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| Home Front: WoT |
| Terror indicator lowered for 5 financial centers |
| 2004-11-11 |
| The Department of Homeland Security yesterday lowered the terrorist threat level for five financial institution headquarters in Washington, New York, and New Jersey, and US Capitol police began removing 14 antiterror vehicle checkpoints around the Capitol. The government dropped the threat index for the financial buildings from ''orange" (high risk) to ''yellow" (elevated risk) because security measures and tightened security in the financial sector nationwide eliminated the need for the higher alert, said James Loy, deputy homeland security secretary. The government is not signaling, however, that the terrorist threat to the nation has passed, because officials believe the danger remains very high, Loy said. Capitol Police Chief Terrance Gainer said yesterday that he decided to remove the controversial barriers, erected on Aug. 1, because ''there was a preelection threat, and we all said we would be reexamining the state of play after the election." Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge lowered the alert level for Washington's World Bank and International Monetary Fund buildings, the Prudential Financial headquarters in Newark, and Manhattan's New York Stock Exchange and Citigroup building ''with President Bush's blessing." But the move was made because of improved security and not because the election had passed, Loy said. While US intelligence officials had warned that Al Qaeda wanted to disrupt the US electoral process, they remain fearful of a terrorist strike through the Jan. 20, 2005, presidential inauguration and beyond, Loy said. The heightened threat level was imposed after intelligence officials seized computer disks in Pakistan showing that Al Qaeda members had conducted detailed surveillance of the sites, noting security guard shift changes, the angles of security cameras, and the like. The buildings were cased in 2000 and 2001, but the computer files -- taken from the laptop computer of an alleged Al Qaeda associate -- appeared to have been updated in the last two years. The decision to raise the buildings' threat status was made ''to err on the side of conservatism," Loy said. Asked whether the August orange designation was timed to the election season, Loy, a retired Coast Guard admiral, said, ''We don't do politics at this department. . . . It never crosses my mind." |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |
| #1 The Spectre of A Greenspan is still on the horizon. |
| Posted by: Jack Tatum 2004-11-11 12:10:43 PM |