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Chertoff: No U.S. Terror Link Seen
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"I support wiretapping of terrorists," Sen. Russell Feingold (D-Wis.) said on "This Week." "I just think it should be done within the law. . . . I just want the White House to stop making up their own laws."
Ned Lamont, the Democrat who defeated Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman in last week's Connecticut Senate primary, said on "Fox News Sunday" that the terror plot exposed how the United States is distracted by the war in Iraq.
"I think that we've taken our eye off the ball there a little bit, and I think it's time to focus," he said.
Chertoff said it is unclear whether al-Qaeda leaders were involved in the plot but said the attacks, as planned, bore all the hallmarks of the group's prior work.
On NBC's "Meet the Press," he remarked that it has been five years since a major plot like this targeted U.S. citizens, and that the time gap indicates a weakening of the network.
"What that tells us is we actually have done a lot to degrade them," Chertoff said. "We've destroyed their training camps, we've killed a lot of the leaders, we've gathered a lot of intelligence, but they are still out there, they're trying to adapt their tactics, and they are a very constant presence."
The Department of Homeland Security's downgrade of the threat level came in conjunction with a similar move yesterday by British authorities, just as DHS's elevation to red on Thursday conformed with a British alert.
The threat level for all other commercial flights in or headed toward the United States remains at orange, the department announced, and a ban on liquids and gels in carry-on baggage remained in effect.
