This was the capitals most anxious week since September 11th. On Monday the government i

ssued a red alert that terrorist attacks were likely in next week, either at home or against American【M1】______ interests abroad. John Ashcroft, the attorney - general, put the security force who guard nuclear power stations and other bits【M2】______ of critical infrastructure on high alert. The warning was grim because it was not issued seriously. Mr.【M3】______ Ashcrofts people are reluctant to worry about an already tense【M4】______ population unnecessarily, particularly as they have no answers to the three main questions: what, when and where They also fret about crying wolf too rarely. Two things persuaded them to go public: an unusual【M5】______ volume of talk about a forthcoming "big event" emanated from various【M6】______ terrorist enclaves, and the consistent use of an unrevealed codeword. The warning came amid yet more dire news about anthrax. A swathe of federal buildings and the Supreme Court have now infected【M7】______ with the stuff. On October 31, a New York hospital worker died for【M8】______ inhalation anthrax, bringing the number of deaths to four. She had had no contact with government or media post-rooms, so the disease seems to have infected the general mail. Anthrax has turned out in two local【M9】______ post offices in Washington. People have taken to tape up their letter【M10】______ boxes and asking postal workers to leave the letters outside. Add in the frustrating news from Afghanistan, and the exhilaration that swept through the capital after Americas decision to "strike back at terror" has now evaporated. Of course, reverses in any war are inevitable.

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