Agencies across the federal government are launching an aggressive and unusually open offensive aimed at thwarting terrorist plots before and during the presidential election in November.
Numerous law enforcement and counterterrorism officials also warned last week that a heightened threat of terrorist attack will persist through the January inauguration.
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The government's strategy will include heavy surveillance by the FBI, increased checks of terrorism watch lists by local police and heightened security at polling places on Nov. 2, officials said. At the U.S. Capitol, Police Chief Terrance W. Gainer has ordered a number of his officers to wear sophisticated new equipment to protect them from a biological or chemical attack.
Counterterrorism officials concede they do not have new or specific intelligence outlining plans for an attack, but they say they remain alarmed by indications that al Qaeda and other terror groups might seek to influence U.S. elections as they did in Spain last spring by setting off bombs on commuter trains in Madrid. By publicizing the government's disruption efforts, which will begin in earnest later this week, authorities say they hope to forestall any plans for similar attacks here.
The FBI, which is sharply limiting personal leave and transferring hundreds of agents to the effort, will focus heavily on individuals within the United States who are suspected of having ties to al Qaeda and other terrorist groups or who sympathize with their causes, according to officials who have been briefed on the plans.
Officials said the FBI's tactics, which will be outlined in an electronic communication to be sent to field offices this week, will include aggressive and often overt surveillance, widespread interviews and, in some cases, arrests. Local police will be urged to run the names of suspicious people through the federal government's terrorism watch list, even during traffic stops and other minor encounters.
"We are always asking ourselves the critical question, 'Have we done everything we can to thwart the next attack?' " said Michael A. Mason, who heads the FBI's Washington field office. "We ask ourselves that every day."
The warnings are reminiscent of those this summer when officials expressed extreme concern about the potential for terror attacks on the Republican and Democratic national conventions and at the Olympic Games in Athens. Those events passed without any known disruption.
Earlier this month, the FBI's " '04 Threat Task Force" issued an advisory saying there was no intelligence detailing the timing, status or targets of any plot, but it said an increased threat of terrorist action will continue through the Jan. 20 inauguration, according to sources with access to the memo. The bulletin indicated that New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and Washington -- the nation's capital and three largest cities -- were cities of interest, but also mentioned others, these sources said.
A national election security planning bulletin will be sent today to the 50 states and the District, containing guidelines to governors and election officials for coordination of law enforcement, polling place and ballot-counting security, legal powers to order emergency election changes and public communication from now through Election Day.
Authorities are focused on a series of dates, starting with the annual meetings that begin Friday at the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, both of which remain under a heightened "orange alert" along with other potential financial targets in Washington, New York and New Jersey. State and federal officials said the threat window will remain open through the Nov. 2 elections, the Dec. 13 electoral college ballot and the inauguration.
Agents from various federal departments have begun visiting rental car and truck firms across the country, as well as limousine companies, to urge them to be on heightened alert for suspicious activity that might indicate a planned car- or truck-bomb attack. Airline security officials have tightened procedures at airport checkpoints to hunt for explosives that might be hidden under a passenger's clothing.
Friday on Capitol Hill, officers scattered throughout the area were wearing new "Level B Training" vests and carrying protective hoods. Mario Tonzelli, who has been on the force for two years and was working at First Street and Constitution Avenue NW, said the new vest weighs about 40 pounds "but at the end of the day feels like 200 pounds."
The black nylon mesh vest contains several pockets. A one-time-use escape hood with special filters is attached to the side and a chemical-biological hazard suit is sealed up in the back of the vest along with gloves and rubber boots. Tonzelli and the other officers underwent 40 hours of special training before they were issued the equipment.
