Bioweapon sensors to be installed

[BEER980]

John Mintz, Sara Kehaulani Goo, Washington Post
Thursday, December 25, 2003
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Washington -- A French airline canceled six flights between Paris and Los Angeles on Wednesday out of fears that terrorists might be aboard, and U.S. officials ordered the emergency installation in California of dozens of sensors that sniff the air for biological pathogens that could be used in a terrorist attack.

With teams that would respond to use of weapons of mass destruction on standby alert, high-ranking U.S. government officials have held near round-the- clock meetings in recent days to sift through intelligence reports that suggest the possibility of terrorist activity in the United States this holiday week.

U.S. officials said intelligence gleaned from overseas electronic intercepts and other means points to California as the location of highest concern. U.S. officials expressed fears over the use of a range of devices that included biological or chemical weapons, and a radiological or "dirty bomb," officials said.

Department of Homeland Security officials decided the threat was credible enough to order the immediate placement in California of scores of additional outdoor air-sampling sensors that are designed to warn officials of any release of deadly microbes into the atmosphere. Dozens of such "Bio-Watch" sensors have been in use in a number of California cities and dozens of others, including Washington and New York, since last March.

Military and civilian emergency teams that respond to possible terrorist plots involving weapons of mass destruction have been placed on heightened alert around the country since Sunday, when the government raised the national threat status to orange or "high risk."

Under their new orders, the teams must be ready to respond in two hours rather than four. Should a crisis appear imminent, they would board military transport jets and fly to the trouble spot.

While U.S. officials have expressed their most pointed concerns about California, they remain worried about possible attacks in other cities, including Washington, New York and Las Vegas and numerous parts of the nation's critical infrastructure.

Across the country, Christmas vacations for many FBI and other federal agents were canceled. In Washington, cars around the U.S. Capitol have been stopped and drivers have been asked to submit to voluntary searches of their vehicles. Government officials who have been attending the virtually dawn-to- dawn crisis meetings about the terror alert expressed serious alarm about the intelligence on which they are being briefed.

"I'm gravely concerned," said one government official whose days have been a blur of briefings in secure government installations since Saturday morning, the day before Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge placed the nation on orange alert. "I haven't gotten a lot of sleep for days."

One high-ranking government official who also has spent the past week being briefed on the government's efforts, said that "lives are at stake here. I'm very worried about it."
Source

[Josephine96]

Boy you're just full of good news aren't you lol

[BEER980]

Yea not much more news I can bring right now.

[Josephine96]

Oh well.. We just gotta remain on alert. I hope nothing happens when those planes get off the ground tomorrow..

I don't know how much we can trust the French and their "No terrorist links on the flights" claim.. No offense if anyone is French in here I hope.

Interesting days ahead as the new year approaches..

[streetsoldier]

How can I get one of those for coppertop's room?

[vbhoutex]

How can I get one of those for coppertop's room?

ROFLMAO!!!!! EEEEEEEWWWWWW!!!!!!

[Corona]

....I don't know how much we can trust the French and their "No terrorist links on the flights" claim.. No offense if anyone is French in here I hope....

The French have been giving the U.S. G2 terrorist Intel for quite some time now as they have quite the inside track with humint. Do not discount them.