[Bobby777]

no offense intended ... but, I think it's the non-specificity of these alerts that is the problem ... what shall we do at Orange that we don't do at Yellow? ... our enemies plot for surprise ... they were here sometimes for years, before they executed ...

[cajungirl]

I think law enforcement responds to the color, not us. But we don't want to hear a rumor from our brother in law the cop about the govt warning the cops and not us so they tell us.

[FairOpinion]

"what shall we do at Orange that we don't do at Yellow?"

==

Be extra-vigilant and report anything suspicious -- that is what Ridge said, and it makes sense. Alert people could help law enforcement prevent attacks.

The raised alert also triggers more serious activities on the part of law enforcement. If they didn't tell the people about it, them people would be complaining that the government should tell us, when they do tell us, what they can, then people complain about that.

[WhistlingPastTheGraveyard]

no offense intended ... but, I think it's the non-specificity of these alerts that is the problem ... what shall we do at Orange that we don't do at Yellow? ... our enemies plot for surprise ... they were here sometimes for years, before they executed ...

I think we're expecting too much. If these warnings start getting specific, like time and place specific, AQ will be able to shut down cities, air travel, malls, etc with well designed hoaxes.

Actually, they can do it now. We don't know that this "chatter" isn't designed to create fear during the Christmas shopping season and slow down the economic upswing. If AQ's history is any indication, that's exactly what it is (more often than not, their threats don't come to fruition).

But we have to know that one of these days, they're going to pull something off. They only have to get lucky once. When they do, it's going to be ugly.

For me, the Orange Alert is just a reminder. We're still at war, the enemy is still evil beyond imagination, heads up, people. That's it. I'm sure it means more to the Law Enforcement and National Security communities, but for us, it's just a heads up. How we plan to deal with the next attack is up to us.