http://www.msnbc.com/news/974865.asp?0cv=CB20<snip>
The U.S. military practices at least twice each week for the nightmare scenario of having to shoot down a civilian airliner hijacked by terrorists, the commander of forces in North America said Thursday.
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The rules allow for an order to shoot down a civilian plane only if there is no other option to prevent a Sept. 11-style attack on the ground, the general said. There are authentication procedures for such orders to make sure “someone can’t just get on the radio and say, ’This is the president, I order you to shoot down that plane,”’ Eberhart said.
Military jets were in the air during the 2001 attacks but were too far away to shoot down the planes before they struck the World Trade Center and Pentagon.
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Airline passengers can be confident that their planes will not be accidentally shot down, Eberhart said.
“I would take issue with anyone who would say the men and women in our armed forces are trigger happy,” Eberhart said at a breakfast meeting with reporters. “I’m more worried that they would be trigger hesitant than trigger happy. We have long discussions with people to see if they’re ready to do this.”
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Uh-huh....I feel better now, don't you?? Let's see, first you get color-coded and profiled at the airport, then you and your stuff get x-rayed and possibly searched, then you have the possibility of getting blown out of the sky by the military. You know, this could really bring back the 'romance of train travel'.
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