On terror alert for 9/11

On this date ten years ago in New York, people still saw a blue sky. But, the next day, that beautiful blue sky suddenly changed into grey and dark cloud due to the smoke billowed from the building of twin tower in the 9/11 terrorist attack.
New York on terror alert for 9/11 | Karen Greenberg | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk

New Yorkers were already in a heightened state of anxiety for the anniversary, but preparedness is better than complacency

By late Thursday night, media coverage of President Obama's jobs speech was rapidly being pushed aside by the announcement of a heightened terror alert in New York City, and Washington, DC. Reportedly, federal officials are concerned about a "credible but unconfirmed" threat – a possible planned attack by terrorists to coincide with the ten-year anniversary of 9/11. New York Police Commissioner Ray Kelly has announced heightened measures on the streets, in the subways, at the entrances and exits of tunnels and bridges, and elsewhere as a precaution. By contrast, over the summer, John Brennan, White House counterterrorism czar, and others have spent recent months downplaying the threat of al-Qaida to American national security, portraying the organisation as weakened by predator drone strikes, by the constant pressure on Afghanistan and by US counterterrorism law enforcement efforts worldwide.
So, what are we to think? How serious is this threat and what does it mean in terms of assessing al-Qaida's strengths a decade after the attack that changed the American political and psychological landscape in a day? While rumours of the details of this – a potential car bomb, a concern for three individuals trying to enter the country, an alleged Afghanistan tie – mount with each passing hour, it's worth taking a moment to think this through.
To begin with, it is inconceivable that this anniversary would occur without some kind of heightened state of alert in New York City (and elsewhere). Bin Ladenism, the original al-Qaida blueprint that led to 9/11, implies a fixation with the symbolism of dates, numbers and repeat attacks (as in two separate attacks on the World Trade Centre, one in 1993, one in 2001), all of which fans the imaginations of potential victims as well as, presumably, exciting the conspiratorial minds of the members of the terrorist organisation. It is a lasting imprint of the attack that will not go away.
It is also inevitable, with or without the reported "chatter" about a possible attack, that New Yorkers would approach this weekend with a sense of heightened anxiety. As a community, city dwellers cannot but have in the back of their minds the sense that a subway bomb such as Najibullah Zazi planned in 2009, or a car or truck bomb, like the one that went awry in Times Square last year – could some day go off in New York. This is true, even though the ten years without a successful attack or fatal terrorist incident has considerably quieted these fears.
Realistically speaking, the assessment of the weakened state of the al-Qaida network does not mean that there could never be another attack on New York City – although one on the scale of 9/11 is hard to imagine. As many experts have pointed out, the narrative of al-Qaida, and the willingness of individuals to mount an attack, remain, if only in skeletal form. "Chatter", like that reported today, is a frequent occurrence in jihadist cyberspace – at times more credible than at others.
It is reasonable to assume that city officials have been preparing for this moment for a long time. While reports are that the original notice of this threat came from information obtained during the search of bin Laden's premises in Pakistan at the time of his killing – giving authorities four months to ramp up defences – the NYPD and the FBI's joint terrorism task force have focused their considerable counterterrorism efforts against chatter and threats repeatedly for a decade now. The commemorations across town, culminating in Sunday's ceremony, which Presidents Obama and Bush will attend, are taking place with the knowledge that the NYPD, with its 35,000 member force, has taken the measures it can to safeguard the city, not just on 11 September, but in the week leading up to it. One need only look at the air cover and police presence being provided this weekend to note that the complacency and failure to focus on potential terrorist attacks that existed prior to 9/11 is a thing of the past.
The reality is that with or without this new report of "credible but unconfirmed chatter", the tenth anniversary was bound to result in a heightened state of anxiety among New Yorkers. This potential threat merely gives focus to the memories and fears that reside in all of us who remember that bright September day with a clarity that has not yet faded.