BE CAREFUL OUT THERE:

What's Behind Latest `Orange Alert': New intelligence reports that point to the possibility of multiple, imminent attacks by Al Qaeda against Jewish groups and Jewish-owned businesses in the U.S. (Michael Isikoff and Daniel Klaidman, 2/07/2003, Newsweek)

ACTING SWIFTLY ON the reports, FBI officials began contacting Jewish leaders and rabbis around the country Friday to warn them to be especially vigilant and to enhance security at Sabbath services and other events over the weekend, law-enforcement sources said. State and local police were also being asked to provide extra patrols for Jewish religious services and other gatherings. Officials said the new intelligence warned about the possibility of attacks on synagogues, Jewish community centers, Jewish hospitals, youth groups, hotels and resorts. [...]

The information about threats to Jewish-related interests was alarming to U.S. officials because of the unusually large number of them that came in over the past few days, the senior law-enforcement official said. But the official stressed that there were also concerns about other threats inside the United States, including reports of an attack using chemical, biological or radiological weapons. "We had much more information on chem-bio stuff," the official said. "That really unnerved me."

But other officials said the new threats were not materially different than others that have been picked up by the U.S. intelligence community periodically ever since the September 11 terror attacks.

Posted by Orrin Judd at February 8, 2003 9:14 AM