Super Bowl, Olympics Security Cited

On the eve of the Super Bowl and Olympics, the top U.S. intelligence official says that the events are attention magnets and that all possible security precautions have been taken to prevent terrorism.

“Look, these are both very important, widely attended events to which there is a great deal of public attention,” National Intelligence Director John D. Negroponte told Associated Press.

“But by the same token, an enormous amount of effort has gone into planning the security of these events and preparing for any possible eventuality.”

More than 65,000 people are expected to attend Sunday’s Super Bowl in Detroit. The Olympics in Turin, Italy, are expected to draw 1 million.

Negroponte said that FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III had reported that security measures for the Games, which start this week, were excellent.

Previous Olympics have been targets of attacks.

At the 1996 Atlanta Summer Games, bomber Eric Rudolph exploded a pipe bomb at Olympic Park to embarrass the U.S. government for allowing abortion. One woman died, and more than 100 people were injured.

Eleven Israeli athletes were taken hostage by the Palestinian group Black September at the 1972 Munich Olympics. A rescue attempt left 11 Israelis, five terrorists and a policeman dead.