The United States Coast Guard threw a major scare into Washington, D.C. area residents this 9/11, conducting a secret training exercise on the Potomac River near the Pentagon just before President Obama arrived there to memorialize victims of the terrorist attacks.
During the 10 a.m. hour, CNN initially reported the exercise as a real event with the Coast Guard firing ten rounds at a speeding boat on the Potomac that was unresponsive to communications. The Associated Press and Washington Post later learned that the event was just a training exercise.
The Coast Guard officially confirmed the training exercise well after the fact, castigating the media in the process for reporting that shots had been fired. Of course, the people who should actually be castigated are the Coast Guard officials who authorized the exercise on 9/11 in proximity to the president and Pentagon in the first place.
It's incomprehensible that the powers that be at the USCG couldn't connect the dots to realize that such a training exercise would be ill-timed and ill-placed. There's clearly a common sense shortage at the United States Coast Guard. If you have common sense, you are desperately needed there.Labels: 9/11, coast guard, pentagon, potomac river, washington d.c. area
