DETAILS OF FOILED '06 TERROR PLOT REVEALED

Well, at least he didn't repeat his earlier assertion that he had a 'gut feeling' that the U.S. is in for a major terrorist attack this summer. But he did say that we are at a heightened risk for another attack, just as it was reported at the beginning of July.

In an ABC News exclusive interview, Homeland Security Director Michael Chertoff provides shocking details of the foiled airline terrorist plot in 2006 that originated in the U.K. and resulted in a limit on liquids allowed on aircraft.

As it turns out, terrorists had determined that they could sneak explosive material hidden in bottles of liquid onto aircraft bound for the U.S. The terrorists had planned to use this method on upwards of nine different planes, resulting in thousands of deaths that could have rivaled that of 9/11.

Chertoff maintains that had officials in the U.K. not received a tip concerning the plot, the terrorists probably would have succeeded in their goal of killing thousands of Americans.

Once officials in the U.K. and the U.S. became aware of the plot, Homeland Security was forced into overdrive to change the habits of millions of Americans within one day--a feat that under normal circumstances would take weeks.

While Americans complained about the inconveniences of such a sudden change in the rules concerning liquids, Chertoff insists that those inconveniences pale in comparison to the carnage that would have resulted had the plot succeeded.

The Liberty Sphere continues to believe that the risk for a major terrorist attack before the end of the summer is very high. We have maintained that the nation's terror alert level should be raised to red.

We still believe that this is the most prudent course.

This does not mean that an attempted attack would be successful. Thus far, the Americans and the British have managed to thwart such plots in the making before there was any loss of life. We have confidence that most of our brave men and women who work in counterterrorism are competent professionals who are on top of fast-breaking developments.

Yet we are in a dreadful state of denial if we believe that we are insulated from more attacks similar to 9/11.

Chertoff's sobering words on the nature of the enemy and the task before us are a stark reminder of how dangerous the world has become: 'You know, we go about our business during the summer, other times of the year. People are going to ballgames or watching their children graduate from high school,' he said, 'and it chills me sometimes to think there are people a half a world away who are spending the same period of time in a cave, trying to figure out how to kill us.'