The End of the Rainbow
Will Obama scrap Bush's color-coded terror alerts?
The Obama administration next week is expected to create an official committee to consider modifying or even abolishing the widely ridiculed color-coded terrorism alert system introduced by the Bush administration after the 9/11 attacks.
Current and former government officials, who asked for anonymity when discussing nonpublic information, told NEWSWEEK that Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano will appoint a "task force" made up of national, state, and local government experts, possibly including governors and mayors, to examine whether the color-coded system has outlived its usefulness. Bush administration officials who developed and oversaw the system may also play a role. The committee is likely to solicit comments about the alert system from industries affected by it, including airlines and companies that make or ship hazardous materials. The committee will have 60 days to examine the system and draw up recommendations on its future.
Democratic Rep. Jane Harman, who chairs a House Homeland Security subcommittee on intelligence and counter-terrorism, told NEWSWEEK that reevaluating the color-coded alert system was "a good idea ... It has become meaningless to the public." Harman says that she advised Napolitano that the government should "retire the fear card ... Prepare, don't scare, the public." She says the color-coding system had become so ineffective that even top officials like Tom Ridge, George W. Bush's first homeland-security secretary, used to make jokes about it.
The system grades the perceived terror threat facing the U.S. at five levels: Red (severe risk of terrorist attacks); Orange (high risk of terrorist attacks); Yellow (elevated/significant risk of terrorist attacks); Blue (guarded/general risk of terrorist attacks); and Green (low risk of terrorist attacks). Since 9/11, the alert level has mostly fluctuated between Orange and Yellow. After political foes criticized the Bush White House for allegedly manipulating the alert level on occasion for political advantage, the administration downplayed the system, and it has since largely faded from the public's memory.
The Homeland Security Department declined to comment.
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Mark Hosenball joined Newsweek as an investigative correspondent in November 1993, covering a range of issues for the National Affairs department. Most recently, he has written and reported numerous stories on terrorism and the Sept. 11 attacks on America. He has also covered campaign finance, the Monica Lewinsky controversy, the death of Princess Diana, Whitewater, the crashes of EgyptAir flight 990 and TWA flight 800, as well as related air safety issues.
Hosenball came to Newsweek from "Dateline NBC," where he worked as an investigative producer. He also worked extensively as a print journalist, writing for a number of British and American publications, including the London Sunday Times, the London Evening Standard, Time Out, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, and The New Republic. In addition, he has done commentaries for American Public Radio.
Hosenball has been honored with a number of prestigious awards. Most recently, along with a team of Newsweek correspondents, he was awarded the Overseas Press Club's most prestigious honor, the 2002 Ed Cunningham Memorial Award for best magazine reporting from abroad for Newsweek's coverage of the war on terror. His reporting and that of his colleagues earned Newsweek the prestigious National Magazine Award for General Excellence in 2002 for its coverage of September 11 and its aftermath. And a story he co-authored was highlighted in a citation Newsweek received by the White House Correspondents' Association when it awarded the magazine the 2002 Edgar A. Poe Award for "excellence on a story of national or regional importance. "Newsweek's September 11 coverage started long before the attacks. An article in the magazine's February 19, 2001 issue warned with chilling accuracy: 'The threat posed by (Osama) bin Laden is growing -- and coming ever closer to home."
Hosenball was a contributor to the CANAL + TV documentary, "L'Argent de la Drogue" (Drug Money), which was awarded the "Sept D'Or," the French equivalent of an Emmy. He also contributed to NBC News' coverage of the BCCI scandal, which earned a 1991 Peabody Award.
He attended the University of Pennsylvania and Trinity College in Dublin. He lives in the Washington, D.C. area with his wife and son.
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