We’re trying to protect you, Bush tells nation

US PRESIDENT George W Bush led an administration effort yesterday to reassure a nation unnerved by a raised terror threat warning by telling Americans: “We’re trying to protect you.”

Democrats accused Bush, however, of failing to provide adequate funding for homeland security and ridiculed the administration for dispensing advice that included stocking up on duct tape and plastic to seal their homes against a chemical or biological weapons attack.

Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge said the public was wise to take steps such as preparing emergency kits, but should stop short of taping their homes. Bush, in a speech at FBI headquarters where he discussed plans to help federal counter-terrorism agencies to work together more closely, said America faced a “serious and continuing danger of terrorism.”