What is the Deal with Terror Alerts?
By Jan A. Larson The terror alerts were elevated from yellow to orange in New York, Washington and Newark last week. Some complained that they were inconvenienced by the resulting traffic snarls. I wonder how inconvenienced they would have been if a truck bomb had blown up their workplace instead? Americans have short attention spans, but has it been that long since September 11, 2001? While many, including some on the 9/11 Commission, complained that there wasn’t enough done to prevent the attacks of September 11, others are now complaining that they can’t get to work on time. We can never know what might have been prevented each time the alert level is raised and some people are annoyed. Terrorists aren’t going to send an email to say that they are going to park a white truck, license number BR-549, loaded with explosives in front of the Prudential Building at 9:30 a.m. on Tuesday. The information about attacks will likely always be sketchy, will likely always be questioned and will
