by Yang Qingchuan

    WASHINGTON, Jan. 18 (Xinhua) -- Although no credible or specific threat targeting President-elect Barack Obama has been detected, the U.S. authorities have stepped up inaugural security measures to an unprecedented level.

    The secretary of Homeland Security, Michael Chertoff, who oversaw the overall security plans for the inauguration, said it will be "the most security, as far as I'm aware, that any inauguration has had."

FBI special force members stand guard at the "We Are One" welcome concert, attended by U.S. President-elect Barack Obama and Vice President-elect Joe Biden and kicking off the inauguration celebrations, at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C., the United States, Jan. 18, 2009. (Xinhua/Hou Jun)  Photo Gallery>>>

    In fact, the order to install a tightened and sophisticated security apparatus, unseen even in recent presidential inaugurations, came directly from the highest level of the U.S. government.

    On Jan. 13, outgoing U.S. President George W. Bush declared a state of emergency for the capital city from Jan. 17 to 21, when a series of celebration events are being held.

    The declaration facilitated federal help for the Washington D.C. municipal government to handle security issues during the inauguration days.

    So far, 15 million U.S. dollars of federal funds have been transferred to the municipal government for that purpose, with more expected. It is in addition to another 15 million dollars Congress set aside for the Washington inauguration security costs.

    In another rarely seen move, the Bush administration designated Obama's inauguration as a National Special Security Event, which put the U.S. Secret Service in a position to lead all the other agencies to execute security plans.

    Including the Secret Service, the security efforts involve an unprecedented number of 58 federal, state and local executive, intelligence, law-enforcement, military and transportation agencies.

    As the person in charge of all inauguration security affairs, Chertoff will have one more day in office than any other Bush cabinet member, including the president himself.

    He will leave office on January 21, a day after Obama is sworn in.

    A joint command center to coordinate the actions of all 58 agencies involved has been in operation since Jan. 17.

    The sheer size of manpower assembled to secure the inauguration is quite impressive, too.

    Authorities have formed a security force of more than 40,000 people, including 7,500 active duty soldiers, 10,000 National Guard troops and 25,000 law-enforcement officers.

    The number surpasses the 31,000 troops serving in Afghanistan and is undoubtedly the most-manned inaugural security plan to date. Besides, another 25,000 active troops will also be on stand-by mode on inauguration day.

    In areas near the West Front of the Capitol building where Obama will be inaugurated, snipers could be seen on the top of every high building.

    The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), is reportedly sending out 155 teams of plainclothes agents to mingle with pedestrians and metro-riders, searching for any abnormal signs.

    A total of 5,265 surveillance cameras, put up around the city, are feeding real-time images to the multi-agency joint security command center.

    A large portion of downtown Washington covering nine square km will be open only to authorized vehicles, the security perimeter covering more of the city than in previous inaugurations.

    A smaller area near where Obama will be sworn in will be sealed with security fences, accessible only to the 240,000 people with pre-issued tickets.

    People are allowed to walk freely to other secured parts of the city, but they are warned not to carry anything on a long list of prohibited items, including umbrellas and backpacks.

    Fighter jets will provide air cover and Coast Guard boats equipped with automatic weapons will patrol the Potomac River.

    Chemical, biological and radiological detectors have been installed around the city.

    The official narrative for explaining the security arrangements is terrorism, though there are no specific threats identified.

    Officials said the high visibility of the inauguration, the presence of dignitaries and the significance of swearing in the first African-American U.S. president make the inauguration a "vulnerable target."

    "We have to be prepared for the lone individual who will try to interrupt the event all the way up to a terrorist organization," said Secret Service spokesman Ed Donovan.

    However, many will agree that security may not be so tight if there is no estimate of a large crowd between 1.5 million and 3 million descending on the city with a population of 580,000.

    Malcolm D. Wiley, another spokesman for the Secret Service, said, "We understand this is a historic event, but it is also tied to the size of the crowd we expect."

    The 240,000 people with tickets to the swearing-in and the thousands of additional people with tickets to watch the parade are only a fraction of the numbers expected to walk, take buses or subways to the National Mall.

    Most of those without tickets, if they see anything at all, will watch on 20 Jumbotrons that the authorities, fearing that even a small incident could provoke a stampede, hope will keep people in one place.

    Joseph Persichini, head of the FBI's Washington office, said the overall security plan was largely an expansion of emergency response plans that have been in effect since the 9/11 attacks in 2001.

    But the anticipated magnitude of the Obama inauguration poses an unusual challenge.

    "We're taking what we do every day and magnifying it," Persichini said. "That's a challenge."