I hate being a NIMBY. The truth about city life is that it’s crowded. Not unpleasantly so, not most of the time, but you’re going to find yourself around a lot of your fellow men, and sometimes they’ll get in your way and sometimes you’ll get in theirs. It’s your responsibility to try to hold your tongue in the case of the former and count on your obliviousness to the latter to even everything out. If everyone threw a fit about every inconvenience they had to suffer, none of us could enjoy the things that are great about living together.
But I think the disruptions accompanying the nuclear disarmament summit at the convention center go a bit beyond the normal give and take of city life. I hasten to add that I haven’t suffered much personal inconvenience — walking a few extra blocks on Sunday evening has been about the worst of it. My discomfort is more about how the event feels than what it’s done to me, and maybe that means my objections should be ignored. But it’s disturbing to see the streets barricaded, to feel suspicious eyes on you as you walk from the grocery story and past an idling Humvee. I don’t like that the folks living in the apartments on the same block as the convention center are being physically searched before being allowed into their homes. I don’t like that businesses in the area have had to shut down for the duration of the summit.
And it’s hard for me to really see the case for hosting this event. DC has a lot of non-negotiable obligations to the federal government, many of them understandable. But the convention center? It’s still a business, right? They could have said no, right? That they’re sorry, but they can’t handle the security requirements; that the economic boost that a convention is supposed to bring would, in this case, be swamped by the disruptions that would ripple across the city; that the city’s facilities exist for its residents, and the proposal on the table asked them to make sacrifices without receiving comparable benefits.
Maybe they could have said this, but I think they probably didn’t. And now a commuter has died what sounds like a truly horrific death because of the decision to try to protect and accommodate the world’s most important people in the middle of a working city.
I’m sorry to be upset by this, because I know this city is filled with suffering that I easily shrug off. It’s stupid that I feel angry just because she and I got to work the same way.
But I am angry. Because people online are blaming the victim. Because the security equipment used to protect our leaders has continued to grow even as the threats they face have withered. Mostly because it could easily have been me, or someone I know.
I know it’s the federal city. We will grit our teeth and mostly go along, thinking little of pausing for the daily motorcades down Connecticut, contenting ourselves with grumbling half-heartedly about a commuter tax from time to time.
But now that the planners’ ever-escalating 24 fetishization has shown its deadly potential, it needs to be put in check. Military vehicles do not belong within city limits. I’m all for nuclear disarmament, but I hope federal officials take their next high-risk party to a more appropriate location. I intend to insist that city leaders do what they can to make that happen.
Hear, hear!
There’s no need to apologize for being upset.
nothing wrong with that! damn right you should be upset.
Great post – thank you for articulating what I believe many people are feeling right now.
Fully agree. I can deal with inconveniences. But having hummers, steel and cement barriers as well as searchlights set up outside your apartment building is deeply unsettling.
You’ve got to be kidding me. We shouldn’t ever have military vehicles in our city? There are 40+ world leaders here. Who would you have take care of security – your neighborhood watch? What happened was awful and I will not blame the victim, but we live in the capital of the free world. Needless to say, bombing DC would be a huge get for any terrorist faction and bombing DC and taking out a good percentage of world leaders would bed an even bigger get. The people and businesses are put out for 3 days during this. Yes that sucks, but we live and work in DC. It comes with the territory.
If you want to simply be upset that a fellow cyclist was killed in an accident, I’m with you. But if you want to bitch about military vehicles, barricades, etc. in the city during a meeting as important as this, you should move to Cleveland.
What would be a “more reasonable” location for a summit of world leaders — Washington is what it is – the capital city of what is still, arguablyt,one of the world’s most powerful, globally engaged democracies.
Living in DC is what it is — it entails motorcades and additional security on occasion. If you don’t like it, move somewhere else.
The presence of the National Guard seems justified given the nature of the summit and the high-profile attendees — and the reality that there are crazy people in the world. The Guard troops are there for the protection of the dignitaries attending the event, AND the folks who live and work in the neighborhod like you and me who would be caught in the crossfire if some nutcase wanted to make a point with violence.
Unless some evidence comes to light that either the truck driver or the bike rider were acting irresponsibly, I think what happened to that poor biker is a tragic accident — the type of thing that can happen no matter how carefully plans are wrought.
Don’t try crossing a schoolbus full of children in DC; one of the many police forces will run you down, as sure as the children breathe. Doesn’t matter if they have any mission, or not. There need be no event nor dignitary. They have the guns, attitude and, most importantly, heavy motor vehicles that will kill easily. In DC, they are more likely to run down people than shoot them.
Their thinking goes something like this: The children we see crossing the street are part of a clever plot to slow me down; these terrorists will stop at nothing. I’ve got 200 rounds and a Kevlar vest, so I’ll get the drop on these kids. To get at the attitude, ask one if they would stop for a line of kids if their force was escorting their president.
i have lived here quite a long time and one of the only times i have seen military was for the inauguration and during the damn snow storms!
but searching someone to get into their homes is a step beyond ‘protecting the world leaders’ don’tcha think?
they LIVE there which brings me to living in trinidad in NE during the height of the roadblocks.
that was intrusive and felt eerie and odd to be sitting on my porch after work with a corner full of police just sitting there, stopping black people and kids and talking on their damn cell phones.
i was never searched but saw people who were…cars only because while the cops were ‘trying’ to keep guns and drugs and riff raff out, they could WALK up trinidad ave…they are there to instill fear and that’s what keeps a country/a people complacent!
and seriously, when was the last attack on US soil?
i live in DC and i am aware of my surroundings. it’s a “target” city if you will.
do you realize how easy it would be to do something say on a metro train or perhaps the key bridge or anywhere else loads of people are?
think about it. how much security is there really?
pay attention, know your rights…..
