear," Ridge said.

He also said officials did not see a connection between the capture of ousted Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein and the heightened security alert.

U.S. officials by the end of last week were telling holiday travelers to be vigilant about the threat of terrorist attacks. The warning was prompted in part by a raised level of ominous intercepted communications that has not quieted for months.

On Friday, the Arabic television network Al-Jazeera aired a new statement from Ayman al-Zawahri, the chief deputy of bin Laden. The CIA said Saturday it believes the tape is authentic.

"We are still chasing the Americans and their allies everywhere, even in their homeland," according to the voice on the tape.

Some statements from Al Qaeda leaders are later regarded as preludes to attacks; others simply propaganda.

Much of the threat information suggests attacks directed at U.S. interests in Saudi Arabia and Iraq, officials said last week.

The State Department last week recommended that its nonessential diplomatic personnel as well as diplomatic families leave the Saudi kingdom.

The May change in alert status was the fourth time it had risen to orange. Each change set off a flurry of increased security measures by cities, states and businesses. The lowest two levels, green and blue, and the highest, red, have not been used since the system was put in place in early 2002.

Fox News' Anna Stolley and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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