Olympic Insecurity; The Athens Games will be the biggest--and most expensive--peacetime security operation ever. It's not on schedule.

Byline: Melinda Liu and Toula Vlahou, With Melissa Roberts in Sydney

It's less than half a year before the Summer Games--and the security folks are jumpy. Police in a neighboring country just busted a gang of illegal immigrants who had maps and notes suggesting a planned attack on a nuclear reactor just a few miles from the Olympic Stadium. Organizers are even twitchier about the possibility of an attack using chemical or biological agents. Not too long ago members of a doomsday sect hunkered down on a local farm and tested a deadly nerve agent. Authorities have kept their fears under wraps to avoid mass panic. But in the meantime, they've stockpiled pharmaceuticals, trained a biochemical response force and equipped mobile labs at triage centers in hospitals, hotels and the Olympic Park.

The good news is this isn't today in Athens, but rather April 2000 in Sydney, which went on to host a successful--and safe--Summer Games. The bad news is that Greece is nowhere near as prepared as Australia was six months before its Games. With fears of a terrorist attack on the Olympics higher than at any point since Munich in 1972, Greek officials are frantically seeking help from their friends. Israelis are providing military tips on stopping suicide bombers. Russians are sharing insights from their struggle against Chechen extremists. NATO is on standby to supply AWACS surveillance planes and is discussing contingency planning for the unthinkable: a chemical or biological attack on Olympic spectators. If granted, such assistance would be unprecedented for the military alliance.

In ancient times, Greek warriors lay down their weapons during the Olympics. But as the Games return to their birthplace, they'll be the mostly heavily armed, surveilled and guarded contest ever. Escorts with firearms will accompany athletes from countries such as the United States and Britain, who are considered to be terrorist targets. Greece will deploy more than 50,000 security personnel around Athens, including 16,000 soldiers. Choppers, AWACS and a blimp will patrol the skies. A hear-all, see-all echolocation network of more than 1,400 cameras with cone-shape microphones will monitor sights and sounds around the city. "If there's an explosion, we must be able to hear in real time," explains Giorgos Floridis, minister of Public Order.

For months, a group of representatives from seven nations--the United States, Britain, Australia, Spain, Israel, France and Germany--have been helping Athens anticipate threats, train counterterrorist forces and seal the country's porous ports and borders. These will be the first Summer Olympics since 9/11--and the first in a borderless Europe, where travelers from cities such as Paris or Rome can fly into Athens without showing an identity document. Safeguarding the Games remains a huge issue for Washington, the largest foreign contributor to the security operation. Just last month the United States closed its consulate in Thessaloniki due to an unspecified security threat. As the American ambassador to Greece, Thomas Miller, told reporters: "I do nothing but security."

The Athens Games will be the world's biggest--and most expensive--peacetime security operation ever. "We're paying the price for September 11," says Athens Mayor Dora Bakoyianni. Of $5.8 billion that Greece has budgeted for the Olympics, at least $825 million will be spent on security--three times the amount spent in 2000 in Sydney. The task is many times more complex, too. Greece is a stone's throw from such strife-torn regions as the Balkans and Middle East. Don't forget the geography of Athens itself: a basin with nearly 5 million people living in thousands of apartment complexes, all surrounded by hills. A Western diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, called the layout "a sniper's dream."

International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge told reporters last month ...