2011 US Terror Threat Ahead of 9/11 Anniversary

Security was boosted in major US cities ahead of the 10th anniversary of the Twin Towers attacks on 11th September 2011. While not detailing it, officials have referred to the receipt of a "specific, credible threat" that might involve either Washington DC or New York.

Describing the threat as "uncorroborated", Michael Bloomberg - the Mayor of New York - has nonetheless said more robust security measures will be applied to tunnels, bridges and public transport facilities, while President Obama has urged for general anti-terror efforts to be multiplied.

A 9/11 service was held on Sunday, at the site where the Twin Towers once stood, and the attendee list included both Obama and George W. Bush - US president at the time of the attacks.

Information on the perceived 2011 US terror threat was provided at a media event involving Mayor Bloomberg, Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly and FBI representative Janet Fedarcyk. "Al-Qaeda has shown an interest in important dates and anniversaries", Ms Fedarcyk explained, adding: "In this instance, it is accurate that there is credible, specific but unconfirmed information."

One news source, ABC, has said information was picked up by intelligence organisations referring to three figures that had recently entered the United States and sought to carry out an attack involving vehicles, to mark the 9/11 anniversary. It added that, in the minds of officials, these figures could have originated from Afghanistan and routed through Iran while journeying to the US.

"As we always do before important dates like the anniversary of 9/11, we will undoubtedly get more reporting in the coming days", Homeland Security representative, Matt Chandler, stated.

"Sometimes this reporting is credible and warrants intense focus, other times it lacks credibility and is highly unlikely to be reflective of real plots under way. Regardless, we take all threat reporting seriously, and we have taken, and will continue to take all steps necessary to mitigate any threats that arise.

"We continue to ask the American people to remain vigilant as we head into the weekend."

See also:

High Alert Security Boost After Bin Laden Death

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New Terror Warning System for US

The United States government has formally launched a new US terror warning system to take over from the current colour-coded mechanism.

In it, the terror warning process has been simplified to just two distinct levels, highlighting the prospect of either an "imminent" or an "elevated" security threat.

The basic status of each of these levels will be enhanced with additional information, summarising exactly what the threat is and specifying how long it will remain in force.

When a new US security threat emerges, it will now also be broadcast with data on both where it might take place and what it might affect. In some instances, the warning will go out solely to those immediately at threat - not the US public at large. Various outlets will be used as a means of broadcasting the terror alerts - Twitter and Facebook among them.

Details of the new terror warning system were delivered on 20 April by Janet Napolitano - the US Homeland Security Secretary.

Two months after an earlier speech, in which she stressed that the terror risk level was at its most severe since 9/11, Napolitano explained, yesterday, how "the terrorist threat facing our country has evolved significantly over the past ten years."

The 9/11 terrorist attacks prompted United States officials to introduce the colour-coded US terror warning system concept in 2002. It attracted wide criticism since, in much of the population's eyes, it didn't supply full explanations of the threat involved. It also remained static (‘Orange') between August 2006 and the present day, so wasn't adjusted in spite of a number of attempted acts of terrorism experienced in between.

"We are changing to a system that gives people specificity, tells them what to do, what to prepare, what to look for and how to get more information", Napolitano said, in comments broadcast by NBC television.

"It will be specific to geography, to event or incident", she added. "If the information has changed, if the alert no longer needs to exist, it will automatically go away."

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US Security System Prevents Terror Flights

Over 350 potential terrorists have been stopped from flying by US officials over the past 15 months.

That's according to one element of the US media, The Associated Press, which links the successful flight preventions to the advent of a security boost in light of the attempted 2009 Christmas Day mid-air explosion.

Prior to that, the legacy of 9/11 survived for some seven years. According to unnamed officials working within US Security, hundreds of individuals, with various degrees of involvement in terrorism, slipped through the net, arriving in the US after boarding commercial flights from elsewhere. When questioned on arrival, they often linked their presence to business trips or holidays.

Their success dramatically reduced after 25 December 2009 when one man, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, was arrested, after it was claimed he tried to explode an airliner in mid-Transatlantic flight.

At the very start of 2010, new US airport screening measures began to be put in place to enable terror flight prevention, requiring passengers from specific terror-related nations to be patted-down and have their luggage come under close scrutiny, while there's also a watch list and a no-fly list against which international passengers are checked.

Consequently, airliner passengers with links to Hamas, al-Qaeda, Lashkar-e-Taibi and many other organisations have had their travel plans stopped. In line with legal requirements, no specific identifies have been provided.

The Christmas Day explosion attempt gave US airport security a thorough overhaul and the improvements keep on coming. The Terror Watch List is updated on a daily basis and, at present, it features in the region of 450,000 names, while the no-fly list has approximately 30,000.

In related news, the current US government terror security system - which issues risk-based alerts - is to be trimmed down from five elements to two.

Again, as reported by the Associated Press, these alerts will, from the end of April, will be issued when there's an ‘elevated' level of terror and when there's an ‘imminent' terror level. US citizens will get notice of these warnings in certain circumstances, but not if the risk level is too high, the AP says.

Currently, five colours are used to signify increasing US security risk levels and that's been the case since 9/11.

See also:

Companies supplying Airport Security

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