Color-Coded Terror Alert System Replaced

Goodbye, color-coded terror alert system.



From CNN:

The much-maligned, color-coded Homeland Security Advisory System is about to be consigned to the proverbial dustbin of history.

...Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano is expected to announce Thursday that the almost 9-year-old threat alert system will go away in April. It will be replaced by the new National Terror Advisory System that will focus on specific threats in geographical areas, a department source said Wednesday.

The source did not provide details of the new system, which Napolitano will unveil at what the department is calling "the first annual 'State of America's Homeland Security' address" at George Washington University.

..."Though the system served a valuable purpose in the terrible days and months following the terrorist attacks of September 11, it was clearly time for the current color-coded system to be replaced with a more targeted system," [Rep. Peter King, R-New York,] said. "I know they have been working on this for a long time. It sounds to me like the changes they are proposing make sense. We will have to wait and see how they implement this new, more targeted system. I expect the biggest challenge for DHS will be balancing the need to provide useful and timely information with the need to protect sensitive information."

"The old color coded system taught Americans to be scared, not prepared," said ranking member Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Mississippi. "Each and every time the threat level was raised, very rarely did the public know the reason, how to proceed, or for how long to be on alert. I have raised concerns for years about the effectiveness of the system and have cited the need for improvements and transparency. Many in Congress felt the system was being used as a political scare tactic -- raising and lowering the threat levels when it best suited the Bush administration."

The color system really didn't provide any information to the public, but obviously terrorist threats were thwarted while it was in place.

Although the color chart was rather meaningless, dedicated Americans successfully worked to keep us safe. Their efforts deserve respect, not mockery.

I don't agree with Thompson that the color-coded system "taught Americans to be scared, not prepared."

It didn't do much of anything for the public, good or bad. Certainly, in the months shortly after 9/11, when the threat level was raised, I took notice. But in terms of its impact on the public for most of the past decade, its influence has been negligible.

Will the new system be more valuable? Time will tell.

It should be better considering a new system was said to be in the works just after Obama took office. It's been two years in the making.

I suppose it's to be expected that the old color-coded system, a Bush administration relic, would be mocked by the liberal media as it makes its exit.

It was useless. It frightened people. It was ineffective.

Actually, that sounds a lot like the Obama administration's airport security measures of today, the body scans and "enhanced pat downs."

The simple color-coded chart was such a harmless thing compared to the TSA gropings. It didn't involve what can amount to sexual assault.

I hope the new terror alert system takes the terror threat seriously.

Janet Napolitano's loony assertion that she didn't want to use the term "terrorism" was truly scary. Replacing it with "man-caused disasters" in order to allegedly move away from the "politics of fear" was a joke.

The Obama administration has repeatedly created frightening doomsday scenarios to get the public to submit to its agenda, particularly when it comes to increased spending. The idea that the Obama administration doesn't utilize the politics of fear is absurd.

And at the airport, government employees grope the grandma with a walker and the old man with an artificial hip as if that will prevent a "man-caused disaster."

I don't have much faith in Janet Napolitano and the Obama administration to do what's right to protect the public from terrorists. Their hesitancy to use the word "terrorism" reveals the degree to which they'll go to score political points with their fellow Leftists.

Keeping the public safe from terrorists isn't a game.

Thankfully, in spite of the missteps of the Obama administration, we haven't been hit on a large scale.

Hopefully, the new system will reflect the reality that Islamic extremists still pose a threat to Americans and our homeland, as well as our interests abroad.

Obama's election two years ago didn't magically make them like us so we can all live happily ever after.