Terror Alert raised for certain areas
 

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The United States on Sunday raised the terrorism threat level to code orange (high) for the financial services sector of New York City, northern New Jersey and Washington, Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge announced.

Ridge cited "new and unusually specific information about where al Qaeda would like to attack."

Read the rest here...

Now, I don't claim to be an expert in any way shape or form, but I was thinking that if I wanted to really do a sneaky attack, I would make everybody think I was attacking one place, get the attention focused there and then attack somewhere else. I don't know what their "sources" for intelligence are, but couldn't the terrorists set up fake information to try to fool everybody?

Dee

Eventually the government is going to be right when they predict an attack.

I guess they figure that by having constant alerts the laws of averages will eventually work out for them.

Kind of like predicting the day you wll die, if you do it every day you will someday be right.

I hope the people in our government set out to create a climate of terror did it on purpose. I would hate to think they were well-meaning but had no sense of history.

While this is a crediable report and all, the whole thing is verging on the "Boy who cried wolf" syndrome. NYC has been orange since Sept 11, 2001. Now all of Northern NJ is bumped to orange as well. I knew it was going to happen, just didn't think it was going to occur until the Republican Convention. I think its slightly crazy to close the Williamsburg Bridge. Sucks to be people who haven't discovered the wonders of mass transit.

I go into NY frequenty for pleasure and increasingly for business; everyone there pretty much takes the same stance as I do "Yeah theres a threat, no its not going to stop me from living my life, and if I die tomorrow in a terrorism bomb, then I'm ment to die tomorrow and it is all part of God's plan."

Personally, I'm a bit annoyed because I will have to go into NYC at least twice this week and Newark once. I see the security as a neccesary evil and am prepared to be frisked multiple times this week, lol.

It's cool. The American people are safer. The world is safer. :rolleyes:

I am listening to Mayor Bloomberg's press conference. I think that he said, "Whenever there is a large crowd or a symbolic event, there might be a target." "This is a credible threat."

I am concerned. I really don't want another terrorist attack to happen. I think that the FBI and the police can help prevent this from happening.

I live in New York. I know people who have said the first part about terrorism not stopping them from living their lives. I have never heard of anyone talking about actually dying and being a part of God's plan. That sounds too fatalistic for most people I know. Hopefully, it won't come to that.

I am also concerned. I think it's very hard for the FBI and police to prevent some types of terror attacks. I think it's very difficult to stop suicide bombers because they already expect to die. I still wouldn't be surprised though, if an attack occurred in LA or somewhere like that while the focus is on NYC and DC.

This is definitely the most specific alert issued. I hope that "the boy who cried wolf" attitude doesn't become prevalent. I don't remember what show it was from (Happy Days, I think!), but there was a character who said "When you least expect it, Expect it!" while threatening one of the main characters. This is how terrorists seem to think.

Dee

Re: Terror Alert raised for certain areas
 

My thoughts exactly :confused:

It's a new world out there..

If there hasn't been an attack since 9/11, it means we're doing something right.

Hopefull, being right gives them the opportunity to take meaningful preemptive action. We do know this time, however, that Saddam has nothing to do with this attack.

My boyfriend is in northern NJ, and Newark is in his territory (he's in sales). I told him that he shouldn't go to Newark until they know what's going on, and he told me not to worry so much. He was in NYC during 9/11, and I don't think I could handle it if he was at the location of another terrorist attack. :( Although, hopefully the government will do its job and protect its people.

I think we're doing a lot of things right. We could be doing more.

However, there have been numerous attacks since 9/11 -- all over Iraq, for instance, the Spanish train bombing and others.

They just haven't been here.

It may be that al Qaeda simply hasn't had the wherewithall in terms of money, people, logistics and planning to attack IN the US since then. They don't have infinite resources.

Of course that doesn't mean the won't.

I worry about the "Cry of Wolf" syndrome, but it's a little like a TV weatherperson predicting a big blizzard. If it doesn't come, you look dumb -- if you don't predict it, and it does come, you look dumb. Tough decision.

Hey there, PNC, I'm Fatalistic Fran!!! :D Seriously, though, I do feel that way.

After seeing it happen before, I know there is simply nothing I can do about it. If I'm meant to be the target, I will be, and that's that. Just like if I'm meant to die in a car crash I will. I can obey the traffic laws and wear my seat belt, but there's nothing I can do about the other crazies on the road...

Oy was it a pain today though! The poor people at one of the Citibank buildings had to wait in line outside (ick, heat) to show their badge to even get in the building. Then they still had to sacn the badge and their bags once in. And 57th St was closed because of a 'suspicious package' between Park and Lex. I really hope the next 4 weeks aren't like this...:(

Can you imagine the fallout if they knew it would happen but said nothing? I'd personally be very upset. I don't think it's much of a dilemna.

I hear you on that one!! I got sent to Newark to drop off a package to our lawyers and it was the first time any one from our office has been sent out there (one of those "we needed the contract yesterday" things). What should have taken me 45min-hour there and back took alllllll morning (4 hours). I sat in traffic. I love sitting in traffic when you can put the car in park.

I agree that there is really nothing you can do about it. I think that this city is much safer than it was three years ago. You just have to live your life as safely as possible.

I think that it will get worse with the Republican National Convention, the U.S. Open, and the anniversary of September 11th. I'm on 57th Street and something is always happening here because it is so busy with crosstown traffic.

Two members of my alumnae association work at Citigroup so I'll ask them what's going on there. I think that they are in the downtown office.

There are a couple of interesting allegations from WWII including that we knew in advance about Pearl Harbor and that the British allowed one of their cities to be bombed so that the Germans wouldn't find out we had caputred a cypher machine -- somebody help me with the name.

Even today, some politicians were asking whether we gave away some of our intellegence techniques by making this announcement.

It was crazy going to work for people who work in finance and for the city. It took about half an hour to get into their offices.

The AMEX Headquarters has been under such security since it moved back to the World Financial Center in May 2002. I guess since Midtown has been targeted a little more specifically, they're just doing what Lower Manhattan has been used to for some time. :(

I'm leaving town during the convention, anyway.

Coventry. The Enigma cypher machine decrypts (under the code name ULTRA) were so sensitive that they were one of the last secrets of World War II that have been declassified. Even then, there's still some information that remains classified because it would divulge 'intelligence sources and methods" (i.e. expose a well-placed 'mole' inside an adversarial foreign government).

A similar decryption program for Japanese message traffic was under the code name MAGIC.

All the indications that pointed to a probable attack on the United States by Japan were in plain sight, but the intelligence information was dismissed out of hand or acted upon too late to be of any use.

Enigma was a breakthrough in cryptological machines when it was introduced in the 1930s, though there are infinitely more powerful (and highly classified) cypher machines in use today. Most of the US crypto machines had to be redesigned after the traitor John Walker sold 'em out to the Russkies.

Awww... Alan Turing *tears*.

Really though, he had a very interesting life and his Enigma machines were basically insturmental in the Allies winning WWII. AND... and a woman in computer science - the Enigma project was a great example of women's interacting with computers!

To be honest, the word around here is that no one has yet found a efficient method of breaking the current ecryption standards. There are brute force ways, but they are still slow and costly. The discovery of an efficient method of decomposing large numbers into their primes would of course, change that, which some people speculate would ruin the world economy. Fun stuff eh?

Interesting revealation today that most (?) of the information for Sunday's announcement is up to four years old.

I'd like to know how much, if any, of this is really new.