11:25 am
Jack
WASHINGTON: Dark forebodings on the economy, war fatigue and a sense of dread over terrorism pervades America on the eve of the 10th anniversary of the event known as 9/11, when terrorists attacked the United States with four hijacked passenger airplanes.
Although there has not been a single successful attack on America since that catastrophic day, the world's most powerful country, albeit with declining strength, is on edge at the prospect of a "commemorative" attack. Federal authorities on Thursday warned local law enforcement agencies of a potential terrorist threat involving car bombs in New York and Washington that could coincide with the 10th anniversary of 9/11.
Although there has not been a single successful attack on America since that catastrophic day, the world's most powerful country, albeit with declining strength, is on edge at the prospect of a "commemorative" attack. Federal authorities on Thursday warned local law enforcement agencies of a potential terrorist threat involving car bombs in New York and Washington that could coincide with the 10th anniversary of 9/11.
The Department of Homeland Security said it had information about a "specific, credible but unconfirmed threat," and the White House said President Obama was briefed on Thursday morning and has been updated throughout the day. One official was quoted as saying the threat was "more than aspirational".
The concern is heightened by documents that were found inside Osama bin Laden's compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, that mentioned aspirations to strike on the 10th anniversary of the 2001 attacks.
The situation is fraught because President Obama, who has taken as hard a line against terrorism as his predecessor, will be on the road over the next few days to promote his jobs campaign, and will attend commemorative events in Shanksville, Pennsylvania and New York City in between.
Vehicular traffic into NYC and Washington DC and electronic communication is being subjected to intense scrutiny by thousands of security personnel and intelligence analysts using technology that till recently was in the realm of science fiction.
Obama administration officials are trying not to be alarmist because of false signals in the past, but abundant caution is the order of the day because of fears of charges of negligence, an accusation made in case of 9/11 when telltale signs and intelligence was ignored.
After initially saying there was no known credible threat related to the 9/11 anniversary, homeland security secretary Janet Napolitano reeled back on Thursday, saying, "It is still the case that we don't have something that would reach that standard, but we still have lots of chatter out there. And we take every bit of that seriously and track it down."
