American Reaction: US sets threat level at highest point ever

America's security alert on aircraft from Britain was raised to its highest level for the first time yesterday - a month before the fifth anniversary of 9/11.

As America woke up to the news that an apparent plot to destroy aircraft flying from London to the US had been foiled, officials from the president downwards reassured the public.

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"This nation is at war with Islamic fascists who will use any means to destroy those of us who love freedom, to hurt our nation," said President George Bush. "We've taken a lot of measures to protect the American people but obviously we're not completely safe. It is a mistake to believe there is no threat to the United States of America."

That is something most people do not need to be told. Even if the country has reached the point at which the events of 9/11 are deemed suitable fare for a Hollywood movie - Oliver Stone's film World Trade Centre opened this week - a sense of vulnerability remains.

Indeed, polls by the Pew Research Centre show 80 per cent in the US believe it "likely" or "fairly likely" that another major terrorist attack will hit them. One poll last year found 45 per cent gave the main reason the US had not been struck again as "lucky so far".

"The public is very much of the mind that the chances of another major attack never happening again are very low," said the Pew Centre's Michael Dimock. "People are braced."

New York's security status remained on orange, the level since 9/11. But as checkpoints at bridges were activated and bag searches carried out, Michael Bloomberg, the Mayor, said: "We will do whatever it takes to keep people safe and if it's an inconvenience, it's just something we're going to have to learn how to deal with."

Raising the threat level for flights from Britain to "red"requires airlines to give the government in advance the names of passengers headed to the US. Currently, the names must be provided within 15 minutes of take-off.

All other flights in the US were put under an "orange," alert - one step below the highest level.

Of course, most in the west have little option but to take at face value the words of politicians with access to plot details. Yet in recent years there have many claimed threats that proved unfounded. There have also been a number of "terror scares", most recently in June when it was claimed foreign terrorists were plotting to attack road tunnels in New York.

Earlier this year, the media watchdog Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting highlighted White House claims about the "disruption" of a plot to attack buildings in Los Angeles that intelligence officials later said had never got beyond speculative talk.