[My Favorite Headache]

Another question for everyone on this thread.

Didn't the fact that Ascroft was sent for to get back from his vacation a real sobering fact in this article? It certainly was the key point in it for me.

[FairOpinion]

It is certainly an strong indication of the seriousness and credibility of the threat.

[Az Joe]

Is that a first, Ashcroft returning to DC?

How about other alerts, did he do that too?

[sarasota]

Can't we just conclude that Ashcroft's return is just a Code Orange scenario?

[NittanyLion]

Didn't the fact that Ascroft was sent for to get back from his vacation a real sobering fact in this article? It certainly was the key point in it for me.

Not really. In all likelihood certain threat levels automatically result in corresponding actions. The recall of officials critical to Homeland Security is no doubt one of those actions. Behaviors in response to a threat are generally driven by SOPs as opposed to a specific response to each scenario - that way actions are well-planned before the time of crisis, thus reducing the likelihood of making a series of poorly-reasoned decisions.