Feds Review Terror Alert System

The Homeland Security Department will review the multicolored terror alert system created in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano has created a task force to determine in 60 days how effective the current system is. The system could get an overhaul—or could be eliminated entirely.

The five-tiered system that goes from green, which signals a low danger of attack, to red, which signals a severe threat of attack, has proven confusing at times. And critics say the colors are too vague to deliver enough information to be useful. The 17-member task force will be chaired by former FBI Director William Webster and the former White House homeland security adviser, Fran Townsend. (More United States stories.)