Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Ridge to form security task force

WASHINGTON -- With an eye on a large number of symbolic gatherings, Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge is forming a new government task force to better coordinate public and private security -- and hopefully prevent the next terrorist attack.

Ridge said high-profile public events this year may be attractive targets for al-Qaida and like-minded terrorist groups, beginning with the dedication of the new World War II Memorial in Washington over the Memorial Day weekend.

"With so many symbolic gatherings in the next few months, we must be aggressive. These targets of opportunity for the terrorists are opportunities that can't be missed to tighten our security," Ridge said, according to remarks prepared for a speech before the National Association of Broadcasters in Las Vegas.

"Wherever possible, we will ratchet it up," he later added.

On the new task force, Homeland Security officials will be joined by representatives from nine Cabinet-level agencies in an effort to improve coordination as the government works to secure critical infrastructure and increase the nation's readiness.

Those agencies include the Defense, Interior, Energy, Health and Human Services, Justice, Treasury, Transportation and Agriculture departments and the Environmental Protection Agency. Ridge said the Homeland Security Department also has launched a video news network to feed materials into every agency within the Homeland Security Department to make sure they are giving a consistent message to the public and news media.

"A consistent message to the public in times of crisis is critical," Ridge said.

Ridge said officials don't have specific intelligence about possible attacks. But based on analysis, the government is paying attention to potential targets.

These include next month's war memorial dedication, the June meeting in Georgia of the Group of Eight industrialized nations, large gatherings nationwide for Fourth of July celebrations, the July Democratic convention in Boston, the August Republican convention in New York and the August Olympics in Athens.

"We have to be right hundreds of times. They only have to be right once," Ridge said.

Jose Maria Aznar, outgoing prime minister of Spain and a strong U.S. ally in the war in Iraq, has warned President Bush that terrorists may try to affect the U.S. elections in November, as they did in Spain with the March 11 Madrid train bombings. Nearly 200 died, and Aznar's ruling Popular Party lost to a rival calling for the pullout of Spanish troops from Iraq.

National security adviser Condoleezza Rice said Sunday the United States is bracing for possible attacks before the elections.

Ridge, however, said the elections are not the factor in forming the "working group," which still lacks an official name. "Depending on how the terrorists interpret Spain's response -- whether it did or did not impact -- is almost immaterial to this effort," he said. "Again, we know we are the No. 1 target."

Even though the nation spends most of its time at yellow alert -- the middle of a five-point terror warning spectrum -- Ridge said security is still stronger than it was a year ago and will continue to improve.

Extensive plans are already in the works to protect the party conventions and the G-8 meeting, which have been classified as National Security Special Events. With the designation -- a concept that evolved from the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta -- comes heightened security coordinated by Homeland Security's Secret Service agency.

To improve security operations for these and other high-profile events, Ridge said his department is leaning on its authority from two of Bush's homeland-security directives to create the task force, which will also work with industry, governors and police and other first responders. The group, for instance, will coordinate with states to implement the infrastructure strategies they have submitted to his department.

Nevada Homeland Security Adviser Jerry Bussell said that making sure that public and private security are working together to prevent terrorist attacks is key.

"We know that 87 percent of the critical infrastructure that we're trying to protect (nationwide) is in the private sector, so it only makes sense for them to be at the table," Bussell said.

In Las Vegas it has long been clear that the private sector needs to play a role in homeland security, and it has, Bussell said.

"We are down the road on this one already, when you consider the New Year's celebration and the cooperation that goes into that," Bussell said. "We've got an army of security personnel at the casinos, and security is their business. We can't get the equipment and resources they can bring anywhere else."

The Las Vegas Security Chiefs Association, which includes representatives from more than 90 Las Vegas resorts and 7,000 security officers, continues to work closely with Bussell, Metro Police and other emergency responders.

The association's security officers have completed Metro and FBI training to familiarize themselves with weapons of mass destruction and incident management, according to the association's president Tim Donovan.

Thirty-five million visitors come to Las Vegas every year, and the Strip is the home of 20 of the world's largest hotels.

Sun reporters Jace Radke and Stephen Curran contributed to this story.

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