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WASHINGTON (July 3) - Fighter jets will patrol the skies and plainclothes FBI agents will walk Fourth of July parade routes in an all-hands response to vague but increasing talk detected by U.S. intelligence of possible terrorist attacks.
The FBI sent a nationwide advisory to law enforcement agencies on Wednesday that the State Department was reporting heightened traffic between terrorist operatives overseas as the Independence Day holiday approached.
The advisory said there was no specific threat against a target in the United States - a point that officials underscored publicly.
''There is just a general level of concern that ... when the American people gather in large numbers, it can become something of a target for people who want to do us harm,'' White House press secretary Ari Fleischer said.
As a precaution, the military was temporarily reactivating the constant combat air patrols, or CAPS, that had been flown over Washington and New York after Sept. 11 but had been scaled back in April.
''CAPS will be flying over several American cities and randomly throughout the nation,'' Fleischer said. Officials declined to specify which cities beyond New York and the capital city, where a concert and fireworks are expected to attract 500,000 people to the National Mall.
The new round-the-clock Homeland Security Coordination Center will roughly double its staffing monitoring nearly 2,100 medium and large Independence Day events nationwide.
The command center in Washington has already established lines of communication to be in contact with officials at each of those holiday celebrations and will additionally be staffed by special liaisons from the FBI, Secret Service, Federal Emergency Management Agency and Department of Health and Human Services.
Similar multi-agency command posts were being set up in other major cities, including Boston. In Los Angeles and Houston, FBI officials said the bureau's agents will have a heavy presence at parades and fireworks displays.
The FBI is also requiring its 56 field offices to monitor events in their regions, using several forms of electronic surveillance as well as the deployment of field agents - both apparent and undercover - to circulate among the crowds. The bureau was in touch with local police departments nationwide asking them not to relax staffing levels during the holiday.
For all the precautions, the message from the White House to everyday Americans was to get out and enjoy.
As President Bush said in his formal Independence Day statement:
''As we act to lift the dark cloud of terror from our nation and the world, we reaffirm our determination to preserve our forefathers' legacy of freedom.''
Or, as Fleischer put it more simply, ''Leave the worrying to us.''
Bush, as if to embody this attitude, ducked out of the White House on Wednesday afternoon for a sweltering round of golf. He and first lady Laura Bush were celebrating the holiday Thursday with veterans in the courthouse square of Ripley, W.Va., before returning to the executive mansion to watch Washington's fireworks with an invited crowd at the White House.
Until recently, U.S. intelligence had been doubtful about the prospects for a Fourth of July attack, saying most information pointed to other dates.
One senior official stressed that the increased intelligence ''chatter'' could simply be a result of more media attention or natural speculation as the celebrations approached.
The FBI sent a nationwide advisory to law enforcement agencies on Wednesday that the State Department was reporting heightened traffic between terrorist operatives overseas as the Independence Day holiday approached.
The advisory said there was no specific threat against a target in the United States - a point that officials underscored publicly.
''There is just a general level of concern that ... when the American people gather in large numbers, it can become something of a target for people who want to do us harm,'' White House press secretary Ari Fleischer said.
As a precaution, the military was temporarily reactivating the constant combat air patrols, or CAPS, that had been flown over Washington and New York after Sept. 11 but had been scaled back in April.
''CAPS will be flying over several American cities and randomly throughout the nation,'' Fleischer said. Officials declined to specify which cities beyond New York and the capital city, where a concert and fireworks are expected to attract 500,000 people to the National Mall.
The new round-the-clock Homeland Security Coordination Center will roughly double its staffing monitoring nearly 2,100 medium and large Independence Day events nationwide.
The command center in Washington has already established lines of communication to be in contact with officials at each of those holiday celebrations and will additionally be staffed by special liaisons from the FBI, Secret Service, Federal Emergency Management Agency and Department of Health and Human Services.
Similar multi-agency command posts were being set up in other major cities, including Boston. In Los Angeles and Houston, FBI officials said the bureau's agents will have a heavy presence at parades and fireworks displays.
The FBI is also requiring its 56 field offices to monitor events in their regions, using several forms of electronic surveillance as well as the deployment of field agents - both apparent and undercover - to circulate among the crowds. The bureau was in touch with local police departments nationwide asking them not to relax staffing levels during the holiday.
For all the precautions, the message from the White House to everyday Americans was to get out and enjoy.
As President Bush said in his formal Independence Day statement:
''As we act to lift the dark cloud of terror from our nation and the world, we reaffirm our determination to preserve our forefathers' legacy of freedom.''
Or, as Fleischer put it more simply, ''Leave the worrying to us.''
Bush, as if to embody this attitude, ducked out of the White House on Wednesday afternoon for a sweltering round of golf. He and first lady Laura Bush were celebrating the holiday Thursday with veterans in the courthouse square of Ripley, W.Va., before returning to the executive mansion to watch Washington's fireworks with an invited crowd at the White House.
Until recently, U.S. intelligence had been doubtful about the prospects for a Fourth of July attack, saying most information pointed to other dates.
One senior official stressed that the increased intelligence ''chatter'' could simply be a result of more media attention or natural speculation as the celebrations approached.
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