No other nation has the wherewithal to threaten the superpower United States or its regular friends, so the defense establishment resorts to heightened warnings about rogue nations willing to commit suicide to make some points to someone. Meanwhile, the real terrorists such as those convicted this week of the bombing of U.S. embassies in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam, are undeterred. They don't waste resources on ballistic delivery systems. No matter how ably the Bush administration hears sweet music in the bad vibes from allies, though, the shift in leadership of the U.S. Senate next week will make the fantasy harder to spin. Enough Democrats in the Senate are hawks to keep missile defense ticking along, as they did during the Clinton administration, but they aren't as avid to give it the big boost Bush hoped to get from his Republican friends.
Schools have traditionally had fire drills, some have earthquake drills.
But natural disasters don't require SWAT teams to draw their guns and shuffle kids out of a building. They don't ask that children lay on the floor pretending to be shot or killed. A photo in Wednesday's Columbian showed middle schoolers being led out of Battle Ground School District's Pleasant Valley Middle School with their hands above their heads, guns pointed at them. It should make us rethink allowing such drills during the school day. The principal of the school says the school was a willing participant.