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U.S. Braces for Attack

Missile launchers set to protect Capitol
American embassies abroad closed
Cheney spirited to secret, safe location
Canadians in Gulf: 'Extra cautious'

Wednesday, September 11, 2002
By Hilary Mackenzie in Washington
Rick Mofina & Randy Boswell in Ottawa



The Ottawa Citizen
With files from Citizen News Services



"We ask that Americans both at home and abroad mark the anniversary of last year's savage attacks with a heightened awareness of their environment and the activities occurring around them. We really hope that by being alert and by having elevated security, that we default the attempt of any terrorist activities. The primary aspiration that we have is to prevent terrorist attacks."

WASHINGTON & OTTAWA -- OC
Warplanes are patrolling the skies over New York City and Washington and portable missile launchers are guarding the U.S. Capitol as Americans brace today for a possible terrorist strike on the first anniversary of the Sept. 11 hijack attacks.

U.S. President George W. Bush raised the country's threat level for the first time to "code orange," flagging a "high risk" of terror strikes on the day the U.S. and all nations will commemorate the cataclysmic attack that sparked a global war on terrorism and shook the world's political order.

More than a dozen American embassies and consulates were shut down yesterday and U.S. military facilities overseas were put on their highest alert as officials cited "credible" and "specific" threats to U.S. interests abroad.

"We take every threat seriously," Mr. Bush said. "The threats that we have heard recently remind us of the pattern of threats that we heard prior to Sept. 11."

The security warnings came as jittery Americans prepared for today's solemn ceremonies marking the suicide attacks in hijacked airliners that killed more than 3,000 people in Washington, D.C., New York City and Pennsylvania.

"Today and tomorrow we'll be reliving a horrible reminder of what is possible in the 21st century -- that is no country is immune from attack," Mr. Bush said, exhorting Americans not to vent their emotions on Muslims.

"As we mourn tomorrow, we must remember that our enemy is a radical network of terrorists, not a religion," he said at Afghanistan's embassy in Washington.

U.S. intelligence agencies, armed with new information from a senior al-Qaeda operative in the last 24 hours, sparked the heightened sense of alarm that now hangs over the U.S. capital.
(More: Canada.com News Source)
2002 © The Ottawa Citizen.

Dan