Operation Liberty Shield: US alerts National Guard

The United States government raised its terrorist threat level to orange or ‘‘high risk’’ on Monday night even as President Bush was delivering his speech on Iraq.

Top federal officials, meanwhile, asked many of the 50 states to deploy the National Guard or state police to protect sensitive sites from possible attack. While National Guard troops have periodically been assigned to patrol airports and other facilities since September 11, 2001, this is the first request for their deployment across such wide swaths of the country. They or state police contingents are expected to be assigned to patrol some railroads, bridges, chemical plants, nuclear facilities and other key infrastructure sites, officials said.

‘‘A large volume of reporting across a range of sources, some of which are highly reliable, indicates that Al-Qaeda probably would attempt to launch terrorist attacks against US interests claiming they were defending Muslims or the ‘Iraqi people’ rather than Saddam Hussein’s regime,’’ Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge said in a statement on Monday night.

The Homeland Security Department announced “Operation Liberty Shield”, which includes stepped-up Coast Guard patrols at major ports; increased escorting of ferries and cruise ships; and toughened rules for flights entering Washington and New York. (LATWP)