Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge addressed workers about the enhanced terror alert yesterday in the new Homeland Security Operations Center in Washington, D.C.
Terror alert not
aimed at HawaiiFederal officials warn of possible
attacks during election season
Federal officials warn that al-Qaida might strike the United States to disrupt this year's election season, but state officials say Hawaii is not high on the list of potential targets.
Some of the bigger events in potential danger are this summer's national Democratic and Republican conventions, said Hawaii's Department of Defense head, Maj. Gen. Bob Lee.
"I like the local picture right now, which is no specific threat to the state of Hawaii," Lee said yesterday. "But we'll be watching a lot closer towards election time."
Federal officials said yesterday that a steady stream of intelligence indicates al-Qaida wants to disrupt the U.S. elections. Besides elaborate security plans for the Democratic convention in Boston and the GOP convention in New York, the officials are considering how to secure polling places come November.
Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge said the Bush administration based a decision to bolster security on credible reports about al-Qaida's plans, coupled with the pre-election terror attack in Spain earlier this year and recent arrests in England, Jordan and Italy.
"This is sobering information about those who wish to do us harm," Ridge said, "but every day, we strengthen the security of our nation."
The government is not raising its color-coded alert status, however, he said, and U.S. officials do not have specific knowledge about where, when or how an attack might take place. The CIA, FBI and other agencies "are actively working to gain that knowledge," Ridge said.
The information being examined includes some gleaned from militant-linked Web sites, an intelligence official told the Associated Press. Plans for an attack are believed to be near completion, the official said. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said recent information indicates that planning is being directed at the top levels of al-Qaida, which includes Osama bin Laden and his deputy, Ayman al-Zawahri.
Asked why he had made a public announcement yesterday, Ridge said that after the attacks in Madrid, Spain, he considered it "very important, on a periodic basis, to frankly just give Americans an update as to where we are and what we are doing."
The Bush administration was criticized by Democrats in late May when Attorney General John Ashcroft put forward a high-profile warning that an attack could be imminent -- an assessment not all high-ranking officials shared.
Before Ridge's public comments, top FBI, CIA and Homeland Security Department officials had briefed House members Wednesday and Senate members yesterday at the request of congressional leaders. With the summer political conventions nearing, lawmakers had requested information about the terror attack threat and security precautions.
FBI Director Robert Mueller said that officials were taking security steps that "we anticipate will continue all the way through the election."
Lee said Hawaii has already increased security, most visibly at harbors and ports. He would not go into any other changes that could take place during the election season.
"If the intelligence situation changes, we have troops ready to go," said Lee, who is the state's adjutant general and head of the Hawaii Army and Air National Guard.
Star-Bulletin reporter Rod Antone and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
