U.S. Response:  Threat Level to Orange

The White House yesterday raised the national terrorism threat level from “yellow” to “orange’ shortly after U.S. President George W. Bush concluded his nationally televised speech on Iraq, CNN.com reported.

Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge said terrorists might attempt to attack the United States after a U.S. invasion of Iraq.  The al-Qaeda terrorist organization might say it is attacking on behalf of Muslims and the Iraqi people, instead of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, CNN.com reported.

Operation Liberty Shield

Ridge also announced Operation Liberty Shield, which is intended to make the nation more secure and calls on U.S. officials to detain asylum applicants from countries where al-Qaeda and its sympathizers operate.  The Homeland Security Department described the effort as a “reasonable and prudent temporary action” that would allow officials to keep a close watch on the detainees while their asylum applications are investigated.

The U.S. Transportation Security Administration also increased security at U.S. airports, conducting random vehicle inspections, increasing canine patrols and the law enforcement presence and asking for public vigilance (Jeanne Meserve, CNN.com, March 17).

“Tonight I have spoken to the nation’s governors and asked them to deploy the National Guard or additional police forces to improve security at critical locations throughout their states,” said a statement from Ridge.

Maryland Governor Robert Ehrlich (R) said Ridge had indicated the threat was not specific, but was based on intelligence and the expected conflict with Iraq.

“This is orange plus,” Ehrlich said.

Operation Atlas

New York City authorities, meanwhile, increased security through Operation Atlas, according to a law enforcement source.

The effort — which could cost more than $5 million every week — cancels most training, equips police patrols with radiation sensors, increases towing, and puts more uniformed officers, National Guard soldiers and canine units in public places (Jamie McShane, CNN.com, March 17).

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International Response:  Singapore Launches Container Security Initiative

Singapore began screening ships bound for the United States yesterday, as part of the Container Security Initiative signed last year (see GSN, Jan. 13).

“CSI is a sophisticated security program of mutual benefit to the U.S. and Singapore,” U.S. Ambassador Frank Levin said.

“Singapore’s participation in the CSI program is a major step forward in our joint efforts to prevent trade from being exploited by terrorists,” he added.

Last year, 330,000 containers were shipped from Singapore to the United States.  Levin said that Singapore is in the “top tier” of countries working to prevent maritime terrorism (Singapore Straits Times, March 17).

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U.S. Response:  Use Technology to Secure Borders, Senators Say

Several U.S. senators yesterday faulted current border security efforts and told the new U.S. border security chief to make improvements, the Washington Times reported (see GSN, Oct. 21, 2002).

Undersecretary of Homeland Security for Border and Transportation Security Asa Hutchinson, testified yesterday at a joint hearing of the Senate Judiciary subcommittees on Technology, Terrorism and Government Information and on Immigration

Senator Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) told Hutchinson “to make those borders secure.”

Hutchinson has faced criticism before when he was the top official in the Drug Enforcement Administration, according to the Times, and an Office of Management and Budget report disparaged his tenure, saying the DEA has been “unable to demonstrate progress in reducing the availability of illegal drugs in the United States.”

Hutchinson dismissed the report and said the OMB needs to develop an improved definition of “success.”

Technology “Critical” to Border Control

During the hearing, Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) said technology is a “vital component” to secure U.S. borders.

Hutchinson agreed, “Technology is a critical tool that enables the hard-working men and women of the Department of Homeland Security to properly balance our national security imperative with the free flow of goods and peoples across our nation’s borders” (Jerry Seper, Washington Times, March 13).

Also at the hearing, General Accounting Office official Nancy Kingsbury said that biometric technologies could be used to improve border control by recognizing travelers’ physical data, such as their retinas or fingerprints.

“Using biometrics as identifiers for border security appears to be appealing because they can help tightly bind a traveler to his or her identity by using physiological data,” Kingsbury said in prepared testimony.

She noted, however, the difficulties involved in biometrics as well.

“While biometric technology is currently available and used in a variety of applications, questions remain regarding the technical and operational effectiveness of biometric technologies in applications as large as border control … Technology is only part of an overall security solution and only as effective as the procedures within which it operates,” she said (General Accounting Office testimony, March 12).

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