No prob, Phlosphr. And you’re certainly right about Spain, come to think of it. The Guardia Civil is not to be messed with, I can assure you.
Rick: well, what can I say? I never claimed that the machine gun carrying types weren’t there (military police in this case, from your description of the attire and weapons), but they are mostly invisible. Truth be told, the only time I’ve seen them at Schiphol out in the open was the first 3 or 4 months after 9/11. I can only imagine that in your case, something must have happened that called for heightened security (possibly related to the Kosovo struggle). All in all, it’s not all that common to see them, really.
And yeah, we are pretty tall. I’m 6’2" myself, and that’s about average around here for men my age. Some of these military types can look mighty imposing indeed.
I’ve seen machine gun (or whatever they were) toting police at various airports as well as outside the Old Bailey in the same situation Crusoe mentions. It is a disquieting sight, but as long as they’re not pointing them at you there’s nothing to worry about. Mind you, it is a great incentive to make damn sure you do nothing to make them point them at you…
I just wanted to say that the first time I ever saw an actual, real-life sub-machinegun was in Heathrow, Summer of 2000. Never saw one in the US until after 2001.
Funny thing about this whole thread is that this woman has obviously never been to Israel…
What with all the security we have, very few of them actually tote guns (much less SMG’s) in the middle of the city. That’s a disaster waiting to happen.
Some have handguns; some not even that.
It makes sense to me, since the threat being addressed is that of a suicide bomber, not Rambo XIX. The security guard has to be alert to suspicious persons trying to enter public buildings, and their job is to stop this person from entering the building, and to stop this person from pressing that button near their belt… Best way to achieve that is to be light on your feet, and (hopefully) somewhat trained in unarmed combat.
Most of the SMG’s I’ve seen outside of reserve duty have been when I travelled abroad…
Beats me. They must zone in on the incoming US flights, or something.
I’ve never seen them except for rare occasions. I’m not disputing your observation, mind you, just offering my POV.
There is danger. There is always danger. “Eternal vigilance” and all that. Whether having heavily armed policeman around will in any way alleviate this situation is another question entirely, and remains to be seen.
Nevertheless, I fail to see how Policeman Bob with his standard issue pistol is any more or less of a “fascist” than Policeman Fred with his submachine gun. Same guys, same job, same rules. Either the police are fascist or they aren’t. The tools they use are irrelevant.
Since the islamist bombings at the beginning of the 90’s, soldiers (not mere police officers) wielding assault rifles have been, from time to time (depending on the alert level) quite common in major airports, railway stations, etc, … in France.
However, their guns weren’t actualy loaded. The ammunitions were kept in a vest pocket and they had to rip it off to get them in order to avoid some unfortunate mistake in the middle of a crowded airport, probably much more likely than an actual terrorist attack (it wasn’t announced, but it wasn’t that big of a secret, either) . So, I assume this soldier’s presence was more intended for the peace of mind of the average passer by rather than to actually deter terrorists. (I’m using the past, because this info dates back to a time when most of these soldiers were draftees. The policy could be different now).
They may be “cosmetic” to you, but a trained living, breathing, intelligent person behind that trigger prepositioned spot actually makes me feel better.
And regarding this:
I’m sure that reverberated through some ears on September 10.
I’m not sure your presumption of a lack of threats is valid. I think that we can all just live with the cops toting something a bit more useful in normal situations.
After all, don’t the common criminals carry that stuff already?
At first glance, I thought the woman was claiming that Israel is fascist, which is ignorant. Does she mean that the U.S. does not require as much security as Israel?
