Goodbye to colorful confusion
The color-coded terrorism warning system created in 2002 Credit: AP Photo
Color us grateful. The hue-coded system of terror alerts adopted as a result of 9/11 always left us blue, mostly because we never really understood what the levels meant, or how to respond to them.
And the sense that the levels changed based on political aims left us seeing red.
The terror alert system adopted in 2002 uses the colors green, blue, yellow, orange and red, with green being the safest and red being the most dangerous.
Changes in the levels didn't come with explanations or information on what to look out for. Because of that, the system provided more jokes for late-night television hosts than security for Americans.
When telling a nation it is in danger, it's best to provide some black-and-white facts, not just a color.
The main threat setting, now yellow, hasn't changed since 2006, largely because everyone ignored it anyway. The new system will characterize dangers as "elevated" or "imminent," and provide information about the threat, response of the government, and steps individuals and communities can take.
We're not calling the government yellow for having adopted and kept such a simplistic system for years, but we're glad it's going away, hopefully to be replaced by something more effective.
Orange you?
