The September 11th attack
Security top priority for 2002 Winter Games
By Tim Korte
Associated Press
SALT LAKE CITY — Even before the smoke cleared from the terrorist attacks, Olympic organizers were busy working on ways to make the 2002 Winter Games safer.
Some images that emerged from possible changes weren't pretty: Humvees mounted with machine guns guarding the Olympic Village, heavily armed soldiers patrolling the airport and long lines at security checkpoints outside venues.
Chief organizer Mitt Romney, however, doesn't believe the revamped security plan for the Salt Lake Olympics will be that extreme.
"I don't think this place is going to be an armed camp," he said Friday. "You won't see changes of that nature because the plan in place is quite complete. It calls for plainclothes personnel of quite a substantial number."
Make no doubt, though, security measures are being re-evaluated. With the threat of terrorism heightened everywhere because of the attacks Tuesday, Romney said he'd prefer to see more than the 1,400 troops originally expected.
"We recognize that the Olympics have been targeted in the past, at Munich and Atlanta, and we have long recognized the need to have the Olympics entirely secure," he said.
Mayor Rocky Anderson agreed, saying areas like the public celebration plaza outside City Hall, for example, will need additional security. The area will be fenced and revelers must pass through metal detectors.
"I don't think we'll see tanks rolling up and down the streets, but there's no question you will see more security," Anderson said.
The Olympic movement is forever haunted by the image of hooded Palestinian gunmen parading blindfolded Israeli athletes at the 1972 Summer Games in Munich, Germany. The 11 hostages were later killed.
At the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, a bomb explosion in Centennial Park killed one person and wounded 111 others.
Several American athletes said they were also concerned about possible terrorism during the Winter Games, Feb. 8-24.
"We still have our job to do for the country and that's competing in the Olympics," bobsled driver Jean Racine said. "We need to maintain our focus. At the same time, my heart totally goes out to everyone who was affected by this."
There were 15,000 troops on hand in Atlanta, but legislation signed by President Clinton after those games severely limited the military's role in high-profile national events.
In Salt Lake, Romney said additional troops will handle "functions not on the street but guarding venues in the mountains and maintaining perimeters, as they typically do at the Olympic Village and places of that nature."
In the hours after the attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon, Utah Gov. Mike Leavitt spoke of how life in the United States had changed. He said the events raised awareness of "evil people in the world who will do outrageous things."
From there, it didn't take long for Utah residents to make the link to possible terrorism during the Salt Lake Olympics.
"We know what happened in Munich," Anderson said. "This will be a world stage with half the world's population watching the events on television and hundreds of thousands of visitors coming to our state."
Federal lawmakers, however, acted swiftly to help bolster the $200 million Salt Lake security plan. A $40 billion package unanimously approved Thursday by the Senate includes another $12.7 million for the Olympics.
Romney was in Washington to lobby for the money during the attacks and he met the next day with top Secret Service officials to discuss new ways to make the Olympics safer. But he emphasized it's not up to him to determine if still more money is needed — it's up to the Secret Service and the FBI.
But if planners decide $12.7 million isn't enough, they'll probably get more.
"Given the atmosphere in the Congress in the shadow of Tuesday's violence, I would anticipate the support of my colleagues to fund our safety needs," said Sen. Bob Bennett, R-Utah, who sponsored the Olympic security measure.
