Saturday, November 3, 2001

Officials try to guess next terror target

By SALLY BUZBEE, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (November 3, 12:53 p.m. AST) - As U.S. officials try to figure out the next likely targets of possible terrorist attacks, they are evaluating uncorroborated tips and concrete intelligence, using some basic common sense - and dealing with a whole lot of theories.

The United States has stepped up security at airports and post offices, nuclear plants, even the Golden Gate Bridge.

Terrorists seek out vulnerable spots: That's about the only thing most experts agree on. Once Americans learned how to stymie truck bombs against embassies, Osama bin Laden's followers looked around and found it easier to hijack airplanes.

"The big failure we had on Sept. 11 was a failure of imagination, of imagining what they could do," said Herbert E. Meyer, vice chairman of the CIA's National Intelligence Council in the Reagan administration. "We can't afford that again."

So far, the FBI has issued two nationwide alerts that terrorists might strike again - the first Oct. 11 and the second on Oct. 29. Both were based on credible information from multiple sources, gathered by intelligence agencies, that bin Laden's followers planned new attacks.

But U.S. officials said the information was vague, providing no clue to possible targets.

Thus, federal officials offered little guidance to police or average Americans about what to protect. Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge told governors to examine "vulnerable" spots, among them nuclear plants.

Officials have increased security at government offices, military bases, Chicago's Sears Tower and other skyscrapers. They have urged greater scrutiny of crop-dusters, large loads of chemicals, dams, chlorine tanks near water supplies and explosives like dynamite. They also have tightened security at airports and post offices, the sites of terrorism so far.

Beyond that, there have been a handful of more specific threats - but arising from less credible "uncorroborated information," the FBI says. California's governor made one public Thursday when he said the state's suspension bridges, including the soaring Golden Gate, were at risk.

A similar FBI warning based on uncorroborated information led Hollywood studios to close Sept. 20.

"When we ... hear something that might be real, we're going to notify the respective authorities" and governors then can choose what to do, President Bush said Friday.

Beyond such warnings arising from tips or intelligence, many officials also have recommended preparing against theoretical "doomsday" risks: smallpox, poisons in the food or water supplies, or backpacks stuffed with radioactive material.

"There is a universe of potentials that we have to deal with," Ridge said.

-- Anonymous, November 03, 2001