Posted on 12/25/2003 3:42:34 PM PST by varina davis
Disaster Teams Said Ready for Terrorism
December 25, 2003 05:16 PM EST
WASHINGTON - Disaster teams are ready to respond to any strike by the al-Qaida terrorist network and special equipment is monitoring the air for biological agents in some 30 cities, the Bush administration said Thursday.
Four days after the nation went to a high Code Orange status and turned up its vigilance against terrorism, the threat had not diminished. "Credible reporting suggests al-Qaida continues to desire to attack American interests," said Brian Roehrkasse, spokesman for the Department of Homeland Security.
"People have their antennas up," he said.
President Bush was spending Christmas at his mountaintop retreat at Camp David, Md., where he received updates from senior advisers and military aides, said White House spokesman Jim Morrell.
The increased threat level triggered activation of the disaster teams, composed of government experts from different agencies.
The teams would:
-Provide expert advice and support to the on-scene commander if there's a threat, or an incident involving weapons of mass destruction.
-Respond to any release of radiation with advice and air monitoring equipment.
-Provide medical personnel to assist state and local medical authorities.
Besides the contingency teams, Homeland Security officials have stepped up their vigilance in searching for evidence of a biological attack.
The agency previously modified air pollution monitoring equipment in 30 cities to pick up any biological agents and provide test results in 12-to-24 hours.
With the latest threat, officials took several dozen units from the government's inventory and installed them in some of the same cities. The cities were not identified for security reasons.
U.S. officials were conferring with other governments in an effort to prevent suspected terrorists from boarding airplanes heading to the United States.
"We're concerned about flights originating from international countries including Mexico and others," said a national security official, insisting on anonymity.
U.S. officials were closely monitoring the situation in France, where six Air France flights between Paris and Los Angeles were canceled Wednesday and Thursday.
French investigators questioned seven men pointed out by U.S. intelligence but found no evidence they planned to use a Los Angeles-bound jet to launch terror attacks against the United States, French authorities said Thursday.
U.S. intelligence officials told their French counterparts that members of al-Qaida would try to board the planes over Christmas, said a French judicial official, speaking on condition of anonymity.
with the help of God and NO help from the evildoers in our midst!! That's where we come in...as I've said before a thousand times. Lock and load.
please allow these scumbags to board planes for New York. There are many there who would like to give them the proper welcome.
U.S. officials said intelligence gleaned from overseas electronic intercepts and other means points to California as the location of highest concern. U.S. officials expressed fears over the possible use of a range of devices that included biological or chemical weapons and a radiological, or "dirty," bomb, officials said.Department of Homeland Security officials decided the threat was credible enough to order the immediate placement in California of additional outdoor air-sampling sensors that are designed to warn of any release of deadly microbes into the atmosphere. Hundreds of such Biowatch sensors have been in use in a number of California cities and in dozens of others, including Washington and New York, since March.
Those interrogated were selected because they were on a list of names supplyed by the U.S.Another man, a Tunisian national with a pilot's licence, was on the U.S.'s list of suspects.
French intelligence officials determined the man was in Tunisia, had no plans to leave, no criminal record, and no known history of associations with Islamic militant groups.
Rumors and rumors of rumors will a bound for the next couple of weeks......
I don't think people here are panicking, but rather trying to be pro-active. It is important to be prepared, both concretely and mentally.
It is up to all of us to remain steadfast during time like this. We should assess risk but not panic. We should remain firmly in support of our government's actions, and encourage our neighbors to remain calm.
We do not know how hard the next months will be...but we should be prepared to endure, as the British did during WWII. We should set examples for our less-informed citizens.
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