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Author
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Topic: Military Deploys Missiles Around Washington
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Kindgo
Advanced Member
Member # 2
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posted
Hey Mike,
I am glad I didn't see em! ![[fie]](graemlins/fie.gif) It was bad enough seeing the armed guard at the airports. ![[tears]](graemlins/cry2.gif)
Yes, your right we might as well get used to it, its not going to get better til Jesus comes. ![[Prayer]](graemlins/prayer.gif)
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God bless,
Kindgo
Inside the will of God there is no failure. Outside the will of God there is no success.
Posts: 4320 | From: Sunny Florida | Registered: Jun 2002
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Michael
Advanced Member
Member # 170
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posted
It's kind of scary to see missiles deployed in the DC area. Truly an ominous sign of things likely to come.
Posts: 106 | From: NYS | Registered: Jul 2002
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Kindgo
Advanced Member
Member # 2
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posted
http://reuters.com/news_article.jht...toryID=1429193#
By Charles Aldinger
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. military deployed anti-aircraft missiles at the Pentagon and bases around Washington on Monday for an exercise to test an emergency defense of the nation's capital, Pentagon officials said.
They said the "Avenger" systems -- heat-seeking Stinger missiles on military jeeps -- will be stationed at the bases for at least four days beginning on Tuesday, including Wednesday's anniversary of Sept. 11 hijacked airliner attacks on America.
The officials, who asked not to be identified, told Reuters the "Clear Skies 2" exercise did not call for the missiles to carry live warheads, although Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld could order warheads mounted on the little Stingers.
The exercise, similar to one held in the summer, will test the integration of F-16 fighter jet patrols protecting Washington around the clock and missiles, radar and communications between the military and civilian agencies.
The military began deploying some of the missile-carrying vehicles around the Pentagon and other bases on Monday. One stood near where an airliner slammed into the Pentagon last Sept. 11.
The attacks also included the smashing of two hijacked airliners into the World Trade Center in New York City. A fourth hijacked airliner, believed headed for Washington, crashed into a field in Pennsylvania.
Some 3,000 persons died in the devastating attacks, blamed on the al Qaeda guerrilla network of fugitive militant Osama bin Laden. "The Clear Skies exercise is to test the viability of a multi-layered defense of the national capital region," one defense official told Reuters on Monday.
INCLUDES A WIDE RANGE OF WEAPONS
"It will include the missiles, F-16s, AWACS (airborne warning and control system) radar planes and communications between the military and the Federal Aviation Administration," the official said.
Officials said that all of the armed services would be involved, along with the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), the air defense network of fighter jets shared by the United States and Canada.
With the attack anniversary approaching, the U.S. military last Thursday resumed 24-hour air patrols by fighter jets over Washington and New York.
The round-the-clock patrols were resumed a day before hundreds of members of the U.S. Congress flew to New York, meeting there on Friday for the first time in more than 200 years, to mark the anniversary of the attacks.
The pilots could be used, with tight restrictions, to shoot down a commercial airliner if it appeared to be headed for a sensitive ground target, according to officials.
Defense officials refused to comment on a CBS News report that the patrols were resumed due to increased Internet "chatter" or communications among known operatives of al Qaeda.
U.S. intelligence agencies have recently picked up a somewhat higher level of "chatter," or information about potential threats, but there was nothing specific and nothing to indicate that a terror attack was being planned for the anniversary, one U.S. official told Reuters on Friday.
In March, patrols were reduced over New York City and later over Washington to a mix of regular flights and "strip alerts" involving planes standing by at military and civilian airports to be scrambled into the air on very short notice.
Patrols have, meanwhile, also been continued on an intermittent basis over other key areas of the country, including other possible targets such as nuclear plants.
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God bless,
Kindgo
Inside the will of God there is no failure. Outside the will of God there is no success.
Posts: 4320 | From: Sunny Florida | Registered: Jun 2002
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