Obama to Do Away With Color-Coded Terror Alerts?

And then, after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, he came up with a color-coded terror alert system: green for low risk of terrorist attacks; blue for guarded; yellow for elevated; orange for high; and red for–you guessed it!–severe threat of terrorist attacks.

In case you’re wondering, the current “national threat level,” as published by the Department of Homeland Security, is yellow, and for all domestic and international travel the threat level is orange.

But all that may be moot pretty soon. According to an article recently published by Newsweek, President Obama is “expected to create an official committee to consider modifying or even abolishing the widely ridiculed color-coded terrorism alert system introduced by the Bush administration….”

The committee, which will be comprised of local, state, and national officials and safety experts, will have 60 days to make a decision about the color-coded system’s future: modify it or scrap it completely. As one House Representative interviewed in the article said, the system “has become meaningless to the public,” and officials should “retire the fear card.”

Travelers, what do you think? Do you pay attention to the terror threat color scheme while you’re passing through airports? If the color-coded system is done away with, what should replace it? Share your thoughts below.

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