Washington mobilises 42,500 security personnel

Washington: When senior FBI official Joseph Persichini takes his 5am jog down Washington's National Mall, he imagines everything that could go wrong at Barack Obama's inaugural next week.

He said he thinks about the possibility of a sleet storm, bombing, chemical attack or - perhaps hardest to guard against - the lone gunman bent on turning a celebration into a national tragedy.

"I'm thinking about what the schedule is, and what we're doing, and what are the issues we're facing," said Persichini, assistant director in charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Washington Field Office. "You don't understand the magnitude until you go out there right on the Mall."

As many as 2 million people - double the number for any previous inauguration - are expected to fill the Mall on January 20 to witness the swearing-in of the first black president.

While officials said they haven't received any credible threats, they have prepared an unprecedented security effort. It will be overseen by the US Secret Service and will include 7,500 active-duty soldiers, 10,000 National Guard troops and 25,000 law-enforcement officers, security officials said. Federal officials haven't projected the total cost, though Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia said they are spending tens of millions of dollars.

Gaps in planning

For the past six months, security officials have been trying to identify gaps in their planning, and for the past month officials have been testing their responses to scenarios with table-top exercises.

Many days, Persichini and other federal, state and city law-enforcement authorities are on the phone by 4:30 am to discuss security concerns.

On Inauguration Day, the city will be full of communication command centres staffed with officials from the Secret Service, FBI, police and fire departments, intelligence agencies, the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Department of Homeland Security.

The US Army will have a brigade at Fort Stewart, Georgia, ready to respond to a chemical and biological attack.