The United States will launch a new terror alert system aimed at better informing Americans about the nation’s security posture, Homeland chief Jeh Johnson has said.
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In remarks at a Defense One conference on December 7, Johnson said the department’s current alert system, which is triggered by “credible threats” inside the USA, was becoming impractical in an increasingly fluid and blurred terrorism environment. “I believe we need to get beyond that and go to a new system that has an intermediate level to it … which I think reflects our new environment and new realities”. Because of that high bar, the system has never been used since 2011 when it replaced the color-coded alert system implemented in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks.
You can expect to soon see a new terror alert system from the Department of Homeland Security.
Replacing the color-coded scheme adopted by the George W. Bush administration, Johnson’s predecessor, Janet Napolitano instituted the National Terrorism Advisory System, or NTAS.
Johnson said the problem with the NTAS is it’s based on having a specific and credible piece of intelligence of a plot.
Studies showed the public paid little attention to the five-tiered system, and counterterrorism officials felt the warnings, which had never dropped below the yellow bar labeled “elevated”, were no longer useful.
But Jack Tomarchio, who runs the national security consulting firm Agoge Group in Wayne, says he’s concerned that changes could further muddle things.
The changes will be added to the existing National Threat Advisory System.
Johnson’s announcement came after a married couple last week opened fire at a holiday party in San Bernardino, California, killing 14 people and injuring dozens others.
The president called the San Bernardino massacre an “act of terrorism” by U.S.-born Syed Farook and his wife, Pakistani citizen Tashfeen Malik, who burst into an aid center for the disabled and opened fire at people attending an employee Christmas party being held there. The FBI is investigating the California shooting as a terrorist attack. Johnson directed a review of the system earlier this year.
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Even though the unfortunate event wasn’t classified as a terrorist attack yet, the threat for Islamic radicals is a growing concern, since similar attacks may not be discovered in advance, said Jeh Johnson.
