# Terror alert level **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [June 3, 2005, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terror-alert-level/306770 "2005-06-03T19:17:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Binarydrone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3da27b/32.png) [@Binarydrone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Binarydrone)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2005, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terror-alert-level/306770/1 "2005-06-03T19:17:41Z")
Have we had an elevated terror alert since just before the last presidential election that has made national news? I can’t recall one. Assuming that I am correct in my recollection here, what is the implication of that? ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2005, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terror-alert-level/306770/2 "2005-06-03T19:24:20Z")
That they’ve frightened the voters to sufficient lengths to re-elect the prez/vp and now everyone should remain feeling secure and safe because he’s on the job and look how well it’s worked out. ---
**Author:** ![Binarydrone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3da27b/32.png) [@Binarydrone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Binarydrone)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2005, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terror-alert-level/306770/3 "2005-06-03T19:34:11Z")
Always assuming that I am correct in that there has not been such an alert since before the election, do we write this off as a bizarre coincidence that just happened to have been politically beneficial to the party in charge? Do we justify it by saying that it was the election itself that made terror more likely (because they hate our freedom)? More importantly, at what point will this or something like it start to seem a little bit fish to the red state folks? ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2005, 8:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terror-alert-level/306770/4 "2005-06-04T08:15:17Z")
Another one of those inconsequential news tidbits the “liberal” media didn’t bother to interrupt your time with: > [@](#): > > [**Ridge reveals clashes on alerts**](http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2005-05-10-ridge-alerts_x.htm) > 5/10/2005, _USA Today_ > > The Bush administration periodically put the USA on high alert for terrorist attacks even though then-Homeland Security chief Tom Ridge argued there was only flimsy evidence to justify raising the threat level, Ridge now says. > > Ridge, who resigned Feb. 1, said Tuesday that he often disagreed with administration officials who wanted to elevate the threat level to orange, or “high” risk of terrorist attack, but was overruled. > > … “More often than not we were the least inclined to raise it,” Ridge told reporters. "Sometimes we disagreed with the intelligence assessment. Sometimes we thought even if the intelligence was good, you don’t necessarily put the country on (alert). … **There were times when some people were really aggressive about raising it, and we said, ‘For that?’**" ---
**Author:** ![Binarydrone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3da27b/32.png) [@Binarydrone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Binarydrone)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2005, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terror-alert-level/306770/5 "2005-06-04T17:07:53Z")
Most interesting. I am still wondering at what point people will start to pay attention to this sort of thing. Is this just a short attention span issue (the election is, after all, so last year)? ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2005, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terror-alert-level/306770/6 "2005-06-04T20:03:19Z")
Some of us did question it, and were scolded for being “paranoid”. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2005, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terror-alert-level/306770/7 "2005-06-04T20:39:36Z")
It is really hard to overstate the lock the Pubbies and their media buddies have over the media in the US. While they can’t prevent a particular piece of info from getting out, they definitely have the ability to drown it out with an avalanche of lies and other forms of disinformation. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2005, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terror-alert-level/306770/8 "2005-06-04T20:45:14Z")
From [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homeland\_Security\_Advisory\_System:](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homeland_Security_Advisory_System:) > [@](#): > > The threat level has stood at yellow for most of its existence. It has been raised to orange six times: > > September 10 - September 24, 2002, around the first anniversary of the September 11, 2001. > > February 7 - February 27, 2003, near the end of the Muslim religious holiday Hajj. Intelligence reports suggested the possiblity of terrorist attacks against “apartment buildings, hotels, and other soft or lightly secured targets.” > > March 17 - April 16, 2003, around the beginning of U.S. and Coalition military action in Iraq. > > May 20 - May 30, 2003, “The U.S. Intelligence Community believes that Al Qaida has entered an operational period worldwide, and this may include terrorist attacks in the United States.” - Tom Ridge > > December 21, 2003 - January 9, 2004, citing intelligence information suggesting large-scale attacks around the holiday season. > > August 1-November 10, 2004, for specific financial institutions in northern New Jersey, New York, and Washington, D.C., citing intelligence pointing to the possibility of a car or truck bomb attack, naming specific buildings as possible targets. [12] ([http://abcnews.go.com/wire/US/ap20040801\_723.html](http://abcnews.go.com/wire/US/ap20040801_723.html))[13] ([http://www.dhs.gov/dhspublic/display?theme=29](http://www.dhs.gov/dhspublic/display?theme=29)) > Other official terrorism warnings issued without raising the threat level above yellow: > > May 28, 2004, citing “credible evidence” of terrorist intent to affect upcoming elections. > > July 8, 2004, again citing “credible evidence” of terrorist intent to affect upcoming elections. > The threat level has never been lowered to blue or green. ---
**Author:** ![Binarydrone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3da27b/32.png) [@Binarydrone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Binarydrone)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2005, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terror-alert-level/306770/9 "2005-06-05T16:16:13Z")
BrainGlutton, I take it, then, that you do not feel that there is any connection between political manipulation and terror alert levels. Correct? ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2005, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terror-alert-level/306770/10 "2005-06-05T19:05:33Z")
> [@Binarydrone](#): > > BrainGlutton, I take it, then, that you do not feel that there is any connection between political manipulation and terror alert levels. Correct? I think the continuous Orange Alert from August through November 2004 was mighty convenient for the Bush campaign. As the same Wikipedia article points out, “There are no published criteria for the threat levels, and thus no independent way to tell whether the current threat level is accurate. The evidence cited to justify past changes in threat levels has been stated vaguely (see below) and its sources have seldom been revealed. This makes the system vulnerable to manipulation by government officials.”