Americans Face Check Points As War Begins
Americans Face Car Inspections, Armed Patrols As War Begins With Iraq
The Associated Press
March 20 — With traffic-stalling vehicle checks on interstates, armed patrols inside subway tunnels and briefcase inspections at heartland statehouses, Americans encountered a new level of heightened security on the home front Thursday. Most seemed to take the inconvenience in stride.
Nuclear power plants were a special focus. Security was fortified at generating stations in Maryland, Alabama and Ohio, where tours of the Davis-Besse facility in Port Clinton were canceled following the first round of airstrikes in Iraq.
At the nation's largest nuclear plant, the Palo Verde station west of Phoenix, National Guard troops carrying M-16s stood guard. It might have been a terrorist target, U.S. Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham told members of the Senate Armed Services Committee on Thursday, though he declined to provide details about intelligence reports.
Around-the-clock patrols began at Palo Verde after the nation's terror alert level was raised to "high" Monday night, and state homeland security director Chuck Blanchard called the plant "probably the safest place today in Arizona."
On interstates and at airports across the country, law officers scanned car trunks and truck beds for signs of anything suspicious. In Maryland, police stopped trucks weighing more than 5 tons along Interstate 95, creating a rush-hour backup for morning commuters.
Orange barricades stopped traffic at Phoenix's Sky Harbor Airport, where vehicle inspections were under way. Travelers and airport employees accepted the heightened security with little complaint.
"I'm definitely more nervous now that war broke out because I work at the airport," said cab dispatcher Jose Rodriguez. "We have to look at people more closely, but I'm not losing sleep. I'm just being more cautious."
Connecticut rail commuter Mary Kostyk agreed that authorities must do whatever they can "to make it clear to anyone who has designs against us that we're prepared."
She and fellow commuters were sure to feel the security presence. Hundreds of troopers and National Guard members were dispatched to patrol rail tunnels and ride subways in New York, Connecticut and New Jersey. On Thursday, officers with bomb-sniffing dogs roved New York's Grand Central Terminal.
Commercial railways were also under additional surveillance. The Association of American Railroads is operating a 24-hour security center to scan intelligence reports for anything unusual.
Nebraska-based Union Pacific, the nation's largest railroad, increased security at key railyards, tracks, tunnels and bridges after the war began.
Security concerns cast a shadow over many events where crowds were expected.
The NCAA basketball tournament began as scheduled Thursday, but security was ratcheted up at nationwide venues. Some events were canceled, including the remaining performances of "Faust" at New York's Metropolitan Opera. A San Francisco road race was rerouted to avoid the Golden Gate Bridge.
The war and the security precautions did leave some jittery. Several Los Angeles residents called the California Highway Patrol asking if bomb shelters had been set up in the city.
>From urban hubs to the prairies of middle America, state leaders cranked up emergency operations centers to monitor the initial days of the war and be ready to dispatch additional patrols as needed.
In Iowa, state emergency officials hunkered down in an underground command post complete with a high-tech communications system and reinforced concrete walls a foot thick. The bunker was built to withstand an earthquake, but for the next few days it is home to key officials from the state's transportation, public health, emergency management and public safety agencies.
"We're waiting and reacting and carrying on as the situation warrants," said Lucinda Parker of the Iowa Emergency Management Division.
Ten National Guard members staffed phones at Minnesota's operations center, but the call volume was light in comparison to the days after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, Department of Public Safety spokesman Kevin Smith said.
"When Sept. 11 happened, it was obviously a shock to the system," he said. "It's much different this time. People were kind of expecting this war to begin."
Though many security measures had been in place since the alert level was raised Monday, additional safeguards, notably at the nation's statehouses, materialized on the first full day of war.
A line formed inside the only public entrance at the state Capitol in Topeka, Kan. All visitors even prominent lobbyists were required to sign in. At the statehouse in Columbus, Ohio, patrol officers dug through the belongings of visitors and employees alike.
Lynda Heyl, who works for Ohio State University's school of agriculture, didn't mind having her bag and bulky day planner checked as she arrived to host a breakfast for lawmakers.
"There might be someone planning something different than I am," she said.
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