Subj: Salt Lake City Resembling Police State Under Winter Olympics
Date: 2/8/02 9:41:51 AM Pacific Standard Time
From: MyTWaryor4JC
To: Albertoaic
CC: no2nwo@muchomail.com

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Subj: Utah goes on to war footing for Winter Games
Date: 2/8/02 8:05:50 AM Pacific Standard Time

From:    spiker@ev1.net (spiker)

Source:
The Times - UK
http://www.thetimes.co.uk/

Utah goes on to war footing for Winter Games
http://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/0,,2002060003-2002065104,00.html

FRIDAY FEBRUARY 08 2002

FROM DAMIAN WHITWORTH IN SALT LAKE CITY

THE focus of the American campaign against terrorism is to shift to the mountains of Utah today as the Winter Olympics open amid unprecedented security.
Thousands of troops will pour on to the streets of Salt Lake City and F16 fighter jets and Black Hawk helicopters will patrol the skies before the arrival of President Bush for tonight's opening ceremony.

This is not the first time that a country at war has hosted an Olympics; the Soviet Union staged summer Games in 1980 when it, too, was in Afghanistan, prompting a US boycott. But never before has a host nation been on such a high state of domestic alert.

"It's interesting to note that the largest theatre for the United States is not Afghanistan today," Donald Rumsfeld, the Defense Secretary, said. "It is
in fact Salt Lake City and the environs. We have more people in the area around Salt Lake City for the Olympics than we do in Afghanistan."

Security has been tight at the Olympics ever since the killing of Israeli athletes at the Munich Games in 1972. The deadly bomb explosion at the 1996 Atlanta Games had ensured that, even before September 11, security was the
paramount issue in Salt Lake City and that the budget for providing it would be three times that of Atlanta.

After the suicide hijackings, Mr. Bush put the Secret Service in overall charge of the $310 million (£220 million) security operation for the 17 days of Games that are expected to draw 70,000 visitors a day.

The Administration rejected the traditional request by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for a ceasefire during the Games, reasoning that such a deal was unlikely to be observed by terrorists.

About 15,000 armed troops and police will be on the streets of Salt Lake City and guarding the other far-flung Olympic sites. Most will be visible, but many will remain unseen at rapid-response bases and in unmarked
vehicles.

Yesterday Black Hawk helicopters could be heard circling above the city. The F16s will chase away or shoot down any non-commercial aircraft that stray within a 45-mile radius of the city. During the opening and closing
ceremonies even commercial aircraft will be banned from entering the no-fly zone. Snipers on snowmobiles will patrol the slopes above some events.

Already there has been alarm over the discovery of a .50 caliber rifle and ammunition in a remote mountain location, apparently close to the site of the cross-country skiing competition.

A ring of steel has been thrown around the Rice-Eccles Stadium, on the edge of the city, where tonight's ceremony will take place and similar fences and checkpoints have been erected around Olympic Square in the city center where medals will be presented.

Spectators at all the other venues will also have to pass through metal detectors and have been warned to arrive hours early because queues are expected. The difficulty of searching people swathed in bulky winter clothing is expected to compound the problem. Competitors will be shuttled from the Olympic village to events several hours before they are due to perform. Cameras will be trained on the crowds, including many with face-recognition technology that will be monitored by the FBI and checked
against criminal databases.

With last year's anthrax attacks heightening fears that the crowds may be targeted with a chemical or biological attack, anthrax-fighting drugs and smallpox vaccine have been stockpiled. The Centers for Disease Control have
sent dozens of "disease detectives" who will examine a stream of data from hospitals, laboratories and air monitors for any sign of an attack.

Mike Leavitt, the Governor of Utah, suggested, perhaps a little optimistically, that "you can make the argument this will be the safest place on Earth", during the Games.

But Mitt Romney, the president of the Salt Lake organizing committee, said that "there are no guarantees in the world of counter-terrorism".

Tom Ridge, the White House Director of Homeland Security, said that he was satisfied with the arrangements. "I'm comfortable that they have done everything possible to secure the venues and the communities associated with
the Olympics," he said.

The biggest flap of recent days has been over the US team's request to carry a tattered flag recovered from the site of the World Trade Center which has become a national symbol after being flown at the baseball World Series and the Super Bowl. The IOC initially declined permission, arguing that such a display could infringe rules on political acts and set a precedent.

After an outcry that threatened to sour the start of the Games, a group of American athletes and New York policemen and firemen will be allowed to carry the flag at the opening ceremony.