Posted on 11/13/2004 12:30:52 PM PST by West Coast Conservative
Government counterterror experts say the threat of an attack by al-Qaida remains a significant concern, perhaps even this year, although the nation safely passed the benchmark of the Nov. 2 election.
The Homeland Security Department this week lowered the terror alert for the financial sector in New York, Washington and northern New Jersey that was in place for three months. But authorities still caution the possibility of an attack is just as high as it was a month ago.
``The whole notion taking a deep breath and saying, 'Wow, we got past this and now we are OK for a while' is a ... very dangerous train of thought,'' Homeland Security Deputy Secretary James Loy told reporters in a conference call Wednesday.
Since April, U.S. authorities have warned of an increased risk of attack to disrupt democracy, often pointing to the now-passed elections. But they remain concerned about the upcoming holidays, the Jan. 20 presidential inauguration and beyond. Loy said the time period does not have a termination date.
He said a relaxed posture for financial institutions - from code orange, or heightened, to code yellow, or elevated - came because government and private-sector officials had run drills, improved security and taken other measures to ``harden'' the potential targets. The passing of the election, too, was on the minds of authorities.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.netscape.cnn.com ...
No more relaxin' completely since 9-11. We still have to live life or terrorism has won.
Still haven't let my auto gas tank get below 1/2 since 911.
Remain scared. Gotcha.
The timing of this is suspicious....
Very good- that's our family's informal rule, not just because of terrorism, but storms, family emergencies, etc.
Duh^uh.
The majority of voters in New York and New Jersey (although Bush's votes increased in both states due to 9/11) do not agree. They stood up and voted for Kerry and by proxy, BinLaden. Anyone but Bush indeed ...
It was informal beginning with Y2K and becoming mandatory after 911.
I gotcha- good thinking!
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