I appreciate the thoughtful responses, but I think you folks are too ready to accept the status quo. These sorts of summits don’t have to happen in DC — it’d be easy enough to find a conference center in the country that could be secured a la Camp David. Alternate venues like this exist — I’ve been to them. Even securing a hotel would be preferable to shutting down the three blocks surrounding the convention center (the White House does this all the time on 15th street). Turtle Bay aside, running meetings of this scale in major cities strikes me as fairly unusual.
I also think you’re too easily accepting the idea that bigger vehicles and more closed streets equals more security. Why are SUVs sufficient for protecting the presidential motorcade, but we need multi-ton national guard trucks to protect the rest of the world’s leaders?
I’d add that the idea that killing world leaders would be a huge “get” strikes me as simplistic and juvenile. Terrorist organizations have specific grievances and specific aims. Simply killing leaders of democracies left and right is the sort of thing Lex Luthor might go in for, but it’s kind of a ridiculous way to look at the world and the security threats it contains.
Just as an observation – there’s nothing unusual about the mere size of these vehicles on the city streets. Our garbage is collected every day by trucks this size. Deliveries, moving trucks, and so on are handled by large box trucks and 18 wheelers that, yes, drive on city streets every day. I think that suggesting that large vehicles somehow place an undue burden on a city infrastructure is deflecting the issue.
You can’t blame this accident simply on the presence of large vehicles. While I disagree with your premise that this just should not happen in DC (but it would be OK in some other city, it seems), the accident was an accident. There’s no reason to blame the convention (or the existence of such things, generally) for it. We in DC live with road closures, unusual traffic patterns, odd security configurations, and so on all the time. This one was a little different than a typical event, but so have been many other things in the past.
These sorts of things aren’t going to go away. There’s no point in focusing on the summit itself as the cause of the accident. Instead we should be focusing on the big picture – how can we improve safety for future events? What factors led to the accident? As far as I know, nobody’s really even said (in the press) exactly what happened here.
Well, I’d say that you’re misinterpreting my position: I don’t believe these kinds of events belong in the downtown area of any city. Summits with security requirements of this scale should be held in locations that are more easily secured and which will inconvenience fewer people.
Your point about large vehicles is certainly worth considering. But I think there are a few factors making this situation distinct: by all accounts these military trucks have abnormally bad visibility — spotters have to get out whenever they back up. It also seems safe to assume that their drivers have fewer hours behind the wheel of such vehicles than do most commercial drivers. Does the military’s certification program for using these vehicles include training and testing in an urban environment? I have my doubts. Certainly it seems unlikely that they’re taught to prioritize safety in the same way that commercial drivers are.
Plus, trash trucks benefit from multiple employees at various points on the vehicle to identify danger. And all of those vehicles follow predictable patterns — something that a security vehicle enforcing a roadblock cannot be counted on to do.
So yes, accidents can happen under other circumstances, and do. It’s hard to draw definite conclusions from a single incident, but I do think it’s remarkable that even during this brief summit, someone was killed by security forces. Ask a military analyst: putting troops in urban areas and asking them to be on defense comes with risks.
I agree, it is over the top. It all started with closing Penna. and E, IMO. Searching me to go into my home? Ridiculous. Having this at the Convention Center was a mistake, when there are multiple facilities in and around town that are *already* much more secure! I think we can all agree that just having the motorcades would have been a PITA, but one that DC residents would readily deal with, as you point out.
Yes, DC is a giant target. But here’s the thing: that’s not new. There have been MIRVs pointed at this city for more than fifty years. Suddenly in the last ten years people are acting like it *is* new. (I mean, obviously I know why, but I don’t relate, is what I’m saying.)
Well remember a year or so back a young girl was killed while on a bicycle near Dupont Circle by a truck. It was an accident – anyway the truck didn’t do anything wrong. Accidents happen whether or not there is a security summit. Truck drivers have very bad visibility and I think we have no reason to assume military drivers are worse than commercial drivers – indeed I might assume the opposite.
I’ve been brushed by a truck while on a bike. When they stopped to park I caught up with the truck and yelled at the driver. He was horrified he’d almost hit and completely apologetic – I was stunned to realize he truly had not seen me at all – there was no denying how close I’d come to being smushed and how truly he was appalled he hadn’t seen me. Cyclists need to be ultra aware of what they are doing. I’m not blaming her – it’s just very sad.
Tom, you are right to be angry. But this incident, accident, whatever, was not the Summit’s fault. It was precipitated by the Guard’s presence due to the Summit but could have happened due to other reasons just as easily. Other locations are acceptable for events like the NS and should be considered, but c’mon. JT is right: we need to look at this to prevent other incidents from happening, regardless of who was driving the truck and who was on the bike.
Don’t you worry Tom, i’ve just talked to some very important people at the pentagon. we’re going to have fort mcnair closed. it’s kind of a shame though, the 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment has been conducting operations in DC and the surrounding area for over 200 years. Obviously they couldn’t possibly have experience working in urban areas.
There’s no question 46 world leaders in one place is a security risk. The debate here is over where they chose to locate those leaders. Essentially, they turned 10 square blocks of a major city into a de facto military base. Why not host this at a real military base then? That’s probably more safe, definitely less disruptive, and certainly less expensive too.
Amen to the last poster. Without knowing all the facts, we certainly cannot blame any individual involved in any part of this accident. What we can say safely was clear long before this accident occurred: If security is such a primary concern that the entire conference area (and a huge zone around it) is turned into a military zone surrounded by 5.5 tons military trucks and the like, downtown in the nation’s capital, atop metro lines, is NOT the place to have it. Military bases, remote conference centers, and most of the rest of the United States might be. I would like to hear an explanation of why it was held here in the manner. It was either stunningly stupid, or arrogant or both.