Homeland Security

DATE=12/24/03

TYPE=U-S OPINION ROUNDUP

NAME=TERROR ALERT "ORANGE"

NUMBER=6-130196

BYLINE=ANDREW GUTHRIE

DATELINE=WASHINGTON

EDITOR=ASSIGNMENTS

TELEPHONE=619-3335

CONTENT=

INTRO: As many Americans prepare for the Christmas holiday, they are doing so knowing that the nation's terrorism alert level is at orange, the second highest position, meaning that there is a high risk of terrorist attacks. U-S newspapers are having plenty to say about the alert and the tension it is causing for some. We get a sampling now from V-O-A's ____________ in today's U-S Opinion Roundup.

TEXT: Extra police are on guard at the nation's airports and harbors, as well as in New York, Washington and many other cities around the country. Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge announced the heightened alert after intelligence agencies reported they had intercepted electronic communications about possible attacks.

The Washington Post says the Bush administration has done a better job of preparing the nation for the alert than it did in May, the last time an orange alert was issued:

VOICE: This time around there is less fatigue, since the alert level has not been raised from yellow to orange for six months. Mr. Ridge also has done a much better job of giving details about the nature and source of the threat. . he described terrorists "anticipating near-term attacks that they believe will either rival or exceed" . events of September 11, and spoke of their "interest in using aircraft as a means of attack."

TEXT: In the Midwest, The Chicago Tribune discusses both sides of the issue.

VOICE: For many Americans such heightened alerts are a two-edged frustration. First, many of us aren't sure what we're supposed to do. Second, we don't want to give terrorists even a scintilla of satisfaction by altering our routines. The administration tried to address both points . [urging] all of us to report suspicious or unattended items, and to make plans for what . our families would do in an emergency. . That's all sensible . advice. Just as it's sensible of the government to raise the alert status when intercepted chatter among extremists suggests that an attack could be imminent.

TEXT: From the Chicago Tribune to Boston, where The Herald says the alert will not spoil the holiday.

VOICE: The news . is, of course, a sobering way to begin this holiday week. . But there are those in the world who so despise this nation and all . it stands for that to disrupt this glorious season would be a very special coup indeed . so, yes, this is a perfect moment to try to disrupt a way of life that . tyrants . despise . But this is a season of faith and hope. There is no color to describe that. It's just there.

TEXT: As far as North Carolina's Fayetteville Observer is concerned, there are problems with the color-coded system.

VOICE: Sooner or later, someone in authority is going to acknowledge the two flaws in a security-alert system that tries to operate like a TV weather [forecasting] show. First, terrorism is far less predictable than [the] weather. . Second, the orange flag doesn't tell anyone what to do, or refrain from doing.

The Department of Homeland Security warned that the suspected plot involved airliners, but almost in the same breath exhorted people not to change their holiday travel plans. What did that leave? What were we supposed to do? . Homeland Security needs to grant itself an amicable divorce from the illusion that this system is an important component of a homeland defense. [and] . move to something more practical.

TEXT: Pittsburgh's [Pennsylvania] Post Gazette agrees on the need to increase security, but worries about terrorism fatigue.

VOICE: The raising of doomsday-like possibilities stands athwart the general advice being given out by the Homeland Security Department . If nothing happens again in the American homeland, then over the long haul this cycle of raising and lowering alerts is going to prove difficult to sustain. . repeated warnings take a toll on the public's nerves as well [as] the economy. [and] Eventually, people may become complacent.

TEXT: In South Carolina, Charleston's Post and Courier calls the threat elevation level ". a sensible response to intelligence reports of high terrorist activity," while The New York Daily News wants more federal dollars for that city's security effort because of its value as a target. The paper complains:

VOICE: The city has estimated it needs 900-million dollars. It has gotten less than 84-million [from the federal government].

TEXT: That comment from The [New York] Daily News concludes this sampling of press comment on the newest domestic security alert.

NEB/ANG/KL