Word: haz
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While the concept of a domestic commander may seem natural in a post-September world, it is actually a radical departure for the military. The Pentagon has mostly stayed away from the job of defending American cities and suburbs, leaving it to local cops, fire fighters and haz-mat teams. That tradition has its roots in a law known as the Posse Comitatus (Latin for power of the county) Act of 1878, which bars military personnel from searching, seizing or arresting people in the U.S. Congress passed it after President Ulysses S. Grant ordered troops to serve as federal marshals...
...were getting used to what the Bush Administration is calling the "new normalcy," civilians and law enforcement alike braced for what they feared might be another horrifying strike on the home front. Before, they had trained watchful eyes on the weapon of the week, from crop dusters to haz-mat trucks; cops and civilians now had to view anything and everything with suspicion. The new normalcy was being redefined every minute...
...were getting used to what the Bush Administration is calling the "new normalcy," civilians and law enforcement alike braced for what they feared might be another horrifying strike on the home front. Before, they had trained watchful eyes on the weapon of the week, from crop dusters to haz-mat trucks; cops and civilians now had to view anything and everything with suspicion. The new normalcy was being redefined every minute...
...locals are having a hard enough time keeping up. "An up-to-date haz-mat suit costs upwards of $20,000," says Pat Hays, mayor of North Little Rock, Ark. "I have to decide whether to buy five suits or a hundred bulletproof vests, to decide which is the bigger threat to my public safety team, anthrax spores or two ounces of lead." Within 18 hours of the alert, the Los Angeles police department went back to "modified tactical alert," a fancy label for business as usual, which doesn't require as much overtime...
...Courage," snarked Senator John McCain?proud that his chamber hadn't closed up shop?who had headed to New York to do the Letterman show. All the House did, embattled legislators insisted, was adjourn a day early to get out of the way of the guys in the haz-mat suits who would be sweeping for spores in the halls of power. It would have been irresponsible and dumb to do otherwise, they said. And they could claim some vindication on Saturday when investigators found anthrax in the mail area of the Ford Office Building, on the House side...