Posted on 08/07/2004 7:48:58 AM PDT by Former Military Chick
KENNEBUNKPORT, Maine (Reuters) - President Bush (news - web sites) on Saturday warned Americans this week's terrorism alert was another sign the country was still not safe but said he was taking steps to prevent future attacks.
Alert levels were raised earlier this week for specific locations in New York City, Washington and New Jersey after a top-level review of information that al Qaeda may be plotting to attack financial institutions including the New York Stock Exchange (news - web sites), the International Monetary Fund (news - web sites) and World Bank (news - web sites).
"We're doing everything we can in our power to confront the danger," Bush said in his weekly radio address. "We're making good progress in protecting our people and bringing our enemies to account."
The administration has been facing tough questions after it became known that some of the information that led to the elevated alert was three years old.
Bush said new information gleaned from arrests in Pakistan and other new intelligence suggested that al Qaeda had recently updated information on those potential targets.
"We're still not safe," said Bush, who was spending the weekend at his family's oceanfront compound in Maine to attend the wedding of his nephew, George P. Bush, the son of Florida Gov. Jeb Bush.
"We'll keep our focus, we'll keep our resolve, and we will do our duty to best secure our country," he said.
Under political pressure, Bush said this week he would name a national intelligence director to coordinate information collected domestically and abroad, a key recommendation by the commission that investigated the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.
Bush, initially cool to the idea of a new intelligence chief, overrode the advice of some top advisers in agreeing to appoint one, but decided to make the office independent of the White House, counter to commission's proposal.
His opponent in the race for the White House, Massachusetts Democratic Sen. John Kerry (news - web sites), has urged quick adoption of the commission's recommendations and said Bush should call Congress back from its summer break to adopt the reforms.
Kerry has also criticized his opponent's policies, saying they have failed to make the United States as safe as it could be and potentially encouraging the recruitment of terrorists to the cause against the nation.
Refuting the criticism about the latest terrorist warning, Vice President Dick Cheney (news - web sites) said it was irrelevant when al Qaeda had collected information on possible targets because such plots can take years to carry out.
"If it takes years, they're prepared to wait for years to do it," he said at a town hall meeting in Minnesota on Friday.
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