Super Bowl, Olympics, World Cup “Secure-up” as CIA Director Leon Panetta Tells Congress U.S. Terror Attack Likely in Next 3-6 Months

Special events seem to be in the crosshairs of security executives who are spending millions of dollars to protect their special activities from what CIA Director Panette suggested to Congress earlier this week is a likely “Lone Wolf” terrorism attack. He did not link any threats to sports events, however.

For this Sunday’s Super Bowl, NFL's vice president of security, Milt Ahlerich, is spending about $6 million on security at the event, with most of the money going for training of screeners by federal, state and local law enforcement. Of course, that’s chump change compared with the cost of one minute of TV advertising during the telecast and about one-tenth the money for security at the Winter Olympics, starting later this month. Still, the NFL security vice president told the Associated Press that five to 10 bomb threats are handled during a typical regular season.

It seems more likely that the World Cup, international soccer’s premier event and being held in South Africa, may see terror violence in addition to the fan disruptions that are unfortunately typical of soccer events. The World Cup is the most watched sports event.

South African officials have already spent about $320 million dollars on security for the many-days event in June and July. Just days ago, however, an Angolan terror group attacked a bus carrying the team and others from Togo to the African Cup of Nations, killing one person and wounding others.

So how bad will it get in South Africa? Well, a London-based security clothing company is marketing a "stab-proof vest" for football fans planning to visit the World Cup and South Afruca, where an estimated 50 people are murdered every day.

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