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National Guard keeps tabs on US bridges

US National Guardsmen with M-16s and Humvees patrolled the Golden Gate and other California bridges, and traffic across the spans was lighter than usual as a warning of terrorist attacks shifted the nation's anxiety from the East Coast to the West.

"There's no way I'd drive over the Bay Bridge," said film editor Stephanie Challberg, one of many who took the subway Friday. "On my way home last night, I thought I was going to pass out."

California Governor Gray Davis went public Thursday with the FBI's warning that suspension bridges across the West could be targets over the next few days.

There were no reported problems at the four bridges Davis named: the Golden Gate Bridge, the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, the Vincent Thomas Bridge at the Port of Los Angeles and San Diego's Coronado Bridge.

Davis shocked many commuters -- and some law enforcement officials -- with his announcement that the government had "credible evidence" that terrorists may be plotting to attack California's bridges.

The FBI later confirmed the threat, but said it was uncorroborated. US Attorney General John Ashcroft said the warning only had "relative credibility."

Investment banker Bill Simon announced Friday that he would seek the Republican nomination to run against Davis next year and criticized Davis' judgment.

"When you come out and make blanket statements that bridges might be attacked, that sends a certain level of panic and fear in people," Simon said. "If he had a basis upon which to make a statement, I would like to know what that basis is."

Davis said he felt he had an obligation to warn the public. "If I failed to share that information, and God forbid, something went wrong, I'd be kicking myself," the governor said.

US President George W. Bush said he supported Davis' decision.

"I think any governor should be able to conduct their business the way they see fit," Bush said. He said the homeland-defense program should enable governors to "harden targets, respond to uncorroborated evidence and to protect their people."

The FBI alert was sent to law enforcement agencies in eight Western states, warning that "unspecified groups are targeting suspension bridges on the West Coast."

For the first time since the Sept. 11 attacks on New York and Washington, the nation's fears shifted to the West.

"I'm angry that I'm feeling anxious and afraid," said Constance Kilgore, who commutes by bus across the Golden Gate Bridge from Sonoma into San Francisco. "Every time I cross the bridge, I think about the terrorists and the way they are going to do it."

Bechtel Inc, the engineering company that built the Bay Bridge linking San Francisco with Oakland, gave 1,200 San Francisco employees the option of working from home or taking the next few business days off.

"I've never, ever, ever felt unsafe in any part of San Francisco," DiDi Simon said as she stepped out of a downtown subway station. "It's kind of weird to have so much attention shifted to the West Coast."

In Oregon and Washington, the alert triggered additional security precautions at some of the most heavily traveled bridges, including Washington's Tacoma Narrows Bridge. Oregon Governor John Kitzhaber said the Coast Guard would check under his state's bridges more often, and urged people not to be afraid.

California Highway Patrol officers and the Coast Guard also patrolled the four bridges Davis named, which collectively carry nearly 500,000 vehicles a day.

Pedestrians and cyclists are still allowed on the Golden Gate Bridge, but several trails approaching the bridge have been closed. On the vehicles-only Bay Bridge, officials were inspecting identification badges and have welded shut some gates and doorways.
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