NATO deploys AWACS to protect the U.S. too!
--Security was ramped up across the nation after the U.S. attack began:
U.S. aircraft flew combat air patrol missions over National Football League games.
--The Emmy Awards telecast, honoring television excellence, was canceled, CBS-TV said. The broadcast had already been delayed three weeks by the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
<Carl, I hear that the Oscar's? or was it the Emmy's? is going to be high security and low fashion -- i.e, it's just not the time to get all duded up and wear clothes that cost a fortune.!!>
--NBC’s John Palmer reported from Washington that Vice President Dick Cheney had been taken to an undisclosed “secure location” so he and President Bush would not be in the same place in the event of a new terrorist attack.
--Some major U.S. structures that have been mentioned as possible targets closed Sunday, including the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island and the Empire State Building in New York. But the Sears Tower in Chicago and the Space Needle in Seattle remained open, and officials said they had no plans to close them.
--NATO officials announced Sunday what would be an unprecedented use of foreign forces on U.S. soil. They said that at Washington’s request, the alliance would soon deploy AWACS surveillance planes for anti-terrorist operations in response to the attacks on New York and Washington.
The officials would not say why the United States had asked for the airborne warning and control system planes, but because the United States itself has a fleet of 33 AWACS planes, the announcement led to suggestions that they would be used to free up U.S. aircraft for deployment in other regions.
NATO to deploy AWACS in U.S.
Alliance surveillance planes would boost anti-terror effort
MSNBC STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS
BRUSSELS, Belgium, Oct. 7 — At Washington’s request, NATO will soon deploy surveillance aircraft for anti-terrorist operations in the United States in response to the attacks on New York and Washington, NATO officials said Sunday, an unprecedented use of foreign military forces to defend the U.S. homeland.
NATO OFFICIALS would not say why the United States had asked for the airborne warning and control system (AWACS) planes to be deployed there or whether they would be used to free up U.S. aircraft for deployment in other regions.
The United States itself has a fleet of 33 AWACS planes, 28 of which are stationed at an airbase in Oklahoma.
All that is needed before the AWACS planes are deployed is military advice and final approval by national representatives at the headquarters of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in Brussels, NATO officials said.
NATO allies agreed Thursday to a complete eight-point list of assistance the United States had requested, including the use of some of its fleet of AWACS aircraft based in Geilenkirchen, Germany.
A NATO representative would not say whether the planes would be flown from Geilenkirchen or from another location.
NATO has also used AWACS in Bosnia and the Balkans to assist in air operations.
The deployment of foreign military forces to help defend the U.S. homeland is without precedent. While some NATO countries have based forces in the United States for extended periods — German air units, for instance, are exercising with their U.S. counterparts — this is believed to be the first time such forces were sent specifically to play a role in national defense.
http://www.msnbc.com/news/639359.asp