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Homeland officials stress citizen preparedness Precautions issued for weathering attack
By John Mintz, Washington Post, 2/11/2003 They also recommended that families consider designating a
room where they will gather in the event of such an attack and have on hand duct
tape and heavy plastic sheeting to seal it, as well as scissors, a manual can
opener, blankets, flashlights, radios and spare batteries. The officials
said they believe the Qaeda terrorist network is particularly targeting New York
and Washington. ''We see information on citizen preparedness as prudent
planning,'' said Gordon Johndroe, the department's spokesman. But given Al
Qaeda's interest in obtaining weapons of mass destruction, he added, ''it's
appropriate for citizens to be informed about how to respond to a terrorist
attack, much as people have prepared for years to be ready for tornadoes,
hurricanes, or floods.'' ''You have to talk to your family, and plan how you're going
to communicate with each other'' after a devastating terrorist attack, said
David Paulison, the US fire administrator, a top civil defense planner for the
new department. For example, he said, families could designate a third party
with whom telephone messages can be left. Department officials were offering what one acknowledged was
''a complex message'' with several elements. The first is that people must
mentally rehearse for a future attack, even though it's an unsettling exercise.
Yet officials want citizens to remain calm and not to view the situation as
dire. Law enforcement and homeland security officials have come
under some criticism since soon after the Sept. 11 attacks for offering the
public frightening but vague warnings, and at the same time giving little
guidance about what people can do. Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge and
Attorney General John Ashcroft have often said Americans should ''be vigilant,''
and on New Year's Eve, people were advised to ''avoid crowds.'' Specialists on terrorism said that given large amounts of new
intelligence, especially from Europe, suggesting that Americans could be
targeted by weapons of mass destruction, US government officials faced the same
public relations quandary they have faced in the past, but with higher stakes
this time. ''While police departments and local governments have a menu
of steps they take in reaction to the higher threat alerts, private citizens
don't, and there's not a hell of a lot an ordinary citizen can do,'' said Brian
Jenkins, a Rand Corporation specialist on counter terrorism. ''That creates
consternation, maybe even an atmosphere of terror that terrorists want to
create. And so that leads the government now to try to offer advice to people.'' This story ran on page A2 of the Boston Globe on 2/11/2003. |
ASHINGTON
- Top federal officials yesterday issued their most pointed
advice since Sept. 11, 2001, on precautions the public should take against
terrorist attacks, advising that every home should be stocked with three days
worth of water and food in case of a strike with chemical, biological, or
radiological weapons.
