***** NEWS UPDATE *****

Nation Braces for Potential Terror Attack
The Associated Press
Feb 12 2003 6:19PM

WASHINGTON (AP) - Anti-aircraft missiles guarded Washington's skies and Capitol police carried gas masks Wednesday as the nation mobilized to confront a potential terrorist attack.
Federal, state and local governments tightened security, anxious Americans stockpiled food and water, and police responded to scores of false alarms, including reports of suspicious vehicles that shut down commuter bridges in Washington and New York.

The nation remained under a Code Orange ``high risk'' of attack status for a sixth day, and no change was in sight. Counterterrorism officials said the level of threat information pointing to an imminent attack remained high, but steady.

``If given the choice, al-Qaida terrorists will choose attacks that achieve multiple objectives, striking prominent landmarks, inflicting mass casualties, causing economic disruption and rallying support through shows of strength,'' CIA Director George Tenet told the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Tenet said he is worried that a new audio me

ssage attributed to terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden is a prelude to a strike.

``He's obviously raising the confidence of his people. He's obviously exhorting them to do more,'' Tenet said. ``What he's said is often followed by an attack.''

Fearing the worst, U.S. officials deployed Avenger anti-aircraft missiles and extra radar around Washington since President Bush's decision Friday to raise the alert status from yellow to orange, the second-highest level. The Air Force has stepped up its combat air patrols over the capital, defense officials said.

FBI personnel assigned to rapid response teams that would react to any terrorist attacks have been told to have a bag packed for three days' deployment and put on standby.

U.S. Capitol police were told to carry gas masks at all times. They are in a small, handheld black knapsack about six inches long. Every officer has them, including those in plainclothes who provide security for leaders and in the congressional chambers.

The weekly FBI bulletin circulated to 17,000 law enforcement agencies urges police to be extra vigilant for possible chemical, biological and radiological attacks. The bulletin asks local officials to consult a CIA handbook on how to respond to dangerous substances should such an attack occur.

In addition, the National Infrastructure Protection Center, which assesses and warns about threats to critical U.S. infrastructure, issued an advisory describing a heightened chance of global computer hacking as tensions increase with Iraq.

White House security was not noticeably tighter but presidential aides said they were spooked by the intelligence and felt more vulnerable than they had since the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. Many were taking the government's advice, socking away water and food at home and making plans to meet up with family in the event of an attack.

Precautions were taken throughout federal government. For example:

Food safety officials were put on heightened alert but were told the threat did not involve food, said Agriculture Department spokesman Steven Cohen.

Nuclear power plant operators were issued reminders of precautions they should take under a code orange.

The Interior Department's Bureau of Reclamation has increased security at its 58 hydroelectric dams and 348 reservoirs that serve 31 million people in 17 Western states. Precautions include limiting access, closing visitors centers and some roads and conducting random vehicle inspections at some facilities.

On the so-called bin Laden tape, which was a major source of concern, the voice tells bin Laden's followers to help Saddam Hussein stage suicide attacks and lure American troops into bloody urban battles to inflict ``big casualties.'' The speaker said Iraq was governed by socialist ``infidels, including Saddam, but said it was acceptable for Muslims to fight for Iraq because their interests ``intersect in fighting against the Crusaders,'' or Christians.

Even without further evidence or confirmation that the voice was bin Laden's, White House spokesman Ari Fleischer seized on the tape as evidence that Saddam and al-Qaida are linked.

``This is the nightmare that people have warned about, the linking up of Iraq with al-Qaida,'' Fleischer said, denouncing what he called ``an unholy partnership.''

The tape was released Tuesday, just as Bush was trying to build public opinion against Saddam.

Fleischer expressed far less alarm about North Korea's aggressive actions, reflecting Bush's desire to keep attention on Iraq. As Fleischer briefed reporters, Tenet was telling lawmakers that Pyongyang has an untested ballistic missile capable of reaching the western United States.

Fleischer dismissed the testimony as ``old news,'' and said it explains Bush's desire to build an anti-missile shield.

should I bother going to work tomorrow? Seriously though, I've given up reading and listening to the news - it's for my sanity and happiness.

You know I am down here in the area and I did not see all this going on.

You know the news is really trying to get people's pressure up.

CNN posted this at 7:03 p.m. tonight:


The United Nations is fast approaching 'the moment of truth' regarding Iraq, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell said Wednesday, adding that Saddam Hussein will disarm his country either peacefully or through war.

While addressing the House International Relations Committee, Powell challenged France and Germany, both of which have balked at the U.S. hard-line position toward Iraq, to decide if their containment policy is intended to get 'Saddam Hussein off the hook with no disarmament.'

On Friday, top U.N. weapons inspectors, Hans Blix and Mohamed ElBaradei are to deliver their third report on the Iraq inspections to the Security Council. Many observers see it as a key date for diplomatic discussions over Iraq.

'I hope that in the days ahead, we will be able to rally the United Nations around the original resolution and whatever other resolution that might be necessary in order to satisfy the needs of other countries,' the secretary said.

