February 11, 2009 4:37 PM
- Text
Homeland Security Chief: "We Are Safe"
(CBS/AP)
The United States remains safe after the attack at a Scottish airport and two foiled car bombs in London, and no lifting of the terror alert status is planned, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said Monday.
"We are safe, but we are safe because we continue to pay attention and we continue to add security measures," Chertoff told CBS's The Early Show.
The homeland security chief noted that it appears no suicide bombers were involved in the incidents over the past several days in Great Britain and said that sends the message that would-be terrorists have a wide variety of ways to attack.
"If you look back at all the plots, you've seen a wide variety of techniques," he said. But Chertoff said authorities in the United States must prepare for a wide variety of threats, even though the suicide attacks often are the most spectacular.
He also said the country needs to be especially vigilant about how and under what circumstances the threat increases.
"I think we've been saying for some period of time that we need to be looking not only at homegrown terrorism, but that international terrorism might come to the United States through Europe," Chertoff said.
The United States' terrorism alert for airports is at orange, the second highest level, and yellow, the midlevel stage of the alert status, for the rest of the country as a whole. Red is the highest alert level.
Chertoff said the decision was made to leave the terror alert where it is for now, "based on what we've seen so far."
At the nation's airports, security measures have been increased, with more attention paid to vehicles inside the airport and more U.S. Sky Marshals placed aboard international flights, reports CBS News correspondent Randall Pinkston.
A U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity while the investigations were ongoing, said Sunday that American authorities were running the names of the suspects in Britain through their databases to look for links to the United States.
Those checks would include watch lists such as the no-fly list; any clue that the suspects had shared an address with people in the U.S.; intelligence indicating the suspects made calls into the U.S.; and other similar types of investigative work.
"We are safe, but we are safe because we continue to pay attention and we continue to add security measures," Chertoff told CBS's The Early Show.
The homeland security chief noted that it appears no suicide bombers were involved in the incidents over the past several days in Great Britain and said that sends the message that would-be terrorists have a wide variety of ways to attack.
"If you look back at all the plots, you've seen a wide variety of techniques," he said. But Chertoff said authorities in the United States must prepare for a wide variety of threats, even though the suicide attacks often are the most spectacular.
He also said the country needs to be especially vigilant about how and under what circumstances the threat increases.
"I think we've been saying for some period of time that we need to be looking not only at homegrown terrorism, but that international terrorism might come to the United States through Europe," Chertoff said.
The United States' terrorism alert for airports is at orange, the second highest level, and yellow, the midlevel stage of the alert status, for the rest of the country as a whole. Red is the highest alert level.
Chertoff said the decision was made to leave the terror alert where it is for now, "based on what we've seen so far."
At the nation's airports, security measures have been increased, with more attention paid to vehicles inside the airport and more U.S. Sky Marshals placed aboard international flights, reports CBS News correspondent Randall Pinkston.
A U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity while the investigations were ongoing, said Sunday that American authorities were running the names of the suspects in Britain through their databases to look for links to the United States.
Those checks would include watch lists such as the no-fly list; any clue that the suspects had shared an address with people in the U.S.; intelligence indicating the suspects made calls into the U.S.; and other similar types of investigative work.
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