Ridge Downplays Latest Warnings of Attacks

The White House advisor for homeland security Sunday played down warnings of new attacks on New York or Washington and sidestepped questions about whether he would take the reins of a new Cabinet department meant to counter terrorist threats.

Tom Ridge, who has been President Bush’s homeland security director since shortly after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, appeared on television talk shows to respond to recent reports that the Al Qaeda terror network is preparing for fresh assaults against the United States.

“There are no new threats,” Ridge told “Fox News Sunday.” “There are the same old conditions. It’s just part of the continuing threat environment that we assess. It’s really nothing new.”

Questions about the terrorist organization were renewed after a correspondent for the Arab satellite TV station Al Jazeera said he had received a six-page document from Al Qaeda on Wednesday, after the station had broadcast an audiotape thought to be the voice of Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.

The U.S. government holds Bin Laden and his network responsible for last year’s attacks that destroyed the World Trade Center in New York and damaged the Pentagon outside Washington, killing more than 3,000 people.

Ridge said the administration was uncertain of the source of the new document. But he acknowledged, as many administration officials have in recent months, that the United States remains a target.

“The war on terrorism has come to our shores,” Ridge said. “We have to deal with it.”

Ridge’s appearances came as Congress is moving toward final approval of legislation to create a Department of Homeland Security, drawn from 22 federal agencies. It would be the most significant government reorganization in half a century, affecting roughly 170,000 employees. Senate approval of the bill is expected early this week, following House approval last week.

Some news organizations, quoting unnamed administration officials, have reported that Bush has settled on Ridge to be the first secretary of the new department. But Ridge refused to confirm or deny the reports.

“I’m prepared to serve the president however he feels that I can serve him best,” Ridge told CNN’s “Late Edition.” “Why don’t we just leave it at that?”

Ridge’s assessment of the terrorist threat level was echoed Sunday by Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco), the incoming House minority leader.

Asked on NBC’s “Meet the Press” to respond to warnings of possible “spectacular” attacks, Pelosi said: “Much of what is in public domain about these threats ... is real.”

She added: “It’s important for us to know that we are in better shape now than we were last year, in that there is an increased awareness and a heightened scrutiny to the actions of people.”

Responding to a New York Times report that intelligence agencies are monitoring Iraqi nationals and Iraqi Americans in the United States, Pelosi said the government should be careful to protect both the public and civil liberties.

“As we protect and defend our country, we must also protect and defend our Constitution, and we want to be smart about how we go forward,” she said.

Ridge said the government would be mindful of civil liberties. “Obviously, military action in Iraq would require additional action to be taken domestically,” he said. “We’re not going to comment on intelligence-gathering in our country.”