U.S. Sees Drop in Terrorist Threats

Evidence of a lower decibel level is pervasive.

Behind closed doors, the weekly, classified "hot spot" briefings for congressional intelligence committees are consumed less by domestic terrorist threats than they have been, said people who have attended the meetings. "It's not as forefront in people's minds," one such official said. "There's not the same concern as there was a year ago about an imminent threat."

Some federal law enforcement officials say they know of no major counterterrorism cases soon to be made public.

The House Homeland Security Committee voted last week to reopen Reagan National Airport to private aircraft and to eliminate the color-coded warning system that is one of the icons of the post-Sept. 11 era. The number of secure briefings for lawmakers has dropped too, said Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.), a member of the House Homeland Security Committee who has been critical of excessive security in Washington. "That in itself is an indication there is less to report."

Life in Washington seems closer to normal, especially after the tightened security before last November's election. The validity of top officials' publicly stated belief that terrorists wanted to attack during the pre-election period is now hotly debated within the counterterrorism community. But the rotating checkpoints around the Capitol have become less disruptive, and a booming real estate market is a concrete symbol that people are not afraid to move to a potential ground zero.

Business sectors also note a change in broader public behavior. Hotel occupancy, room rates and revenue in Washington so far this year are the highest since 2001, the D.C. Convention and Tourism Corp. reported.

Counterterrorism officials said the atmosphere, particularly in the Washington area, also has calmed because they are less jittery and less inclined to warn the public about every vague, unsubstantiated threat. In the past, they feared being accused of missing something.

With 3 1/2 years of experience, their ability to cull serious from baseless threats has matured, officials said.

"People are more hesitant to pull the trigger, and now think, 'Let's wait a day or two' to investigate," said John Rollins, former chief of staff for DHS's intelligence unit and now an analyst at the Congressional Research Service.

The intelligence community now can better identify the "unreliable and bogus threats," said NCTC's Brennan. "We don't have to go into crisis mode. In the past, we had a lot of brush fires developing. Now, we can deal with it with a better filter."

There is also the broad recognition that "the sky can't be falling every day," said one senior Washington law enforcement official.

U.S. officials, including Brennan, also express growing confidence in improved domestic security. They believe improvements in border security, counter-surveillance tactics and information sharing among law enforcement agencies would make it difficult for the Sept. 11, 2001, attack plotters to evade detection today.