Ridge: U.S. sees lull in terror 'chatter'
1/6/2005, 4:03 p.m. ET
By LARA JAKES JORDAN
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. intelligence monitors are picking up less terror threat talk than a year ago, Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge said Thursday.
A variety of factors could be contributing to the lull, Ridge said, and he warned that terrorists "are strategic actors and long-range planners" who could be merely lying low before striking again.
"There certainly is a diminution, reduction in the amount of intelligence, and the decibel level is lower," Ridge told reporters, comparing information picked up over the past several months to the similar period a year ago.
Ridge offered no single explanation for the drop, saying it could be stepped-up U.S. efforts to boost security, increase military action, disrupt terrorist leaders and their finances or, simply, the "hardening of America."
"Could be any of those and none of those," he said. "I suspect it's probably all of them."
http://www.nj.com/newsflash/national/index.ssf?/base/national-36/1105045741146740.xml&storylist=national
Wellll, that's nice.