'We are reaching a moment of truth with respect to this resolution, and whether it meant anything or not,' he said. 'We are reaching a moment of truth with respect to the relevance of the United Nations Security Council to impose its will on a nation such as Iraq, which has ignored the will of the council for the last 12 years. And we are reaching a moment of truth as to whether or not this matter will resolve peacefully or be resolved by military conflict.'

Security Council Resolution 1441, approved in November, gives Iraq a last opportunity to disarm voluntarily by cooperating with weapons inspectors. The inspectors so far have said Iraq is improving but not fully cooperating. Iraq says it is doing everything it can to cooperate.

France, Russia and Germany are among the strongest opponents of the U.S. position to disarm Saddam by force. They are proponents of further diplomacy to end the Iraq crisis and issued a joint declaration on Tuesday calling for U.N. weapons inspections in Iraq to be reinforced as part of an attempt to disarm the nation peacefully.

Russia and France are permanent members of the U.N. Security Council -- and have the power of vetoing new resolutions. Germany's ambassador is the current council president.

Here is another update:


WASHINGTON (AP) -- Citizens jittery over the nation's high alert status should know that progress is being made in the war on terror, Attorney General John Ashcroft said Wednesday. Seven terrorist suspects have been caught through new border security measures and 104 people convicted of terror-related charges, he said in an interview with The Associated Press.

Successful prosecutions have led to cooperation from defendants, providing information that has 'disrupted groups of individuals who were working together to assist in terrorism or perhaps commit acts of terrorism,' Ashcroft said.

'Prevention is our number one priority. It is more important than prosecution,' he said. 'But very frequently these priorities do not compete, they complement. In many instances prosecution has been a real aid to our prevention effort by helping generate valuable intelligence.'

As Ashcroft spoke in his office at Justice Department headquarters, the United States remained on high alert for potential terrorism amid dire warnings from FBI Director Robert Mueller and CIA Director George J. Tenet about a possibly imminent large-scale attack.

Ashcroft did not say what information prompted the alert status to be increased last week, seeking instead to provide assurances that law enforcement is better prepared to head off an attack than it was before the September 11, 2001 attacks. Vastly improved border security, better legal options and an FBI committed to preventing further attacks 'should be a source of comfort to Americans.'

'We have made monumental progress,' he said.

The seven suspected terrorists were apprehended in the last six months through a program that tightened scrutiny at U.S. borders and ports of entry and required the fingerprinting and photographing of thousands of men from countries at risk for terrorism.

Justice Department officials, citing national security concerns, declined to provide details but said the seven were caught in a variety of ways, some through intelligence tips and others through fingerprint matches. The officials also would not provide details about whether the seven may have been plotting imminent attacks when captured.

The 104 terror-related convictions range from such high-profile cases as would-be shoe bomber Richard Reid to more mundane document fraud cases. Ashcroft said 'several hundred' more people have been charged with terror-related offenses since September 11, including members of suspected al-Qaida cells in Lackawanna, New York, and Portland, Oregon.

Still, the Justice Department is encountering difficulties in some terrorism cases, including that of Zacarias Moussaoui, the only person charged in connection with the September 11 attacks. If convicted, he could get the death penalty.

The department is appealing a judge's ruling that Moussaoui should have access to suspected September 11 mastermind Ramzi Binalshibh, who was captured in Pakistan and is being interrogated at an undisclosed location. The government opposes that access because Binalshibh is valuable as an intelligence source.

In a recent nonterrorism case, Ashcroft overruled a decision by federal prosecutors to seek a life sentence for a drug suspect in exchange for information about others in the ring. Ashcroft said that unusual move was intended to ensure that death penalty laws are applied equally nationwide.

Ashcroft also said there are gaps in U.S. laws that were not addressed by the USA Patriot Act passed by Congress in response to the 2001 attacks. The law gave the Justice Department greater power to investigate and eavesdrop on terror suspects, but senior department officials are discussing proposals to bridge the gaps.

'The terrorists have an interest in very serious weapons of chemistry, evil biology and even radiological consequences,' Ashcroft said. 'We cannot sit still and think that all of the laws we had to prevent previous threats will work.'

For example, Ashcroft noted that in major drug cases, defendants are kept in jail until trial unless they can convince a judge to release them on bail, a provision that does not apply in terrorism cases where prosecutors have to prove why a defendant should not be released.

Appeals courts, meanwhile, are conflicted on whether 'material support' of terrorism means visiting a terror training camp – as some members of the alleged Lackawanna al-Qaida cell did – or requires that a suspect have donated money or supplies.

'There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that a person who provides personal assistance is providing material assistance,' Ashcroft said.

Although no final decisions have been made on these proposals, some congressional Democrats and government watchdog groups contend they would erode citizens' rights, limit judicial review and restrict access to important information. Ashcroft rejected that characterization.

'Every day I tell the staff at the Justice Department: `Think anew. The world is changing. What are the ways we can safeguard the American people against attack?'' Ashcroft said. 'I say, 'Think outside the box,' but I always say, 'Think inside the Constitution.''