U.S. forces put on highest alert because of 'specific terrorist threat,' Pentagon says

U.S. officials believe associates of Osama bin Laden are poised to carry out a terrorist strike on U.S. interests

From Chris Plante
CNN National Security Producer

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- U.S. forces in Bahrain, Qatar and Turkey have been placed on the highest possible state of alert after learning of a "specific threat that is considered credible" against U.S. "citizens and facilities" in those countries, Pentagon officials told CNN on Monday.

Officials said the threat is believed at this time to be linked to associates of alleged terrorist kingpin Osama bin Laden.

VIDEO CNN's Carl Rochelle reports on what prompted the security alert. Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media)

The officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said Pentagon planners are again "looking at" the option of a "pre-emptive strike" against bin Laden's organization if a firm link can be established and it's determined such a strike could be effective in "disrupting his ability to attack us."

"But we've been looking at that since the strike on the (USS) Cole," one official said. "People are thinking about it."

The forces in the area are now at "Threat Condition Delta" -- the highest state of military alert, or equal to "a war footing," the official said. "Delta" is normally reserved for situations where an attack is believed to be imminent.

File photo of the U.S. attack on the Al Shifa Pharmaceutical Industries factory in Khartoum in 1998

Separately, a senior administration official involved in national security issues acknowledged alerts in response to "what our people believe to be specific and credible threats" and "of what I would call a discussion rather than a debate" within the administration over pre-emptive strikes against camps associated with bin Laden. "We are taking general common sense precautions and some more specific steps as a result of specific information," this official said.

The official said that the decision to strike bin Laden's terrorist training camps in Afghanistan and a Sudanese pharmaceutical plant in August of 1998 was made "in part because there was information at that time that he was about to strike at (U.S. interests) again," after he was suspected of responsibility for the bombings of two U.S. embassies in east Africa.

"Operation Infinite Reach," as it was called by the Pentagon, struck at bin Laden bases in remote areas of Afghanistan and also leveled a facility in Sudan that U.S. officials claimed was used to produce or store chemical weapons.

The United States stands by the decision to strike at the plant, citing the presence of a chemical weapons "precursor" called "empta."

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U.S. Department of Defense
 • The Pentagon

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