[jstolzen]

It strikes me as somewhat odd that the USG has lowered the "official" threat level to Yellow in "most" locations, yet there are many of us here talking about the worst of all possible outcomes (suitcase nukes, etc).

Where's the disconnect? If there were nukes on our soil, one would think we'd be at RED ++++! We'd be "battin' down the hatches" and fed agents would be doing door-to-door sweeps. At the very least, we'd see some real sense of urgency from GWB and those around him.

Instead, Dubya seems to be in "normal day-to-day" mode. He's talking about NASA & Mars. He's opening the borders further (shudder). IF he thought there's a risk of suitcase nukes going off on US soil, would he be doing ANY of this? I know that if I was President, I sure wouldn't be. We'd be at RED, agents would be scouring the cities and the countryside, and I'd start a MASSIVE export program for anyone who is an illegal. I sure as heck would not be welcoming MORE of them into the US. (Everything else aside, even GWB would have to realize he's going to look incredibly foolish if a nuke goes off and he's doing the amnesty thing. This alone makes me think we all here might be exaggerating the threat).

I've really struggled these past few weeks to discern alarmism from reality. While I respect AQ and no doubt think they are up to "something", I have a hard time reconciling the apparent lack of urgency that the Administration exhibits with some of the warnings we are all discussing here.

In short, it's exhausted me. I've stocked what I can on food and water, and am working on shelter plans. But I just can't shake the feeling that a lot of the sense of alarm is coming from one or two quarters (EOM posts among them). I also think we may be overreacting to a few "jihad" Photoshop exercises. ANY of us could do the same type of thing to a picture of Mecca if we wanted in about 10 minutes. So why are we so worried about these JPGs? I have yet to hear any compelling evidence that these are put togther by "real" terrorists. Given all of this, while I can figure out "EOM"'s motivation, I'm having a hard time figuring out why we are all (myself included) at RED+ here ourselves, and what is driving our concern.

Anyone else feel this way?

[Domestic Church]

3rd case of Sars surfaces in China and the local big cheese of Health says the next 3 weeks are high risk fo the spread...interesting timing n'est pas?

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1055891/posts

[ladyjane]

I'm puzzled too but for different reasons. The threat level is lowered except for certain cities that are not named. Helicopters back and forth flying low. ( They're not the TV station traffic helicopters.) All cars at the airport are being searched, not just those parking but those just dropping passengers off. Is my city on elevated alert ? I don't know.

[SpoofChicken]

"Where's the disconnect? If there were nukes on our soil, one would think we'd be at RED ++++! We'd be "battin' down the hatches" and fed agents would be doing door-to-door sweeps. At the very least, we'd see some real sense of urgency from GWB and those around him. "

this is exactly why i think they may have stopped something. going into red is going to cause panic, and i think if they (the special teams deployed to look for them) had found nukes, they wouldn't say a word, cause it would probably cause just as much panic (people scared that nukes have been found and demanding they look harder). i take these threats seriously and i have been crapping myself over these latest, but i feel that we have may have messed up their plans. i mostly feel that way from reading EOM's posts and seeing him promising events will start "very soon" since december 20th. i honestly feel that the level was dropped because they prevented attacks and they know it. there's alot the government won't tell us regarding terrorism, so as not to cause panic we don't need during this, but as much as i see people saying otherwise, i think they're actually compentant. that's why i feel if there were nukes, and even threats of nukes, they would have kept the orange alert up, and possibly go into red as time went on. i feel the threats are being exaggerated, even though the threat is very real. terrorism is meant to create terror through words AND actions. they'll tell us over and over again they're going to attack, so we never have a moment to feel safe. i feel these posts from EOM and daleel are just that. hopefullythe attacks have been stopped or delayed so we can nab the people responsible before they happen. i'm one to fall into alarmism, which is a mistake. it makes us scared. our concern is out of the fear they're spreading. we won't know if their threats are real until they happen, but i seriously doubt the government would go to yellow if the threat were still present. we need to be as prepared for anything now as we need to be at any other time and not let the terrorist win by striking fear into our hearts. stay vigilant, stay safe, and keep your faith in god and the government. don't let alarmism get to you and hopefully we'll all pull through.

[Domestic Church]

" Dubya seems to be in "normal day-to-day" mode."

And it is best for the nation to see him function normally while those in facilities and those fields pertinent to homeland security keep up "full shields and phasers ready". Preparation and awareness are key but don't hesitate to listen to your intuition.

[hummingbird]

Anyone else feel this way?

"Disconnect" is certainly what I'm feeling, too.

[Mr. Morals]

IF the terrorists have nuclear weaponry, they could detonate it at any time. 1) Going to red would just make them detonate immediately losing any chance of seizing the nuke and 2) If people are going to die in a nuke regardless, why make their final days on Earth sheer misery???

Someone else on another board thinks (and I tend to agree with him) that it is ***A POSSIBILITY*** of the going down to yellow was that the government knows an attack is all but certain to happen. They are going down to yellow to blame incompetance rather than stay at Orange Alert and show there is no hope at all...