Just when you believe America’s security procedures have tightened, this happens:
Pennsylvania’s five nuclear power plants are patrolled by national guard troops carrying unloaded weapons.
Oh sure, they carry loaded magazines on their duty belts. But the seconds it takes to load the magazines and charge and fire the weapons could spell the difference between life and death in an ambush.
(America, after all, is at war on terrorism and its unconventional enemies specialize in sneak attacks.)
State police officers patrolling the same Pennsylvania plants do carry loaded weapons, as do national guard troops protecting nuclear plants in Arkansas and Massachusetts.
Pennsylvania’s nonsensical restrictions, however, don’t compare with Oregon’s initial military responses at its airports after Sept. 11. Oregon dispatched unarmed troops.
So much for America’s homeland security. (16 JUNE 2002)