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I know this is gonna start a riot, but...
http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-dday31.html France pledges to shoot down private pilots in D-Day air space May 31, 2004 BY BEN FENTON [Ad] ARROMANCHES, France -- Private pilots who stray into Normandy air space during the 60th anniversary of D-Day next weekend will be shot down, French officials said Sunday. With at least 16 heads of state, including President Bush, attending the ceremonies, organizers are guarding particularly against an al-Qaida attack from the air. It is one of the biggest security exercises in Europe since the war. An enormous network of radar equipment has been stretched between Deauville and Cherbourg, with early warning aircraft already in the skies. The aircraft will be joined this week by small, remote-controlled drones. Advanced Crotale anti-aircraft missiles have been primed, and two squadrons of Mirage 2000 fighters are stationed nearby. The French ministry of defense has spared no expense. It has established a temporary air base at Carpiquet, outside the city of Caen, as the hub of its defenses. There, more than 800 soldiers will maintain round-the-clock surveillance, backed by more than 50 military helicopters. A spokesman for the 120-acre camp said: "The dangers are multiple, from a hijacked airliner being crashed into the stands at the main international ceremony at Arromanches to a tiny bomb being detonated remotely. "But we are stretching an impenetrable fabric of protection above Normandy." At sea, fishermen and pleasure craft have been banned from the Seine Bay that stretches along the beaches code named Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno and Sword on June 6, 1944. A French carrier, Charles de Gaulle, and an American carrier, George Washington, will be patrolling the bay, which will also be swept for mines. On land, more than 9,000 French troops are arriving this week, supplementing the 6,300 gendarmes and 2,300 police officers already on duty. Arromanches' 534 residents have been told that they must either stay indoors throughout next Sunday or leave the area. Daily Telegraph HECTOP PP-ASEL-IA http://www.maxho.com maxho_at_maxho.com |
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