Thursday, Sep 12, 2002
Thursday, Sep 12, 2002 |
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By Sridhar Krishnaswami
This has been based on warnings of possible strikes as the country observes the first anniversary of the horrific tragedy of Sept. 11, 2001. As many as a dozen embassies, consulates and other offices have been closed worldwide including in Indonesia and Malaysia even as officials are telling the people here to go about business as usual. But the Attorney General, John Ashcroft, warned that American intelligence agencies have concluded that "lower level'' Al-Qaeda operatives may see today as a suitable time to come up with even small strikes. "Widely dispersed, unsophisticated strikes are possible'', Mr. Ashcroft has warned. The President, George W. Bush, who will be attending solemn ceremonies at the Pentagon in Virgina, Shanksville and New York during the course of the day, approved raising the terror alert to "Code Orange'', which means "high danger''. This is the highest state of alert America has been put on since the system was put in place this March. "Americans need to go about their lives. They just need to know that their Government, at the Federal, State and local level, will be on an extra level of alert to protect us'', Mr. Bush said. The Vice-President, Dick Cheney, has been taken to a secret location with a view to protecting the Presidential line of succession in case of an attack. Mr. Cheney cancelled a scheduled speech on Tuesday night. The Pentagon has several warplanes patrolling the skies of U.S. cities; and the Defence Secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, has ordered anti-aircraft missiles to be stationed in and around the Washington area as a "precaution''. Air patrolling of New York and Washington are on a 24-hour basis. The Director of Homeland Security, Tom Ridge, has said that every available Air Marshall would be pressed into service on commercial jets for the next several days. Police and law enforcement authorities in local places are urging people to report anything out of the ordinary. The intelligence community is of the view that the likely targets at home and overseas are transportation and energy facilities, military facilities and national monuments.
Poignant scenes
With tears in their eyes, people from all walks of life in this country observed with great solemnity the one year observance of the terror attacks, and in the process, trying to come to terms with one of the most painful memories ever. More than 3,000 persons died in New York,Virginia (outside Washington) and Shanksville, Pennsylvania when 19 terrorists hijacked commercial jets that fateful day last year and slammed them into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. The fourth passenger jet went down in Shanksville after passengers coming to know of what was happening elsewhere, took on the terrorists. All 40 passengers and crew died. Till today, the possible destination of this passenger jet is still the subject of speculation — perhaps it was intended to be crashed on Capitol Hill or may be even the White House. In New York, the reading of the names of those who perished in the Twin Towers continues with leading personalities such as the Secretary of State, Colin Powell, participating in the tearful event. The President, Mr. George W. Bush, started his day with the First Lady at a private service in St. John's Church across the street from the White House; and observed a minute's silence in the South Lawn at exactly 8:46 a.m., the moment the first hijacked plan hit the World Trade Center. "The murder of innocents cannot be explained, only endured'', Mr. Bush said in remarks at the Pentagon, where 184 persons lost their lives. "Though they died in tragedy, they did not die in vain'', the President remarked. Mr. Bush will be travelling to Shanksville and later on this afternoon to New York to participate in ceremonies. Meanwhile, against the backdrop of heightened alert all across this country, a cargo container is being kept off some six miles off the coast of New Jersey after elements of radiation had been detected. The Coast Guard, which inspected the vessel initially, believed that the ship was carrying illegal immigrants.
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