Free Republic

WASHINGTON – The Homeland Security Department will review and possibly replace the often-ridiculed multicolored terror alert system created after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. Since it was created in 2002, the system has been confusing and became the butt of jokes by late-night television comics. Critics have said assigning different categories to different colors is too vague an approach to deliver enough information to be useful. And Democrats said the Bush administration used it for political manipulation. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano appointed a task force Tuesday to determine in 60 days how effective the current system is. "My goal...

U.S. Prepares to Assign Color Codes to Air Travelers; Critics Fear System Will Be Too Intrusive. WASHINGTON Sept. 9 — The government and the airlines reportedly will phase in a computer system next year to measure the risk of every passenger who boards a flight in the United States by using color codes. According to the Washington Post, passengers will be assigned one of three codes, based in part on their travel plans, traveling companions and the date the ticket was purchased. Sources say those coded "green" will easily pass through security checkpoints. Others will be coded "yellow" and face...