Chertoff to U.S.: 'We are safe'

WASHINGTON, D.C. (AP) - The United States remains safe after the attack at a Scottish airport and two foiled car bombs in London, and there is no plan to raise the terror alert level, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said today.

"We are safe, but we are safe because we continue to pay attention and we continue to add security measures," Mr. Chertoff said as the Fourth of July holiday approaches.

The homeland security chief noted that it appears no suicide bombers were involved in the incidents over the past several days in Great Britain and said that sends the message that would-be terrorists have a wide variety of ways to attack.

"If you look back at all the plots, you've seen a wide variety of techniques," he said on CBS's "The Early Show." But Mr. Chertoff said authorities in the United States must prepare for a wide variety of threats, even though the suicide attacks often are the most spectacular.

He also said the country needs to be especially vigilant about how and under what circumstances the threat increases.

"I think we've been saying for some period of time that we need to be looking not only at homegrown terrorism, but that international terrorism might come to the United States through Europe," Mr. Chertoff said.

The United States' terrorism alert for airports is at orange, the second highest level, and yellow, the midlevel stage of the alert status, for the rest of the country as a whole. Red is the highest alert level.

Mr. Chertoff said the decision was made to leave the terror alert where it is for now, "based on what we've seen so far."

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