Foxnews.com
WASHINGTON — America currently faces "the most significant" threat since the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge said Monday.
Explaining Friday's elevation of the national terror-alert status, Ridge told CBS's The Early Show that "one of the reasons that we raised it is that because we believe the threat has substantially increased in the last couple of weeks."
The Bush administration raised the alert level from yellow (moderate) to orange (high), citing intelligence that it said suggested a growing threat from Usama bin Laden's Al Qaeda terrorist network.
On the five-step alert scale, red is the highest, but no such terrorist warning level has yet been issued.
Ridge and his deputies also advised various industries and local governments how to increase security in response to the threat.
On Friday, Homeland Security officials recommended that hotels inspect all cars, that malls and offices prohibit delivery trucks from entering underground parking garages, and that office tower managers control access at the door and monitor their heating and air conditioning ducts for breaches.
Terrorists could use chemical or biological weapons in ductwork to attack an entire building, officials said.
Monday, federal officials recommended that Americans should take basic disaster-preparation steps such as maintaining a three-day stockpile of food and water. They also recommended obtaining duct tape and plastic sheeting to seal a house in the event of a chemical or biological attack or disaster.
(Why doesn't Mr. Ridge ask the President to send the military to the borders? Do ordinary Americans have to face a biological, chemical or nuclear attack before the inside the beltway crowd gets serious about securing our borders?)
Posted by Suzanne at February 10, 2003