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Bush Era Alert System To Be Phased Out This Month By Mike Mitchell |
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April 25, 2011 - The National Terrorism Advisory System,
or NTAS, replaces the color-coded Homeland Security
Advisory System (HSAS). HSAA was created by Homeland
Security on March 11, 2002, in response to the September
11 attacks. The use of the system had been up heavy
criticism during the Bush administration.
HSAA system is scheduled to be phased out by April 27,
2011, and replaced with a new system the National
Terrorism Advisory System. This new system will more
effectively communicate information about terrorist
threats by providing timely, detailed information to the
public, government agencies, first responders, airports
and other transportation hubs, and the private sector.
In 2009, United States Secretary of Homeland Security
(2003?2005) alleged in his book The Test of Our Times:
America Under Siege...and How We Can Be Safe Again that
top aides to President Bush (including defense secretary
Donald Rumsfeld and attorney general John Ashcroft)
pressured him to raise the alert level on the eve of the
November 2004 presidential election. Ridge refused.
"After that episode, I knew I had to follow through with
my plans to leave the federal government for the private
sector," he said. |
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Under (NTAS) the new system there will a two-level alert
?Imminent Threat Alert? which warns of a credible, specific, and
impending terrorist threat against the United State and the
second will be ?Elevated Threat Alert? which will warn of a
credible terrorist threat against the United States.
United States Secretary of Homeland Security, Janet Napolitano
said the color-coded system often presented "little practical
information" to the public and that the new system will provide
alerts "specific to the threat" and that "they will have a
specified end date."
After reviewing the available information, the Secretary of
Homeland Security will decide, in coordination with other
Federal entities, whether an NTAS Alert should be issued. NTAS
Alerts will only be issued when credible information is
available.
These alerts will include a clear statement that there is an
imminent threat or elevated threat. Using available information,
the alerts will provide a concise summary of the potential
threat, information about actions being taken to ensure public
safety, and recommended steps that individuals, communities,
businesses and governments can take to help prevent, mitigate or
respond to the threat.
The NTAS Alerts will be based on the nature of the threat: in
some cases, alerts will be sent directly to law enforcement or
affected areas of the private sector, while in others, alerts
will be issued more broadly to the American people through both
official and media channels. An individual threat alert is
issued for a specific time period and then automatically
expires. It may be extended if new information becomes available
or the threat evolves. |
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