Lankan Ranger
ELITE MEMBER
USA to drop colour-coded terror alerts
The United States is planning to replace its colour-coded terror alert system drafted in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks with detailed threat advisories, media reported on Thursday.
The department of homeland security (DHS) has drafted a proposal sent to the White House to end its five-coloured system mocked by critics as a relic of post-9 /11 frenzy that caused alarm without explaining reasons for the alerts.
Instead, it will provide more clarity and guidance in specific alerts, according to the reports.
"The goal is to replace a system that communicates nothing with a system that communicates precise, actionable information based on the latest intelligence," a DHS official said.
Under the existing system, which George W Bush put in place in 2002, a band of colours ranked the risk of a terror attack, from the lowest level green to blue (guarded risk), yellow (significant), orange (high) and red (severe).
The threat level mostly hovered around the yellow and orange range, never dipping to green or blue. It only reached red once, on August 10, 2006, amid a disrupted Al-Qaida plot targeting transatlantic flights. In a sign of just how obsolete it has become, officials said the colour has not changed since 2006, remaining orange.
US to drop colour-coded terror alerts - The Times of India
The United States is planning to replace its colour-coded terror alert system drafted in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks with detailed threat advisories, media reported on Thursday.
The department of homeland security (DHS) has drafted a proposal sent to the White House to end its five-coloured system mocked by critics as a relic of post-9 /11 frenzy that caused alarm without explaining reasons for the alerts.
Instead, it will provide more clarity and guidance in specific alerts, according to the reports.
"The goal is to replace a system that communicates nothing with a system that communicates precise, actionable information based on the latest intelligence," a DHS official said.
Under the existing system, which George W Bush put in place in 2002, a band of colours ranked the risk of a terror attack, from the lowest level green to blue (guarded risk), yellow (significant), orange (high) and red (severe).
The threat level mostly hovered around the yellow and orange range, never dipping to green or blue. It only reached red once, on August 10, 2006, amid a disrupted Al-Qaida plot targeting transatlantic flights. In a sign of just how obsolete it has become, officials said the colour has not changed since 2006, remaining orange.
US to drop colour-coded terror alerts - The Times of India

