Training Exercise Prompts Panic On The Potomac

By Justin Duckham-Talk Radio News Service

Reports that the U.S. Coast Guard fired upon a suspicious boat on the Potomac River Friday morning may have been spurned by a training exercise.

The occurrence allegedly took place in a section of the Potomac River temporarily restricted due to its proximity to a 9/11 memorial ceremony at the Pentagon. The President spoke at the event earlier.

Initial reports from a variety of media sources suggested that ten rounds had been fired upon the vessel by the Coast Guard.

Comments

[Margaret Hughes]

I watched the CNN broadcast of the U.S. Coast Guard incident this morning as well as the briefing from the Admiral from the Coast Guard explaining the routine nature of this exercise. When I watched the CNN report showing the Potomac site, I immediately was able to recognize that this was more than likely something insignificant because of the traffic on the bridge. If this had been a real threat, the DC police and other law enforcement would have stopped traffic on that bridge. That happens even in communities whenever there is something that could be dangerous to others. It just amazes me that media has become so hungry to plant fear in our nation. What's equally disturbing is that some in the media expect the Coast Guard to "apologize" for doing their job. I think media is the culprit that needs to apologize for not doing their job competently. Media should have checked this story out first instead of blowing a routine training exercise out of proportion just so that they would have something to excite viewers and build their ratings.