Fear Factor Alert: Next months will have US on "heightened alert" or POHA

[zulchzulu]

Yeah. Fear. Level Orange. Coming to a TV near you. I hear McCain could really handle terror...like...um...really well... :sarcasm:

Government officials have been quietly stepping up counterterror efforts out of a growing concern that al Qaeda or similar organizations might try to capitalize on the spate of extremely high-profile events in the coming months, sources tell ABC News.

Security experts point to next month's Olympics as evidence that high profile events attract threats of terrorism, like the one issued this past weekend from a Chinese Muslim minority group that warned of its intent to attack the games.

Anti-terror officials in the U.S. cite this summer and fall's line up of two major political parties' conventions, November's general election and months of transition into a new presidential administration as cause for heightened awareness and action.

This is what the Department of Homeland Security is quietly calling a Period of Heightened Alert, or POHA, a time frame when terrorists may have more incentive to attack. According to drafts of government memos described to ABC News, the period would run roughly from this August through July 2009.

http://abcnews.go.com/TheLaw/story?id=5420514&page=1