Word: alerting
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Friday, Americans were confronted with unsettling news: the government's terror alert level rose from yellow (elevated) to orange (high) for the first time since September 2002. Officials theorize the "spike" in suspicious communications may be linked to the start of the hajj, the annual Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca, or to discussions of an attack on Iraq. And while the change in hue did not prompt fears to rival the jittery heights of fall 2001, the announcement did prompt a bit more worry in an already nervous nation...
...While the feds underscore they do not know of a threat to any specific target, intelligence sources have picked up increased "chatter" from potential terror cells in recent days. With such a vague warning and no new information, how should the public respond to this alert...
...TIME.com: Does it make sense for the government to announce the changes in alert levels to the public? William Waugh: Well, it could probably be argued that we've been on alert since September 11th, 2001, so I'm not really sure this change has changed anything. All of our emergency response teams were already on highest alert before the warning, and I don't think there's any way to ramp up from there, either in terms of manpower or budgets...
...only danger I can see in issuing such a strongly worded warning is if nothing happens this time around, the next time there's an alert the government may find people lose attentiveness, or patience, and become less vigilant. It's kind of a "Boy Who Cried Wolf" scenario...
...does, and the SOG's capacities are growing. Its maritime branch has speedboats to carry commandos to shore, and the agency can rent cargo ships through its front companies to transport larger equipment. The air arm, which Pentagon officials have nicknamed the Waffen CIA, has small passenger jets on alert to fly paramilitary operatives anywhere in the world on two hours' notice. Other cargo planes, reminiscent of the Air America fleet that the agency had in Vietnam, can drop supplies to replenish teams in remote locations. For areas like Afghanistan and Central Asia, where a Russian-made helicopter stands...