barrykind
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Combat Jets to Protect American Cities on July 4
Thursday, July 04, 2002
WASHINGTON — The U.S. government will deploy combat jets over New York, Washington and other U.S. cities Thursday in an effort to ensure that Americans can safely celebrate the nation's 226th birthday.
President Bush on Tuesday encouraged Americans to enjoy their first Independence Day celebration since the Sept. 11 terror attacks, and throughout the nation citizens are expected to proceed with caution.
The government plans to keep the nation on "yellow" alert status, the middle of five levels, White House press secretary Ari Fleischer said.
"There is no change in the security situation," he said. "It remains a time of celebration and vigilance."
Two senior U.S. officials, speaking Wednesday on condition of anonymity, said U.S. intelligence is picking up more talk about an attack on or about July 4, but there is still nothing specific or corroborated.
Until recently, the official said, U.S. intelligence had been doubtful about the prospects for an attack, saying most of the information pointed to other dates.
The official stressed that the increased intelligence could easily be a result of more media attention or natural speculation as the July 4 celebration approaches.
On Tuesday, the Airline Pilots Association (ALPA) at Northwest Airlines issued a security alert to its members.
"Some flight crews from other airlines have reported being the subjects of obvious surveillance by Mid-Eastern looking males and females," the warning says on the organization's Web site. "This activity was reported in Frankfurt, Amsterdam and London. The surveillance was reported as having taken place in layover hotels and other locations where crews congregate, for example, restaurants and pubs."
Northwest spokeswoman Mary Beth Schubert told Fox News the airline doesn't discuss tactics or procedures publicly: "Northwest always asks our employees to be vigilant regarding their own and our passengers' security," she said.
Fleischer reiterated that federal officials know of no specific terrorist threat as he announced that a special coordination center will roughly double its staffing in order to monitor more than 2,000 medium- and large-sized Independence Day events "that can become something of a target for people who want to do us harm."
Combat air patrols "will be flying over several American cities and randomly throughout the nation," Fleischer said.
Round-the-clock military patrols were instituted over Washington and New York in the immediate aftermath of Sept. 11, but they were ended in April in favor of occasional fly-overs.
Under the command of Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge, the White House coordination center has already established lines of communication to be in instant contact with officials at each of nearly 2,100 July Fourth celebrations.
"As you're hearing from many people in law enforcement, they're saying, 'Leave the worrying to us.' They will be out there. They will be vigilant," Fleischer said.
"A variety of actions are being taken on the ground in terms of greater resources, greater surveillance, greater protection, greater prevention as well as an immediate operations setup in Washington to handle eventualities if they arise," he said.
The FBI advised law enforcement agencies that the State Department was reporting heightened traffic between possible terrorist operatives abroad as July Fourth approached.
The advisory, which was sent Wednesday over the National Law Enforcement Telecommunications System, also said that there was still no evidence of a specific threat against a target in the United States.
FBI officials encouraged police departments to "be vigilant and report any suspicious activity to the FBI," and they said the agency planned to have more agents at its primary operational center in Washington on Thursday in case of a terrorist attack.
The FBI is also requiring its 56 field offices to monitor events in their regions. The monitoring will probably include several forms of electronic surveillance as well as a heavy presence of field agents, both apparent and undercover, officials said.
Bush said he plans to watch Washington's traditional fireworks display from the Truman Balcony of the White House.
People "ought to be joyous in their celebration and celebrate the fact that we're fortunate enough to be Americans," the president said Tuesday during a visit to Milwaukee.
Patriotic parades and concerts, dramatic readings of the Declaration of Independence, backyard barbecues and fireworks are scheduled to take place nationwide, but under unprecedented security.
"People will celebrate in response to terrorism," said Jim Heintze, an American University librarian who manages a Web site devoted to Fourth of July history.
Professor Jim Dorinson of Long Island University in New York state said that Americans are celebrating the Fourth in a more meaningful way, but adds that the new appreciation could come with a "very high price tag" as some civil liberties are curtailed for security reasons.
More than 500,000 people are expected to flood downtown Washington on Thursday for events on the National Mall.
"I'm not going to hide in my own country," said Dan Ayala, 52, of Whittier, Calif., who was visiting his daughter in Washington.
The Vietnam veteran and utility company inspector said he didn't know their plans for Thursday, but he wouldn't object to taking in the big fireworks show on the National Mall.
"If I was worried about what might happen, I never would've left California," Ayala said.
In New York City, officials tried to soothe people's fears. "Anytime there's large numbers of people getting together, in the aftermath of 9/11, obviously we have to be alert," said Police Commissioner Ray Kelly.
"But there's nothing special, no specific information, no special intelligence that says this holiday is any different than any other holiday."
While about a third of the public thinks a terrorist attack is "very likely" in the coming months, only 13 percent believe one will happen on the Fourth of July, polls show.
"I don't think the terrorists would be that stupid," said Sally Coombs, 40, a university lecturer from London, who was walking on the National Mall with her 6-year-old daughter. "I don't believe that anything is going to happen. But if it does, I'm pretty confident that'll be my time to go. So why worry about it? Enjoy life."
Fox News' Carl Cameron and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Posts: 3529 | From: Orange, Texas | Registered: Jun 2002
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