White House Official: Nation Is Safer

Sept. 10, 2006 — -- As the nation prepares to remember the fifth anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, the United States is safer than it was five years ago, according to Fran Townsend, President Bush's assistant for homeland security and counterterrorism.

"We look at al Qaeda's planning cycle, and we know it's about three to five years," Townsend told ABC News' "Good Morning America Weekend Edition."

When asked if the United States was due for another attack, Townsend said, "We worry about that every day.

"But the country is a lot safer than it was before Sept. 11," she said. "By and large, we've been very fortunate not to have another attack."

Townsend denied a Washington Post report that said Osama bin Laden's path had gone cold and that the government hadn't received a credible lead on his whereabouts in two years.

"I can't talk to you about the details of the hunt for Bin Laden, but I can assure that the article is not true," she said, citing the work of forces in Afghanistan and intelligence sources in Pakistan.

"We feel confident that Bin Laden will be brought to justice," she said.

In the fight against terrorism, what most concerns the president, Townsend said, is the potential use of a weapon of mass destruction. So the administration has increased the use of radiation detection at ports, she said.

About 38 percent of Americans think that the government is doing all it can to prevent future attacks, an all-time low, according to an ABC News poll of 1,000 Americans.

"If we determined our counterterrorism policy based on polls, we'd be in a terrible state," Townsend said.

She encouraged Americans to have a plan, adding that she had talked to her children about the possibility of a future terrorist attack.

"It's really a question of being prepared," she said.

But ultimately, Townsend said she that even though an attack is a real threat, "We need to go about living our lives."