Terra! Terra! Terra! NYC police, looking like storm troopers strongly present at Times Square

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

in case there is retaliation of Saddam's execution. This includes sharpshooters on top of buildings.

I also think this is to desensitize people to living in a police state.

[Waya]

1. Oh, ferchrissakes.........

:crazy:

[liberal N proud]

2. They must promote the FEAR FACTOR

And I don't mean the TV show.

But now wih such wonderful timing of the Saddam execution chances of terror attacks are increased.

Just perfect for the regime, have a terror attack just a the Democrats take control.

[Dover]

7. We should all just go up to them and eat a worm or a roach

bring it on!

[Eurobabe]

3. My youngest is in NYC this weekend, but not at Times Square

Just more reasons to Terra-Fy the MASSES.

[MuseRider]

6. So is my youngest.

He is there for about a month. Just turned 21 while there.

I will be interested in what he sees.

[Deb]

4. Where did you hear/see this?

We considered going down for the weekend but when the WH announced a terrorist attack free weekend, those plans got ditched.

[Cooley Hurd]

5. How bizzare. If "embedded Ba'athist agents" were in this country already...

...wouldn't they have struck long ago? It's been over 3 years since the invasion.:crazy:

[brentspeak]

8. Where is this being reported? Do you have a source?

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

9. On my local NBC station in New York.They have been showing videos of the prep all morning. nt

[brentspeak]

13. They showed "sharpshooters"? Is that what you're claiming?

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

15. On top of buildings. They didn't show them but reported about it. nt

[bklyncowgirl]

10. They always do that for New Years Eve--security is a must.

About 15 years ago we decided to go down to Times Square for New Years Eve. Lifelong New York/New Jersey residents and we'd never been there.

We got off the subway around 7pm and walked into what had to be the world's biggest riot cop convention. There were cops with shields and facemasks, cops on horses, cops with dogs and a couple of cops in copters circling around in the sky.

We decided to go to a bar instead.

As far as I know there's never been a problem at Times Square but security is a must. The NYPD is not going to shoot up a bunch of drunken tourists for no reason--this isn't Bed Stuy you know--and I really think that terrorists are not going to do anything where security is so tight--not when there are crowded subways and commuter trains to bomb on a busy working day.

[beam me up scottie]

14. Exactly. Business as usual.

The msm is playing people and they're falling for it.

[bklyncowgirl]

19. No doubt they've ratcheted it up a bit--this is New York, after all.

We've been hit already, thank you, and don't want to be hit again but naturally the media is playing it for all it's worth.

[beam me up scottie]

20. If anyone has learned from 911, it's NYC.

And I don't fall for the cops = police state meme either.

What a fucking mess everything is.

[bklyncowgirl]

21. The NYPD lost alot of cops on 9/11

They would have lost more except their radios, unlike the firefighters could actually communicate with the police helicopters who could see that the towers were about to collapse and they were able to order their guys out.

The firefighters did not have the same warning.

[beam me up scottie]

22. These are the same cops we cried with for days, weeks, months...

People forget that.

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

23. And these are the same cops and firefighters that are now becoming very ill

because when they did rescue work after 9/11, they were lied to about how safe it was.

[beam me up scottie]

Yes.

Where's the outrage?

Instead of covering that story, the msm is broadcasting pictures of big scary boogie-cops in order to scare everyone.

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

25. How can one expect mass outrage if we don't even get it at DU for this.

I have started and participated in countless threads on this subject, and those threads die after at most, 50 responses.
A criminal act was committed against the people of NY after 9/11 by the White House, causing death and suffering to thousands of more NYers, and so few care.

[beam me up scottie]

24. dupe

[annabanana]

11. I don't mind having the police around during the celebration, but

MUST they all look like part of an attacking army? I detest the militarization of the nation's police departments.

It reinforces the impression that the American People are the enemy, and dangerous.

[beltanefauve]

29. They ARE an Army

The NYPD is the sixth largest standing Army in the world: 38,000 of them. That's more soldiers than the mere 18,500 or so we have in Afghanistan.

[Chorophyll]

12. They've been doing this

every New Year's weekend since 9/11. NYC becomes an armed camp any time large crowds are expected. I'll agree that the execution is a nice excuse to crank it up a notch, though.

[KatyaR]

17. There are always hundreds of cops in Times Square on New Year's Eve,

no matter what. I was there for New Year's Eve 1977, and there were cops everywhere--not with shields and riot gear, and they were pretty laid back, but they were definitely there.

Whenever you have that many people crammed into a space that small, I would think you'd need a large police presence. Times Square was scary with all those people chest to chest--sometimes my feet didn't even hit the pavement, and you could be separated from your companions very easily depending on which way the crowd moved. I know it made me feel safer, even though we got stopped by some cops who only wanted to tease my friend for having three "dates" that night (one guy and three girls). My friend was a little drunk so we were really scared, but the cops were feeling good and just wanted to hassle us a little. No harm, no foul.

Wow, that was a long time ago--how the world has changed . . . .

[Chorophyll]

18. True about the cops.

I've actually never been to Times Square for New Year's Eve, because I can't stand that much of a crowd. I did the St. Patrick's Day parade a couple of times, and that was enough for me. :)

I agree that you absolutely need crowd control for big events. I just think the local media has ratcheted up the coverage since 9/11 and makes it seem like a bigger deal than it is. And today they can tie in Saddam. It's all about ratings.

[KatyaR]

27. That and now they bring out the "crowd control" equipment--

helmets and sticks and shields. Back in the 70s they were in regular uniforms with no special equipment at all.

Looking back on it now, it seems really strange. Funny how things have changed our perspective, yes?

[acmavm]

16. I thought the powers that be told everyone to relax and party, there

wouldn't be any 'terra' on New Years Eve?

Immediately when they announced that I shifted into high gear paranoia. I have this natural reaction to go 180 degrees from whatever position they take, whatever line they spew.

[NYCGirl]

26. But all those police are there EVERY YEAR on New Year's Eve. NT

[Catchawave]

28. Yup, I was there for '04

Security check points and all. Still a lot of fun :)