Chertoff suggests shift in terror fight

WASHINGTON — The U.S. government cannot protect the American public from all possible terrorist attacks and instead must focus on trying to prevent more serious or catastrophic strikes, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said Wednesday.

"Threats are important, but they should not be automatic instigators of action," Chertoff said in his first extensive public comments since taking over the department a month ago. "A terrorist attack on the two-lane bridge down the street from my house would be bad but would have a relatively low consequence compared to an attack on the Golden Gate Bridge."

Chertoff's remarks, in a 45-minute interview and a speech at George Washington University, reflected his view that the Department of Homeland Security must transform itself from an enterprise set up in reaction to the 2001 attacks to one that is engaged in a more focused, sustainable and reasoned battle against terrorism.

"This is a marathon, not a sprint," he said.

The federal government needs to have a more restrained and coordinated public message, compared with the first Bush term, when it comes to discussing potential terrorist threats, the secretary said. That might mean he and other Homeland Security Department officials will decline to comment at times about rumored threats until definitive information is available, he said. He did not mention the department's much-criticized color-coded alert system, but has said previously he is assessing whether to modify it. "I don't want to get up in public and say 'the sky is falling' if it's not falling," he said. "I'm going to try to be very realistic and sensible and serious about the kinds of tradeoffs that we have to consider when we're making decisions about protecting ourselves."

That approach would be more consistent with that of the British government, which has long waged a battle against domestic terrorism. The federal government, Chertoff also said, must better respect civil liberties, even while it attempts to catch would-be terrorists, alluding to allegations of mistreatment of Muslim Americans by law enforcement officials in recent years.

"We must calibrate an approach to security in a way that incorporates prevention and protection into our lives so as to respect our liberty and our privacy and also fosters our prosperity," he said.

The department's modified agenda — including its intention to direct more of its annual grants toward states and cities that are considered the most likely terrorist targets — is already winning praise from some former Homeland Security Department critics.