Guard on ‘heightened’ alert in Maine; delegation backs Bush

BANGOR – Maine’s congressional delegation formed a united front Sunday as the United States, with the aid of Great Britain, began its military offensive against the Taliban government in Afghanistan.

Closer to home, Maine is stepping up its efforts by taking increased protective measures against any reprisals.

On Sunday, Maj. Eldon Hardwick, the Maine Army National Guard’s public affairs officer in Augusta, said: “We have increased our threat level. We are on a heightened state of alert.”

More Guardsmen are expected to be at Guard bases, but there will be no increased presence other than what there already is at airports in Maine, Hardwick said.

Speaking Sunday afternoon to reporters outside the Margaret Chase Smith Federal Building in Bangor, U.S. Sen. Susan Collins said, “I have every confidence that the state of Maine is prepared to react to any kind of emergencies.”

Collins, who sits on the Armed Services Committee, said she knew that the attack was imminent but hadn’t been briefed on the precise timing of it.

Already the Coast Guard is increasing its watch over Maine ports and incoming tankers, including in Portland, where surveillance is now on 24-hour patrol, Collins said.

More military Guardsmen on reserve are expected to be placed on alert and mobilized, and the 101st Air Refueling Wing based in Bangor is expected to be put to extensive use, as it has been so effectively in the past, the senator said.

State officials are predicting as much as quadruple the amount of jet fuel as usual will be trucked to Bangor, and as of last week, trucks hauling the fuel can now use the faster Interstate 95 to get there rather than being diverted to secondary roads as they had been, Collins said.

Other delegation members saw great unity in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attack.

“I have never seen the Congress and the country as united as they are right now in this effort,” U.S. Rep. John Baldacci said Sunday. “This is another step forward in closing the loop so that the terrorists will be isolated from the rest of the world. Today’s targets included communications centers and strategic locations.”

Baldacci added that he was in contact with the White House during Sunday’s attacks to obtain updates, but information from those meetings could not yet be divulged for security reasons.

Members of the U.S. House and Senate have been briefed by the State Department, Defense Department, members of U.S. intelligence and by the Joint Chiefs of Staff and will receive their next briefing Tuesday, the congressman said.

Baldacci said he believed that the United States is ready for any repercussions that may result from Sunday’s attacks, citing increased security and surveillance at airports and countless other locations throughout the nation.

U.S. Sen. Olympia J. Snowe said Sunday that strikes against military installations inside Afghanistan will be followed by a long and difficult struggle to root out bases of terrorism.

“It is not going to be just a one-day strike,” Snowe said. “It’s going to have to be an intensive military, economic and diplomatic effort, day in and day out, and it’s going to require whatever and however long it takes.”

Snowe said President Bush is making every effort to avoid injuries to civilians in the new military effort, but she has no way of knowing how many have been able to flee from areas under attack.

Collins urged Americans at home to show their support by trying to “continue our way of life.”

Collins said she went to church on Sunday and then to a grocery store. She will be taking a commercial airline back to Washington today, saying, “I am not fearful about doing that.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.