A U.S. military helicopter passes by the Statue of Liberty while patrolling near Ground Zero in New York on Monday.
Sept. 10 — Citing newly uncovered threats against U.S. targets abroad, the Bush administration on Tuesday planned for the first time to elevate its color-coded terrorist threat-assessment system to designate the anniversary of attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon as a time of “high risk of terrorist attack,” NBC News has learned. One official said that the move was being taken “out of an abundance of caution.”
THE DECISION to raise the threat assessment level from “yellow” — indicating a serious threat of terrorist attack — to “orange” came after U.S. intelligence learned of “specific and credible” threats against U.S. embassies, said officials who spoke with NBC News on condition of anonymity.
Under the higher threat designation, authorities are instructed to take additional precautions at public events, to prepare to work at alternate sites or with a dispersed workforce and...