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America Prepares to Celebrate Independence Under 'Yellow' Alert NewsMax.com WiresWASHINGTON – The nation is sliding into the Independence Day weekend under a yellow alert, an "elevated" stage of readiness significantly below the kind of "red" alert that would be sounded if officials believed a terror attack were imminent. The FBI said Tuesday that it had no specific warning of an attack around the holiday, but agents have been getting prepared. An FBI spokesman said the widespread media reporting of a bureau terror "alert" was apparently based on a misunderstanding. "There was a communication sent to the field offices on June 14," the spokesman said, "which basically instructed the field offices that they should develop a 'concept of operations' plan for July 4." The FBI spokesman said the memo was not based on any detailed intelligence of an imminent attack. "The FBI possesses no specific or credible information related to the July 4 Independence Day events," the spokesman said. "However, the political and cultural significance of the date warrants increased vigilance. It would be prudent to have a concept of operations plan." FBI field offices are working through local joint anti-terrorism task forces, which consist of federal, state and local law enforcement and emergency first-responders such as hospitals and fire departments. "The field offices are prepared to deal with an incident if it does take place," the spokesman said. A yellow alert places the nation at the midpoint of readiness in the administration's color-coded "Home Security Advisory System." Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge and Attorney General John Ashcroft agreed on the necessity of yellow alert earlier this week but rejected higher stages of readiness. The system ranges from green for "low," blue for "guarded," yellow for "elevated," orange for "high" and red for "severe." The nation has been under one sort of alert or another since 19 Arab hijackers took control of four airliners Sept. 11. Two of the airliners were crashed into the World Trade Center towers in New York City, causing the collapse of the complex. One was crashed into the Pentagon near Washington. The fourth crashed in rural Pennsylvania, apparently because passengers were trying to take control of the aircraft from the terrorists. Nearly 3,000 people were killed, more than were killed during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Osama bin Laden and his terror organization, al-Qaeda, or "the Base," were almost immediately accused of masterminding the attacks. Though the U.S. military, CIA paramilitary troops and their Afghan allies crushed al-Qaeda and its Taliban hosts in Afghanistan last November, U.S. officials have warned that the terror organization has been trying to regroup in that region and elsewhere. Tensions in the United States increased in June when the Justice Department announced the arrest of Abdullah al Muhajir a month before at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport. Al Muhajir, born Jose Padilla, was accused of being part of a conspiracy to explode a "dirty bomb" in the United States. A dirty bomb is a conventional explosive device wrapped in radioactive material that is scattered when the munitions detonate. Copyright 2002 by United Press International. All rights reserved.
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