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Orange Alert?
Government May Scrap Color-Coded Terror Warnings
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Orange Alert?
Government May Scrap Color-Coded Terror Warnings
by
Tom Diemer
AOL News - Associated Press
November 25, 2010
Did you know we are on "orange" alert? That's right -- though the high-risk warning is only for air travelers. The country as a whole is only at "yellow" -- significant risk of attack.
But all of that may change soon. |
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The color-coded alert system, instituted by the Bush administration after the 9/11 attacks, has long been derided by critics as too vague -- or worse, as a scare tactic. But the Obama administration may soon scrap it, the Associated Press reports, replacing the system with something more descriptive but not as, uh, colorful.
"I think it is something that is under review, simply to make it more meaningful and relevant to the American people," Transportation Security Administration head John Pistole said on ABC's "Good Morning America" Wednesday. "I'm just not sure how relevant [the color system] is."
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Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano is considering a draft plan aimed at helping Americans better understand the nature of any looming threats, the AP said. Details are still being worked out and the proposed changes have nothing to do with the current furor over airport pat-downs and body-imaging at security gates.
The agency wouldn't say when it will roll out a new system. "We are committed to providing specific, actionable information based the latest intelligence," department spokesman Amy Kudwa told the news agency.
HOMELAND SECURITY ADVISORY SYSTEM
The color alerts work like this:
red, a severe threat;
orange, high risk;
yellow,
significant
risk;
blue, general risk;
and green, lowest
threat
level.
Since the system started, the country has
never been below the yellow level. |
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